ALright guys and gals, I gotta vent a little. First, a little history on my work. For the past 3 years I have worked at a major title company here in Phoenix. We are owned by one of the largest home builders in the country. Wwll, since the market slowed down I haven't had a raise of any kind for about a year and half despite all of the responsibilities I have taken on. The company has had a "freeze" on all raises for about the same amount of time. Ok, thats fine I guess as long as I still have a job right? I am beginning to disagree with that more and more though. They can't give raises, but they send over 100 people on a 5 day cruise because they met their quotas for the year? I am just a recording desk clerk and work my a$$ off all year and am not included in any of that so no big deal. I don't need a cruise anyway. But, screw the cruise dang it! Why spend all that money on a cruise when the company has been laying people off right and left? So all those people got back from the cruise on Monday and today, they "right-sized" the people in my office one more dam time. We went from 12 down to 9. When i started here in March 05 we were around 35 people strong. So today they right-sized the only other person who was doing what I was doing. So now, I not only do my job, this lady's job, but also the $hit work that all the higher-ups have been giving me for the last year. AWESOME!!! Keep training me to do more people's work! SOOO in summary, I am not too happy making less than what I should be making, and doing almost 3 full-time jobs. I call BS!!! Thanks for letting me vent ya'll.... 10:30 in the morning and I need a freakin beer! HAHA!
Forgot to mention, I am currently working out so I can try out for the police force. Enough of this desk jockey BS!
__________________
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are safe." - Luke 11:21
Last edited by musicmaniac; 02-06-2008 at 12:28 PM.
Reason: Adding info
They call it "right-sizing" for the same reason retarded kids are referred to as "exceptional" children...because they're mealymouth.
I've noticed anything my company does that'll hurt the workers is always preceded by a bunch of bs about how "our employees are our most valuable resource." Any time that stuff starts cropping up in the company newsletter or wbsite, I know I need to slide a magazine into the back of my pants; they're getting ready to screw us again..
I just get a new job when that happens. I know its not that easy but I was in the same boat about 6 years ago. I work in IT and was working for a company that did sales and repairs. The company was making millions and expanding all the time. We were given crap raises. What they did is give us bonus pay (not to be confused with commission) on dollars collected versus work orders and stuff like that. So, when we were busy we got a bonus for it, but when we were slow I didn't get anything. They justified not ever giving us raises at all because they were raising our bonus pay instead.....really lame.
Then they decided to add a digital home electronics department that sold HD TVs, stereos, etc (at first it was just computers and related equipment). So, we got to start fixing all that stuff to, with no pay raise and extra responsibilities.
So, I left and got a new job. My job description wasn't too clear. They told me that they wanted me to focus on warranty repairs and support for all other staff. I supported 10,000 computers and about 60 to 70 servers. Then they added on that I work the help desk in shifts, then they told me I was in charge of the shop, then they told me that I also got to deal with all the Autodesk software (Auto CAD and the rest of them), then they told me that I got to do all that with out a promotion. I even helped write the scripts for our total imaging solution, still no promotion. However, I stuck in there and worked. After I left that job, I was still technically on their pay roll and still am because they have no certified staff with the same credentials as me, they posted a brand new job, which was a promotion which outlined all my previous responsibilities. So, at least they realized what I was doing was its own position in itself.
Then I get an email from a guy I used to work with years ago. He was one of the IT managers at my current job I have now. They called me in for an interview and it went well. They offered me the job and I said I wanted it but wanted to negotiate more money and some different responsibilities, and I got it.
It took me about 9 years to reach where I am, so its not like I accomplished this over night. I think the main problem is with our work force and no one ever wants to put time in, they just want to instantly climb to the top. I say if you don't go anywhere in three years, that is three years experience. Move on, get more experience and accomplish more. It looks good on a resume.
Now I am in charge of 6,000 laptops, 20 servers and a few thousand desktops. I get to work how I want to and at my own pace, and I am actually way more productive. In fact I am always working every second of the day. Right now I am installing software as we speak and pushing out some new policies. I can just multi task and surf the web at the same time.
I can fully understand your frustration! My brother went through something similiar (twice) with two separate companies over the past 15 years, one was Excellon Corp a manufactuer/research industrial computor manufactuering company, They down sized and down sized until lo and behold they announced since the company was having such a difficult time in locating qualified engineers and technicians they were moving the entire company to the intelectually educated utopia of .... wait for it....
Waaaaaiiiiit for it.......
Mexico! Now my brother has a Masters in Electrical/Electronic engineering, and is not far from his PHD how much more "Qualified do a person have to be???
__________________ "You can have my Freedom when I'm done with it!"
I feel your pain, I took a job at a tube mill in Oct. 06. The pain was crap but I needed the job and actually even though the mill itself was hands down the hardest job in the plant. I enjoyed the work, then everything started this current climb. Gas prices in my area hoovering around $3.00 a gallon, milk and eggs getting redicoulos. Last July, my supervisor started telling us new hires to hang in there we are going to get a nice raise at the first of the year. So like idiots several of us stayed around, I even passed up a job at Lowes disturbition because I liked what I was diong just needed more than 9 dollars a hour. First of the year came got my BIG raise, 38 cents! The infamous ex has furious as was I. She kept claiming that she had to pay all the bills, I gave her every dime I had left over after I paid the truck, insurance, and cell phone. I even offered to drop the cell but she said no because of our son. One of our biggest problems was money. When she bailed obviously I didnt have enough money to stay in at that place. I was tapped out. And then when things started to get ugly between us it just got worse. My grandmother offered to get a lawyer to protect my rights as a father if I moved in with her and found a job around here, so I did. When I got ahold of the human resources guy he told me they was looking into uping the pay to help everyone out. But they had to hire a group of advisors to do so and it would take 6months to another year!!!! Id like to know what those advisors are getting paid and just how many they are. She had a better job I worked there once before, but I quit it was after high school and Id rather be getting drunk or stoned than working and they wont rehire you once you quit. In that area I was out of options and I think that made her mad. It takes some people longer to find there niche, she hasnt learned that yet. But as far as work goes(swear trying to stay focused on this thread and not my perosnal issues)that was a bunch of crap, I finally got ahold of a lady in one of the 2 tube mills in my new area and they just filled enough jobs to run 2 roll forming tube mills on 3 shifts 2 weeks ago. And thats exactly what I did..
__________________
"You know its a hard hit when you see dirt fly off the back of the t.v.." - Reggie White
I can fully understand your frustration! My brother went through something similiar (twice) with two separate companies over the past 15 years, one was Excellon Corp a manufactuer/research industrial computor manufactuering company, They down sized and down sized until lo and behold they announced since the company was having such a difficult time in locating qualified engineers and technicians they were moving the entire company to the intelectually educated utopia of .... wait for it....
Waaaaaiiiiit for it.......
Mexico! Now my brother has a Masters in Electrical/Electronic engineering, and is not far from his PHD how much more "Qualified do a person have to be???
My company's union contract specifies they can't hire outside contractors to do our work, unless the workload is such that we can't handle it in-house. So they keep leaving more and more positions unfilled, and guess what? We can't handle the workload, so they have to hire outside contractors. Most of those contracting companies are owned and/or run by retired company management guys. Whoda thunk??
The problem is that our current economy is a very linear system based on the fact that consumers should keep buying and spending money on a constant basis. Well with inflation, now things will cost more, but our salary never scales with it. The federal minimum wage is still only $5.15/hour.
Instead of trying to discover a new system of a more adaptive economy we encourage everything and everyone to keep buying. What does the President say when in crisis? He says, my fellow Americans, go out and spend money, help drive our economy. Then at the same time we let big business out source, cheat taxes, and screw over employees and they get away with it every day and all the time.
You would think that if we actually reinvested back into our own nation we would create more jobs, people would make more money, and people therefore would spend more money and the value of our dollar would go back up.
Economics is kind of like quantum physics to a lot of people, and I agree it is hard to really fully understand what it is. Hell, I have no idea how things work on some economic scales, but what I do know is out sourcing helps the global community and screws over the local community. I do know that trickle down economics doesn't work at all in like 99% of cases. You take a look at Asia right now and their economies are booming like crazy. They are also internalists and they don't out source anything, and on top of that they are getting our out sourced jobs.
I also know that our economy is slowly losing its middle class. We are becoming a nation of the haves and have nots. There are more millionaire's per a capita now than there has ever been in the USA. However, this may sound good to some people, but what it is really doing is creating a larger gap between the middle and upper class pay scales. It will get larger and larger and our linear system will break eventually. i think this should be a major issue and that someone who knows what they are doing so come up with some solutions.
What happens when gas becomes 6 or even 10 dollars per a gallon? The millionaires will afford it in their giant SUVs and sports cars and the middle class guy that still makes 40k per a year and supports his family off it gets screwed even more. He is still making the same base salary and the price of everything goes up and he can barely afford to support his family. How is he going to spend money and drive the economy? He is not is the what is going to happen and this trend will get bigger and bigger and eventually it could cause a fall or even set a depression in.
You know who this is going to hurt the most imo. Any parent that has to pay child support. How is a parent that has to pay 90 dollars a week, going to make it. Right now it doesnt look like Im going to have to pay. Actually I marked down on a calender the days I'll have my son and if you count the days that we drop him off or pick him up. Im actually going to have him a little over half the time almost 3/4th the time. But he's only 2 right now what happens when he starts school. Right now I live to far away to take him to school. And even though I wouldnt be against finding a place more inbetween where Im at now and where she's at. Who's to say she wont move also? Im to the point in my life that all I want is a solid steady job making roughly 10-11 dollars a hour to start(rember Im in Indiana). Id like to start a gun/gunsmithing/outdoor gear shop. But Im not crazy not any time soon. If some of this happens parents that have to pay child support probably wont be able to see their child like they are suppose to because they will be living out of their truck. Just to be able to pay the child support. Tell me thats right?
__________________
"You know its a hard hit when you see dirt fly off the back of the t.v.." - Reggie White
This goes right with what I am saying. What happens when the price of everything goes up along with the costs of living and salaries do not? How will people afford to raise families at all? I mean kids are expensive. I don't have any kids but I know how expensive they are from all my friends that have kids.
Hope everything works out for you. Owning your own business can be rough as well. My parents own a business and some property and they are doing OK with it, but not super great.
Okay tlarkin here is one of my solutions, now I am NOT trying to be sarcastic and forgive my potential Misuse of terminology. But this is my solution as simplistic as it may appear.
1) All corporations, companys, cooperatives and Limited Legal Partnerships, irregardless of their size, nature of their product, service or purpose, having as their primary Headquarters or principle place of operations within the United States, it's possessions, territories, and/or protectorates shall be bound by the following statute as law.
a) Are required to maintain no less than 85% of the operational, managerial and/or the production workforce within their employ within the United States, it's possessions, territories and/or protectorates.
b) Are required to verify the legal citizenship of each and every employee hired.
c) Are prohibited by Law from realigning, reallocating, or redistribution of assets, manufacteuring facilities, or departmental divisions within said organizations with the purpose of or resulting in the circumvention of sect a) above.
2) Any corporation, company, cooperative and Limited Legal Partnership, irregardless of their size, nature of their product, service or purpose, having as their primary Headquarters or principle place of operations within the United States, it's possessions, territories, and/or protectorates. Whose primary consumer clientele is within the United States, it's possessions, territories and/or Protectorates shall be prohibited from any and all of the following actions/activities.
a) Outsourcing any division, department or section currently within the United States, it's possessions, territories, and/or protectorates to any foreign nation or entity which reduces or eliminates said division, department or sections total domestic U.S. work force by more than 1/2% per annum.
b) Relocating in toto any corporations, companys, cooperatives and Limited Legal Partnerships, irregardless of their size, nature of their product, service or purpose, having had as their primary Headquarters or principle place of operations within the United States, it's possessions, territories, and/or protectorates, to any foreign nation or entity. While still conducting any business whatsoever within within the United States, it's possessions, territories, and/or protectorates.
b)(1) Violation of above statute to incur tariffs of any and all products to the United States, it's possessions, territories, and/or protectorates. of 150% by statute.
__________________ "You can have my Freedom when I'm done with it!"
Thats exact;y what I am going through now tlarkin. Everything is more expensive than it was a year and a half ago when I got my last raise. No cost of living raise or anything since then. I got married last March and am expecting my son to be born on May 5th of this year. How am I supposed to be able to raise a family making the same amount of money that was barely enough when I was only supporting myself? I am trusting God to take care of me and he definitely has so far. I have been fortunate enough to be able to pick up odd jobs on the occasional weekend. My bro-in-law recently started his own fire sprinkler business so I have been helping him out about every other weekend or so. And for the Super Bowl on Sunday my BIL had a friend of a friend from back when he was in Vegas call him and ask him if he or someone he knew could pick him and a few other guys up from the airport and drive them to the game and then pick them up after the Super Bowl and drive them back to the airport. Him being the great guy he is and knowing that his sister and I oculd use the money directed them to us. Well, we ended up borrowing my in-laws Toyota Sequoia that day and driving 6 guys around. Got 500 dollars for it, now you tell me that wasn't the Lord providing my little boy with a crib, changin table, and rocking chair right there! I just thank God every day that I still have a job and for Him providing for me and family so well when we need it the most.
__________________
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are safe." - Luke 11:21
While I totally agree with you there comes a question about this. How do you do it and not violate anyone's or any businesses free enterprise rights?
I am not the person to come up with the answer but I always thought if we pushed corporations to hire and maintain with in the US by giving them tax breaks and perhaps even kick backs for investing money back into their country. If there was more of an incentive I think it would happen more.
This would also allow it to be a bit less regulated. Where if you had set federal requirements to sell or operate in the USA, you would have to create a department in the government to regulate it. Where if you just offered tax breaks and kick backs it wouldn't require such man power to back it.
Like I said there is no definite answer and it is something that someone or some people need to sit down and figure out. Trial and error it out if you aren't sure. Nothing works perfectly, and adjustments can always be made.
Your idea is good and I would back it as long as it didn't create some other tax sucking government department to regulate the big businesses.
I think incentives is more of the answer. It can be scaled too, for example:
Your company is 572 employees, so you fit into the 500 - 1000 employee bracket. Now for every US citizen employed you get a .05% tax credit, and for every factory and other company you deal with that is also in the country you get an additional tax credit, so on and so forth. If most of your business is conducted in the USA you can qualify for special low locked interest rate business loans. You create reasons for companies to stay and they will. Also, offer citizen ship programs through companies where they can sponsor non citizens and help them get visas. This will also take some load off of our government for immigration. The EU works this way, and it works well. Their economy is way better than ours.
tlarkin while I agree it is always more successful to employ a carrott rather than a stick to encourage the desired behaviors, one must realize that many, far too many major U.S companies have outsourced significant portions of their operations overseas while still reaping the preponderance of their business revenues from within Americas borders and from her citizens.
Basically what I see on it's face is this, many of the highest paid and most critical positions (those requiring significant education and/or technical skill) continue to be outsourced to foreign nations due to the signicantly reduced labor costs. Much of Americas work force have been forced out of such premium jobs and forced into much lower paying service positions (the current leader in new jobs). Essentially making many of our theretofor upper middle class into our lower middle class. A point of personal experience is my brother which I pointed out in a previous post, here is a man who possees a Master's Degree in Electronic/Electrical Engineering and is but a thesis away from a Doctorate and he can't find employment anywhere in his field of expertise! Why because all those jobs requiring such high levels of edcuation have be smuggled overseas in plain sight apparently with our governments blessing! What is he doing to make ends meet and keep food on the table? He's a car salesman at a Dodge dealership! It is beyond ridiculous that Amerca continues to tolerate the betrayal by companys whose fortunes and reputations were made on thsi soil to be sent overseas to the ultimate detriment of the very nation that made them what they are! Okay I'll stop ranting for a few moments and calm down a tad (just a tad)
__________________ "You can have my Freedom when I'm done with it!"
Thats exact;y what I am going through now tlarkin. Everything is more expensive than it was a year and a half ago when I got my last raise. No cost of living raise or anything since then. I got married last March and am expecting my son to be born on May 5th of this year. How am I supposed to be able to raise a family making the same amount of money that was barely enough when I was only supporting myself? I am trusting God to take care of me and he definitely has so far. I have been fortunate enough to be able to pick up odd jobs on the occasional weekend. My bro-in-law recently started his own fire sprinkler business so I have been helping him out about every other weekend or so. And for the Super Bowl on Sunday my BIL had a friend of a friend from back when he was in Vegas call him and ask him if he or someone he knew could pick him and a few other guys up from the airport and drive them to the game and then pick them up after the Super Bowl and drive them back to the airport. Him being the great guy he is and knowing that his sister and I oculd use the money directed them to us. Well, we ended up borrowing my in-laws Toyota Sequoia that day and driving 6 guys around. Got 500 dollars for it, now you tell me that wasn't the Lord providing my little boy with a crib, changin table, and rocking chair right there! I just thank God every day that I still have a job and for Him providing for me and family so well when we need it the most.
we can all expect more of this! I doubt you have any union were you work wouldn't realy matter in AZ any way do to it being a right to work state? by the way how are things over there? I use to work at the Perryville prison years ago, lived in Glenville in the mid 80's
A lot of money and jobs are in the private sector and a lot of them avoid anything union, because to them it is a risk. So, it works both ways.
I still think some of the best jobs out there are government jobs. This is based on my experience both in the private sector and in the public sector.
ezearln-
Yup you are so right, and maybe some regulation should be involved with incentives to keep business here in the USA. I am all about that, and that is why i try to buy from american companies. I just don't want to see another FCC, an agency with just too much power that actually hurts the consumer.
I sure hope no one will forget Slick Willy and his NAFTA. I can stiil see on the TV during a debate in which Ross Perot stated If NAFTA is passed, what America will hear is a big sucking sound and thats jobs going to Mexico. How true, how true. It was so simple, the American people apparently didn't beleive it. Thats why we have to get out and vote to save this country. I thought 9/11 was a wake up all for this country, but I was wrong. It's going to take something much larger in scale, what then. Bill Clinton should be held accountable, but we all know that's not going to happen. If Nafta was to improve the living condtions in Mexico, why do we have such an illegal immigation problem. I read a book some years ago that really opened my eyes and that was "The Immigration Timebomb.
The jobs that were outsourced to Mexico and other countries need to be brought home! The problem is finding a way to do that under the existing laws. I had a bad feeling about NAFTA, and guess what, it became fact. Bill Clinton has gotten away with everything he did, but the folks out there mindleesly parrot what a boon he was to the country. As long as that continues, we'll continue to lose as Americans. We need to stop voting the party line, and vote for what's best for the country.
We,the willing,
Led, by the unknowing,
Are doing the impossible,
For the ungrateful.
We have done so much,
For so long,
That we are now qualifited,
To do everything,
With nothing.
__________________
USAF 62-66 E-4
Resident Curmudgeon
We have been and still are being sold out.
You musta known some Seabees, that was our epitaph for years! We always got the leftover, woreout crap, left from a previous war, that the other services had no use for! We had a grader on Diego Garcia that was built in the thirties! It had seen every conflict we'd been involved in! When the engineers came to Guam in '75, they brought brand new vehicles along, that made our stuff look like it had been thru WW3! They got there too late to help with the refugees, but they got the lion's share of the credit, so we helped ourselves to some spare parts, complimments of the engineer battalion. I mean, we borrowed some essential needs from our brothers in arms!
Why do they call it "Right-sizing"?!?!? 
