"I Said Something to a New Hire Who Clocked Out at Exactly 6 p.m.... Am I Being an Old-Fashioned Senior?" [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News] A workplace employee’s account has sparked heated debate after they said, "It would be nice if you could read the room and help out when things are busy" to a new hire who left immediately at the scheduled end of the workday, only to be embarrassed by the response.

On the 3rd, a post titled "Was I wrong to comment on a new hire’s quitting time?" was uploaded to the workplace community Remember.
The author, identified as Person A, began by saying, "I’m a manager, and the new hire has been here for two months. This happened yesterday, and I’d like you to judge whether I was the one acting strangely."
Person A said, "Although the employee is new, they work quickly and competently. The problem is that they stand up and pick up their bag the moment it turns 6 p.m." The author added, "They turn off their monitor and wait from 5:59 p.m., then say goodbye and leave the instant the clock changes."
The author continued, "Yesterday, our team leader urgently requested some materials, so everyone on the team was scrambling. Even then, the new hire stood up exactly at 6 p.m." Person A confessed, "I followed them out and said, 'Leaving at the scheduled time is obviously your right, but when the team is busy, it would be nice if you asked at least once whether there was anything you could help with before leaving.'"

Person A said, "I didn’t get angry, and I didn’t tell them to work overtime. In a way, it was workplace savvy, and even if I said something like that, no one would actually stop a new hire who was trying to go home and assign them work." The author continued, "But the new hire stared at me and said, 'I’ve finished everything I was supposed to do today. If there’s anything left that I’m responsible for, please let me know. I’ll do it before I leave.'"
The author said, "I had nothing to say, so I replied, 'No, there isn’t anything. You can go home.' The new hire really just left." Person A then asked, "Was I in the wrong?"
The author continued, "When I was new, I used to feel pressured when my seniors stayed behind and would ask whether there was anything I could do to help before leaving." Person A added, "I was taught that this was teamwork, but I wonder whether that is now an outdated way of thinking and whether I’ve become an old-fashioned senior. I only meant that it would be nice if they asked, but the new hire’s response made me feel as though I had said something I shouldn’t have."

Readers who saw the account were divided.
Some readers responded, "That isn’t workplace savvy; it sounds like a remnant of an old-fashioned culture where you can’t go home if the team leader hasn’t left," "The days when you had to read the room before leaving work seem to be over," "Expecting someone else to do what you used to do is exactly what makes you an old-fashioned senior," and "If you’ve finished your own work, you should leave."
Others offered contrasting views, saying, "If everyone else is working and one person simply leaves alone, can that really be called a team?" "From a team perspective, when everyone is working late in a rush, it seems right to divide the work and help one another," and "You did the right thing. You said what needed to be said."
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter