This week, I was burdened with the task of training a coworker who has been at the company for six months and still hasn’t bothered to learn how to perform her tasks. She comes to work and goes home as she pleases. She is a serial absentee. She takes up a lot of space. She is everywhere. Interacting with her got me thinking about the types of coworkers no one wants to have.

My workmate falls in the category of slackers. One example is that married-with-children type who feels entitled to dumping her workload on other people. She assumes that her single and childless colleagues have no lives and should therefore be perfectly fine with working themselves to the bone while she does the bare minimum for the same pay.

If you call her out on it she is very likely to accuse you of being jealous. If you’re a slacker, know that what you’re doing is selfish. Attending to family emergencies once in a while is understandable but on other days, you have to pull your own weight. 

Another type of coworker no one wants to have is a Rochelle. Rochelle, (played by Tichina Arnold) is the mother of Chris in the American Sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris.” She was always quitting jobs proudly announcing "I don’t need this. My man has two jobs!” So a Rochelle is one who acts like they are doing everyone a favour by showing up to work. They think the task is below their mental capacity. They say the job is something they are doing to temporarily occupy their day but really, they have already made it in life. So they show up late, leave early, have a stinky attitude. Spend their day browsing through social media pages.

Then there is the show-off. She has been everywhere. Her parents are friends with important people. She knows everything. Talk about Paris? Actually, her mother was shopping in Paris last month. You want to go to Barcelona? Actually, she’s been to Barcelona and your pronunciation is wrong. If you’re like this, do not be surprised the next time your co-workers make plans and do not include you. It’s exhausting to be around you.

There is always that one person who dwells in the boss’ ear canal. He knows he is not competent so he gets the boss’ attention by informing on other people. He is small-minded and petty. When he isn’t fault-finding, he is making up stuff. The trouble with being the boss’ pet is that eventually the boss will get bored with you. By this time, you will have made many enemies at the workplace and you will have a hard time succeeding.

The most annoying coworker is the gossip. This one knows everything about everyone. She knows that you ate beans last night. She tells everyone that you were only hired because you are beautiful. She keeps her ear below the ground digging up dirt on people, exaggerating stories, lying. The gossip has inferiority complex and by spreading negative propaganda about other people, she feels better about herself. 

If you are this type of coworker, know that your behavior is highly reviled.