STEM employee asks how his “useless project manager” can still be employed with the company for over 8 years

SINGAPORE: An exasperated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) employee took to an online forum on Tuesday (April 16) to share his issues with his project manager, who he claimed is “useless.”

“What really takes the cake is how useless the project manager is. It does not help that the project manager of this department loves to act busy and smoke his way through most technical questions being directed at him. Giving no proper response or ‘you should know’ while talking to a fresh grad.”

The post included several examples of the project manager’s behaviour. “Resending my emails to the same parties right after I sent them and then pestering me to confirm if the email he sent was correct, when asked why he would do that he said it was ‘to confirm’,” the employee wrote. 

“Asking for me to e-sign a document only to print out an unsigned version of said document and made me re-sign physically.

He loves to remind his subordinates of important tasks not in the morning, but exactly at 6 pm when they are about to leave holding them back for that extra few minutes.

In this conversation with him, he adds no value and only wastes the time of both parties.

When told a task cannot be completed on time, his answer will be ‘Then make it on time’. Or when being asked to help resolve a conflict in a schedule he will direct it back at me and say ‘Resolve it’.”

The employee then shared his desire to understand the reason behind such behaviour. “How can someone act this way in a professional capacity and be so audacious in wasting everyone’s time?

These are only a few of the things that he does that waste my time. I would be fine if he kept to himself and left my productivity unaffected.

But this idiot seems (committed to) dragging as many of his colleagues down with him as possible while doing absolutely nothing.”

According to the employee, the project manager has been with the company for more than eight years. “I am stumped as to why he would ever remain employed with his garbage performance,” he wrote.

A handful of online users responded to the post and shared their two cents on the matter.

“Project managers are not supposed to answer complicated technical questions; they’re just supposed to make sure someone answers them,” said one.

“That being said, some of them have a technical background but try to overstep their technical ability out of ego or a perception that it helps their job security.”

Another simply said, “Most are.”

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