Producer Amy and Host Pam review the absolute sh!tshow that work and the job market has been in 2025. Eff bombs a-plenty, heads up, it's who we are.  

Lianna learns a lot of valuable lessons from her first "big girl" job (her words, not mine) including how you shouldn't do all the work at once. Pace yourselves, kids, there's little benefit in finishing early. 

It seemed like a great opportunity and Kevin believed in the cause, but "smellgate" made things awkward. Like, really awkward.  Here are the reasons you might be eligible for unemployment if you quit a job in Washington, where I live, the rules may be different in your location. 

"Layoffs are unfortunately a time where unions really show why they're important."  Zach posts about Workers Comp to Instagram, follow him to find out about their next event.  Ian -- Zach's co-creator for Workers Comp -- tells his story in E11, here. 

"The media landscape is changing." Yeah, Ian already knows that. 

Janice Brathwaite -- the president and founder of Workplace Transformations -- talks about her work with corporate culture. She's got a few things to say about the dreaded Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), how it's being misused, and what you should do if you're faced with one. TLDL (too long, didn't listen): Do. Not. Sign. Anything. 

Years later, Chuck still asks himself why he was so loyal to his job. 

Pam and Amy discuss the jobs report(s), how much AI is fucking things up for us, a listener's struggle to find work, and the curse of pumpkin spice season.  Articles referenced: AI is quietly reshaping the way we talk The job market is hell Employers added nearly a million fewer jobs  Episodes referenced: S2 E5: Tech Career Coach S1 E31: Design Manager  

"We knew bad things were going to happen in Philadelphia." She saw it coming, but it was still a blow when Dawn lost her dream job. 

Michael went in with a "healthy dose of skepticism" under the Biden adminstration though he believed the work was valuable. Then came the November election and DOGE. 

Canned gets a little career coaching.

Anne had a job that not many women did at the time. ”It was a constant battle being accepted,” she says ...a battle she did not end up winning.

Christian’s job was literally to make federal government processes more effective or, you know, efficient. Then DOGE came along.

Christine was not shy about telling off The Man for making tech support worse. The database mentioned? theceodatabase.com. Our heroine has been hit with several cease and desist notices, so by the time this goes live, it may or may not be online. We'll take that as her doing the right thing. 

Amy and Pam ask the important questions like... How do you fuck up being a mermaid? 

Pam gets the axe from her copywriting job, says eff that noise, and...  starts a podcast? What? Featuring CANNED's behind the scene enabler and producer, Amy Guth as this week's guest host. 

Amber wasn't even on company time. She was literally off the clock. And she got the axe anyway.  Also, hey, here's that Antiwork Reddit Sub we mention at the intro. Fun fact, my former project manager is the one who turned me on to Antiwork. I miss him every day, working with him was great. When your project manager is an antiwork guy, you know you're on the right team. 

Dylan is going to make it through this year if it kills him. 

Jez Stewart from Prospect (a union that represents 157,000 workers in the UK) takes us through what a union does and why we want to be part of one. 

Rebecca Weaver, founder and CEO of HRuprise, talks us through the structural pitfalls of HR, why it's broken, and we can do to protect ourselves.