It might mean that something is, in fact, bothering you or stressing you out enough that other people notice it. People notice sudden changes in things like your demeanor, manner of dress, hygiene, or even work output.
Could also just have been misunderstanding, or in rare instances they’re actually afraid of OP jumping ship.
would it be a bad idea to ask him what he meant?
I mean, you could always ask if he needs to talk? Idk, it really depends on what kind of person the boss has been historically, and whether everything is okay.
Your boss doesn’t care about your feelings. Your boss cares about how much surplus value you are generating. If your boss asks you if something is bothering you, they think you aren’t generating enough profit for the company. This could mean that they are thinking about firing you.
“Is anything bothering you?” is corporate speak for “get back to work or we’ll fire you”.
This is most likely the answer. I’ve been obviously upset and depressed before in team chats and nobody ever asked how I was doing and my work output was meeting expectations during that time
First time my manager ever asked me if I was okay was after my last quarterly expectations check-in where I failed to meet it and he was searching for answers on how to improve my performance
gulp
“hey worker, is something bothering you?”
“Uh no, I’m fine”
“Okay good, here’s a mountain of tasks I need you to do”
“Well now something’s bothering me”
“Worker55289102921 the AI noticed your eyes are slightly more red and drier than usual today. It went ahead and automatically ran an analysis on your urine during your first unauthorized break of the day.”
“Uhhh… wait, wha-”
“Worker55289102921, please do not speak during this stage of the admonishment process. By the way, may I call you Mr. 55289102921? I prefer a friendly approach to managing the human capital under me. Ah, no response needed Mr. 55289102921, the AI has already ran your likely responses to this question based on scraped information from your personal and work emails and text messages- please do not speak. The AI has alerted me that your brain activity and blood pressure indicates you are becoming angry and might soon say something… regretful for your continued relationship with the company. Thank you for understanding, Mr. 55289102922. Now, back to the issue of your urine test…”
[the future all managers desire]
Bosses can be assholes because it’s what’s required of them, but also some of them are people who somewhat care about their coworkers, and notice if something is wrong. Without knowing anything else about your boss, they could be genuinely concerned for you just because they’re being nice, or because they’re concerned about a loss in productivity/having to find someone to fill in for you.
“yes, you are right now”
In a tv comedy it would mean you get fired in the next scene.
If your boss is otherwise a dick yes I’d be concerned. (Had my own bad experience with something like that. Dick boss giving you a pep talk can be the warm up act for worse things…) If they seem to actually give a shit about you in general then it’s probably just them being genuine.
My boss is better than most, so I genuinely believe it’s coming from a place of concern. I’m sure the fact that I’m a top tier employee enters into the calculous a little, but they know not to kill the golden goose
