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Original poster

Work fuck up, I'm panicking!

83 replies

sun04 · 04/07/2023 13:34

I think I have made a huge fuck up at work and deleted lots of information. Currently waiting for the IT team to get back to me so I know what the situation is.

I am absolutely freaking out so I guess I'm just looking for some words of reassurance !!

OP posts:
mamnotmum · 04/07/2023 13:42

You can't undo it now. Just apologise and try to find a way forward.

Eileen101 · 04/07/2023 13:42

Does your line manager already know? They're absolutely the first point of call to 'own up' to.

Deleting lots of info? Surely it'll have been retained somewhere??! This is technology - companies have back ups of back ups!

Moltenpink · 04/07/2023 13:47

If there’s no back up then your company is also at fault for having rubbish systems! Try not to panic

katmarie · 04/07/2023 13:49

It happens. The only thing you can do is be honest and professional aboutbit. Own it. Work out how you were able to do it, and what can be put in place, eg approvals mechanism, change in business process, to make it less likely to happen in future, and be apologetic.

froginawell · 04/07/2023 13:50

Moltenpink · 04/07/2023 13:47

If there’s no back up then your company is also at fault for having rubbish systems! Try not to panic

This!

cocksstrideintheevening · 04/07/2023 13:54

I fucked up massively at work last week. A very very very expensive fuck up.

All you can do is out your hands up and own it. We're all human and humans make mistakes. I felt awful, have never made a mistake like that in my career but my line manager was incredibly supportive.

Hope you can get it sorted.

Lemonaida · 04/07/2023 14:00

Like others have said you're a human, you will make mistakes. If the info is not backed up then it's the company's fault for not putting the correct technology/procedures in place as anyone could accidentally delete anything.
My motto with mistakes is always to judge on how the person deals with it rather than the fact it's been made in the first place.

squirrelspatchcock · 04/07/2023 14:10

Are you sure you haven't just moved it rather than deleting it?
I've panicked before thinking that I've deleted information, to find that I'd inadvertently moved it into a random folder.

bluejelly · 04/07/2023 14:28

I think it's pretty likely there will be a way of restoring it. My company definitely has that. Try not to panic - deep breaths and remember everyone makes mistakes, they really do.

SinnerBoy · 04/07/2023 14:31

Yes, deleted data can usually be recovered, to some extent. I've been on jobs where it's happened.

As long as you've volunteered the information that you've made a mistake, nothing much should come of it.

Silenciospritz · 04/07/2023 14:36

This reply has been deleted

We doubt that this is genuine - we're taking it down now.

TheOrigRights · 04/07/2023 14:37

You are not the first and most definitely won't be the last to do this.
This is why systems do regular backups or have other things in place to minimise the risk. At the very least there should be a nightly backup.

You did the right thing in speaking up as soon as you realised.

Handsnotwands · 04/07/2023 14:39

it will almost certainly not be gone forever - where was it stored before you deleted it?

Aggielera · 04/07/2023 14:40

There will be back up 🤞

ladyonthebalcony · 04/07/2023 14:41

Did IT help?

Magnoliainbloom · 04/07/2023 14:41

If there is no backup (highly unlikely), you’ve done your company a favour by exposing this. Things will feel better tomorrow when you’ve had time to process it.

BeverleyMacker · 04/07/2023 14:41

I'm sure I read exactly the same post a week or 2 ago...🤔🤔🤔

Justcallmebebes · 04/07/2023 15:07

I've deleted stuff before by accident. It should be retrievable by your IT Dept

ASGIRC · 04/07/2023 15:19

Justcallmebebes · 04/07/2023 15:07

I've deleted stuff before by accident. It should be retrievable by your IT Dept

This!

Ive deleted the entire contents of my second hard drive more than once by not paying attention to the dialogue box!
I just got a simple software that recovered it. I just had to recover it to a different drive (so as to not overwrite the data that had been deleted).

Im pretty sure the IT department will have the means to achieve something like this!

MenoRageisReal · 04/07/2023 15:20

BeverleyMacker · 04/07/2023 14:41

I'm sure I read exactly the same post a week or 2 ago...🤔🤔🤔

Mumsnet is a massive site with millions of users, many of whom will make a fuckup at work at some point or another.
And most people don't check for other threads on the same subject first.
It's hardly unusual or worth a 🤔 face

Campervangirl · 04/07/2023 15:24

If it's a decent sized company (assuming so if they have an IT dept)they'll have a backup system able to restore deleted files, don't panic yet

NotOnYourNellies · 04/07/2023 15:33

Try not to panic, your not the first and you won't be the last
How you deal with it will go along way

DuesToTheDirt · 04/07/2023 15:34

Sooner or later just about everyone who works on a computer, be it at home or work, accidentally deletes something. If the company doesn't have a backup procedure that's on them not you.

theemmadilemma · 04/07/2023 15:38

We were chatting about this the other day. Every person on my team has accidently fucked a live IT system single handely and then had to try and fix it.

When you miss the where part of a SQL statement and shit yourself.

But yes, if it's important data, and there's no fail safe, that's on their infrastructure.

CovertImage · 04/07/2023 15:40

MenoRageisReal · 04/07/2023 15:20

Mumsnet is a massive site with millions of users, many of whom will make a fuckup at work at some point or another.
And most people don't check for other threads on the same subject first.
It's hardly unusual or worth a 🤔 face

Show quote history

Ooh, that's told you BeverleyMacker!