Christmas downsizing

[josephbt]

"We feel like you would best be comfortable working as an individual, not as a part of a team."

Then i got fired. It seems that my notice is 1 day. Merry fvcking Christmass to me. Luckily i'm an atheist.

[Crissa]

Ahh, the message that means, 'Someone else said mean things about you to the rest of the team instead of being... ya know, team-like.'

-Crissa

[SunTzuWarmaster]

If it makes you feel any better, my Aunt once had the following occur within a week:
She got a raise.
She got a promotion.
She got her name in the paper (for raising profits).
She got a pink slip (budget cuts, her whole branch got the axe).

[Crissa]

Yes, that happened to a friend on a contract two weeks ago.

Except the pink slip said, 'Due to incompetence, we are not continuing your contract.'

-Crissa

[Jacob_Orlove]

The boss's incompetence, presumably.

[JonSetanta]

Lost my last assignment from the local temp company a week ago; the full-time regulars came back.
Then, the next assignment was with UPS as a "dispatcher". You coordinate meeting places for UPS deliverers to pick up stuff.

Knowing by now that these managers tend to stick contract workers such as myself with increasingly shitty work and places to work in outside of the original job description I insisted, quite assertively, to be assured "I won't end up in the warehouse, moving boxes. I'm allergic to cardboard dust, and I only came here for the dispatcher position."
See, I had a tour a year ago for a different job, and instead was shown where young guys (some ex-cons, vagrants, etc) moved huge boxes all day, so I know what not to do there. Near asphyxiated from coughing.
The woman said, with a big stupid grin that I assume was an effort at creating a supposedly friendly interaction, "We're sorry, we can't guarantee that."

If I did take the job, through my temp company, it costs UPS money for the background check.
Then, if they find I *gasp!* can't do every whim the managers require (yes, I had that happen in the last 2 locations this year. And I did everything, to my regret.) it would be time and money lost. And we can't have that now, can we?
So Kelly Temp would be notified. And new contracts cease. Hell, I'm still waiting for the next one now, after turning UPS down.

Seriously, big companies think they have contractors by a fishhook, to plop down wherever they need one, even if one is hired for one type of position, trained for, and arrived for "deskwork".

I weigh 125 pounds right now (lost a lot this year, unfortunately), average height. Not the ideal stamina to move heavy packages for 7 hours straight with a 15 minute break. However, I could probably qualify for Mensa. If I gave a shit.
Talk about wasted skills. Gods damn these nonautistic people. Where's my "tech job"? What do I have to do to get into, say, an office?
Fuck.
That.

[shau]

That really sucks guys. I am sorry to hear that.

[MrWaeseL]

"I was in da club today and this bitch totally blew me off. Thank god I'm muslim."

Seriously though, it sucks you got laid off.

[josephbt]

It turned out that my boss didn't like it when i went home after my 8 hours. She stay late, so she expect everyone to stay late.
On the other hand, her pay is 5 times what i get(got?) payed, she gets a bonus at the end of the month(depending on plant productivity), and her overtime hours get payed, while mine don't.
And she wonders why i go home at 15.00?

[PhoneLobster]

Back when I tried to find new job in programming I was regularly going to interviews where the employers were finding it hard to find ANYONE (other than me) who met their ludicrous requirements for experience and qualifications.

And they routinely told me that despite those ludicrous requirements for experience and qualifications that they would only pay me graduate rates (probably against award legislation) and I would need to work ten hours unpaid overtime a week (definitely illegal, immoral and fucking sucky).

I routinely told them I would accept graduate rates, until I demonstrated clearly to them that my skills were the ones they actually asked for at which point we could come to a fairer arrangement.

I routinely told them I would occasionally work unpaid overtime when it was important in return for informal equal time off in lue when it wasn't important. (a massive compromise on legality, morality and fucking suckyness).

Apparently my "demands" were far too strident and ridiculous. Or my, very ,very, few competitors far too eager to bend over and take the illegal work place exploitation up the arse.

And so after decades of society deciding I was a talented and useful individual and investing massively subsidized education in my future doing a specialist job that I was highly skilled at doing I now work essentially self employed (in another, relatively unskilled field entirely) because that's the only way I can have my skills and work hours recognized. Or even find employment at all.

Meanwhile the IT industry in Australia has been complaining for years about how it has a massive shortage of skilled workers.

Its a bunch of ignorant management bullshit. Fair pay, fair hours, less stupid requirements for qualifications and more investment in training makes for better results and everyone knows it.

But the in bred and retarded management aristocracy doesn't feel that's ideologically as cool as fucking screwing you repeatedly in the arse and not making as good a profit or as good a contribution to society as a whole as a result.

PS...
One management dip shit who said he worked 10 hours a week unpaid overtime and strongly suggested I should too added a bit worded kind of like this...

"We are looking for people with the kind of work ethic where they don't look at the clock and simply work until they are finished."

I should have told him "That's great because I LOVE going home at before mid day without even realising it!"

[Maj]

And the reason they can keep getting away with breaking the law is probably because the people who care enough don't take the jobs, and the people who have the jobs don't care enough.

They need to be reported.

[josephbt]

I would report everything(the unpaid overtimes, the mumbo jumbo with my contract, no 2 weeks notice) but, cmon, i live in croatia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption ... r][br]Look me up.

A couple of months ago, an inspector was here. Some irregularities were found, and the inspector went home with a big, fat gift box. The previous company i worked with gave laptops, this one gave food, but it's the same.

[Desdan_Mervolam]

I work indirectly for Hewlett Packard. That is to say, I work for a temp agency that works for HP and I get to work at the HP building and do HP work, but yadda yadda.

Every year, the building is closed the last week and a half of the year because everyone's on vacation anyway. Kinda sucks for hourly employees like me, but at least it gives me an oppertunity to go to Texas to visit my family for Christmas.

Anyway, last year on the last day before Christmas Break, right after the start of shift, they had our boss gather up half the team and went for a meeting, the rest of us left to begiin our stuff.

Turns out that half of the crew? Laid off due to the project being scaled back in the new year. And they couldn't promise the rest of us they'd actually have stuff for us too, we just got the privladge of showing up on the second to see.

-Des

[Prak]

wow... retail's starting to sound like great work to me... jesus christ guys, you're all entitled to sack corporate offices, far as I'm concerned...

[Draco_Argentum]

Get a government job PL. Q-Gov has good arrangements.

[JonSetanta]

That is true, Prak. More theft occurs right under the noses of managers that seem to bitch about it the most, or even BY those same managers that preach against it!
However, as an entry level employee in retail (although I am not, currently), there are few worse jobs than that.

[CalibronXXX]

Fortunately for me certified Medical Biller/Coders are in short enough supply that I'll be able to shop around for a good office or billing company to work at come this spring.

[Prak]

1197767018[/unixtime]]That is true, Prak. More theft occurs right under the noses of managers that seem to bitch about it the most, or even BY those same managers that preach against it!
However, as an entry level employee in retail (although I am not, currently), there are few worse jobs than that.

yeah but compared to crap like Joseph or PhoneLobster had to deal with... entry level retail sounds fucking amazing....

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I work entry-level retail while I do the college thing, and I consider the job to be superior to my last one in every way except compensation.

However, I would live in a box on the streetcorner before I ever stepped foot in a sewage plant again.

[CalibronXXX]

I've worked retail, it's decent enough, wouldn't want to make a career out of it though.

[Prak]

out of what? retail in general or being an employee of a retailer? I personally kinda want to own my own shop some day.

though then any ass-raping policies or put overs are my own damned fault...

[josephbt]

Well, i did retail, it wasn't great, the pay sucked, but the hours were okay and i got to stare at the screen and let my mind wonder for days.

As for government jobs, they are all the rage in Croatia. The pay is also sucky, but for some reason, you really can't get fired. I blame the communist leftovers.

Private ventures are a no-no to me. I would glady own and operate a micro-brewery, but the investment cost are incredibly high, as is the risk. The return? Not so high.

[Koumei]

1197788577[/unixtime]]
though then any ass-raping policies or put overs are my own damned fault...

This is just me, but I probably wouldn't institute any policies about ass-raping. I know it might sound good in theory, to spice up the workplace, but it would just cause problems in the long-run, no matter what those policies are.

Other than "No. Just no." I guess.

I'm currently unemployed, though starting a short course (Pharmacy Assistant) in Feb on the off-chance that I actually have a future (what with medicine surprising us all the time). So at the moment, I'm in talks with the government department of giving me money, while job-hunting for a crappy little holiday work.

Anything other than fast food. I did that before, and would sooner turn to meth-dealing than go back to a fast food restaurant.

[Prak]

1197801958[/unixtime]]I'm currently unemployed, though starting a short course (Pharmacy Assistant) in Feb on the off-chance that I actually have a future (what with medicine surprising us all the time). So at the moment, I'm in talks with the government department of giving me money, while job-hunting for a crappy little holiday work.

this I know very well...

Anything other than fast food. I did that before, and would sooner turn to meth-dealing than go back to a fast food restaurant.

yeah, working fast food sucks. I'm surprised I still ate wienerschnitzel after knowing what that damn kitchen was like...

[cthulhu]

I stacked shelves at uni, the money (17 dollars an hour, which is about 15 dollars US) was very good for casual work, and I got time and a half on sundays. So I could work two days a week and have 300 dollars US.

That was nice. Now I work IT. Phonelobster.. try canberra, though the APS is extremely wary of employing people without degrees and I'm not sure if that does or does not apply to your situation, it's slowed down a bit for christmas but there are still 9 IT jobs up including 3 software development ones.