When work sucks everyday...

My company has too many demands and too few people. Upper management thinks everything is good as long as the work gets done. Having too much work Is making me grumpy and bitter all the time and is affecting my personal life.

Is anyone really satisfied with their jobs? Jump ship? Work it thru it even tho it looks like backup is not coming anytime soon? Resume has been updated btw....

Fyi - My stainless steel braided brake lines came in today and I didnt even crack a smile .... That's a bad sign.

I'm with you, man.

Funny you mention the brake lines, though. I got those, two calipers, 4 rotors, full set of pads, and a new master cylinder. I just kindof grumbled about "more friggin' boxes" and continued on my way.

The only difference is that our upper management doesn't think everything is good, because all the work isn't getting done. Because we're understaffed and already working TONS of overtime. But they made promises that we really can't keep, so it's up to us to drive ourselves like slaves so they can cover their asses. Love it.

Read "The Prince"

Make sure the lack of people creates multiple problems that forces upper management closer to the front lines.

Don't implicate yourself in the above scheme.

Their POV? If the work is getting done, you have enough people.

My upper management wants to try new thing or implements new things and wants our opinion before they do it, but in reality, they've already made a decision, they just want us to feel warm and fuzzy inside because they make us think we had a part in a decision.

Oh and all the new crap makes work more difficult and take longer. So it makes us rush jobs, skip steps, and leave customers unhappy.

yup, overtime is cheaper than more people. Don't worry, upper management will take that long lunch and still be home by 4:30. You'll need to come in on Sunday, (can I get an Officespace sound bite here?)

Unhappy? Haven't had a chance to think of it while I ask my particular job's version of "You want fries with that?"

jamscal wrote: Read "The Prince"

http://www.cracked.com/article_18787_6-books-everyone-including-your-english-teacher-got-wrong.html http://www.unt.edu/honors/eaglefeather/2007_Issue/kniatt8.shtml

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: But they made promises that we really can't keep, so it's up to us to drive ourselves like slaves so they can cover their asses. Love it.

And once you do that to cover their asses, they've just "proved" that they were actually really smart because see, you did it. And if you did it once, you can probably do it again, and maybe a bit more this time...

keethrax wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: But they made promises that we really can't keep, so it's up to us to drive ourselves like slaves so they can cover their asses. Love it.

And once you do that to cover their asses, they've just "proved" that they were actually really smart because see, you did it. And if you did it once, you can probably do it again, and maybe a bit more this time...

Keethrax is a smart man..

In my line of work.. People set stretch goals all the time, silly silly ones. But sometimes we achieve those goals. Once that happens, the goal gets moved out farther.

Do you work at my job?

"management" where I work is limited to a single human being. He threw a HUGE wrench in the works last week and we practically ground to a halt. We have had to work like raped apes to make up for that transgression. Our whole system is a clusterberkeley right now because of it, I really hope we can pull out of the downward spiral!

Maroon92 wrote: Our whole system is a clusterberkeley

I'm going to be thinking about that for months.

Either I'm really lucky, or I have this whole work thing figured out.

No drama, no BS. I just do my thing.

The only problem is, i still have to go 14 days a month.

Bossman stretches the team until we scream, then he stretches us some more.

huge-O-chavez wrote:

keethrax wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: But they made promises that we really can't keep, so it's up to us to drive ourselves like slaves so they can cover their asses. Love it.

And once you do that to cover their asses, they've just "proved" that they were actually really smart because see, you did it. And if you did it once, you can probably do it again, and maybe a bit more this time...

Keethrax is a smart man.. In my line of work.. People set stretch goals all the time, silly silly ones. But sometimes we achieve those goals. Once that happens, the goal gets moved out farther.

Yeah, i understand that. Just not in my nature to only meet my goals and nothing further. I work the same whether the goals are ridiculous or normal. The main part that sucks is hearing them spout about "We must reduce the inventory by April 15th!!!!!!!" every freaking day, and having to spend the time every day to explain why old inventory is old.

Stop wasting my time and let me work on it instead of reporting on it, you dumbberkeleys.

In reply to OP's questions. I think some people really are satisfied with their jobs. Not that there's any jobs that aren't annoying. I just think in some situations the compensation is worth the annoyance.

So unless the compensation in your current place is something exceptional I would say jump ship ASAP and keep doing it until you find a job you like.

How easy is it for you to find another job?

Just saw your line of work in a previous post. I have a good friend who used to work in a small ad agency in San Francisco and described his job almost the same way you describe yours. He left about a year ago to do search engine optimization at a big tech company and loves it. He says the work is about 1/10th what it used to be.

huge-O-chavez wrote:

keethrax wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: But they made promises that we really can't keep, so it's up to us to drive ourselves like slaves so they can cover their asses. Love it.

And once you do that to cover their asses, they've just "proved" that they were actually really smart because see, you did it. And if you did it once, you can probably do it again, and maybe a bit more this time...

Keethrax is a smart man.. In my line of work.. People set stretch goals all the time, silly silly ones. But sometimes we achieve those goals. Once that happens, the goal gets moved out farther.

Reminds me of an old Andy Capp line: 'Never show 'em everything ya got, they'll expect you to keep it up for the duration.'

I'm quite happy about my job! It's ending tomorrow.

One of the nice things about having worked a whole lot of different jobs over the years is I can really appreciate the work situation I have today.

Am I thrilled with every aspect of my job? No. But I work with good people, and for good people.

There are jobs I would hate, no matter how good the situation is. I do not like comission sales in any way, shape, or form. Btdt. No matter how nice the boss is, how much they try to coach me, the job itself is a lousy fit for me.

There are work environments that are terrible, and fundamentally cannot improve. B&D, where every project is do or die. For if your teams project fails, everyone on the team will be fired. It's a terrifying work environment. Equally, working in a small shop where the owner is a tyrant, that will not ever improve.

I can't speak for you, but I can put up a with a lot at work because being a guy, I can compartmentalize and leave it at the job when I go home. But, having worked good and bad jobs, I'm far less inclined to put up with that today. Not that I'm interested in joining the unemployment lines, but I'm not interested in joining the bitter folk crowd either.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

huge-O-chavez wrote:

keethrax wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: But they made promises that we really can't keep, so it's up to us to drive ourselves like slaves so they can cover their asses. Love it.

And once you do that to cover their asses, they've just "proved" that they were actually really smart because see, you did it. And if you did it once, you can probably do it again, and maybe a bit more this time...

Keethrax is a smart man.. In my line of work.. People set stretch goals all the time, silly silly ones. But sometimes we achieve those goals. Once that happens, the goal gets moved out farther.

Yeah, i understand that. Just not in my nature to only meet my goals and nothing further. I work the same whether the goals are ridiculous or normal. The main part that sucks is hearing them spout about "We must reduce the inventory by April 15th!!!!!!!" every freaking day, and having to spend the time every day to explain why old inventory is old. Stop wasting my time and let me work on it instead of reporting on it, you dumbberkeleys.

Well the "I work the same": seems to be in opposition to "so it's up to us to drive ourselves like slaves" bit that I quoted.

I learned my lesson. Busted my ass to cover a ridiculous deadline once. Put in 6 80+ hour weeks of hard work to do it. Got the job done, but it wasn't a sustainable rate. Suddenly all the scheduling looks like that's the expected production. Told the boss he was nuts. Got told essentially "well you just did it." So I left, and I feel sorry for the poor bastard who got the job after me.

I don't mind busting my ass because something unexpected went wrong, particularly if said something was outside our control. I mean, E36 M3 happens sometimes, and other times what seemed like a reasonable schedule turns out not to be. I can live with those But I no longer bust my ass too hard to cove the unrealistic promises of others without a clear understanding that I'm doing them a big favor and they damn well better not assume I'll be likely to do it again next time. Some of this clearly depends on how much input I had into the deadlines. If I said I'd do it in that time frame, you bet your ass I'll do everything I can to get it done. If I said it can;t be done in that time-frame, I don't see it as my problem.

Currently I:m almost three months ahead of schedule on my current project (now that I've written that something is going to bite me in the ass...) We're doing some stuff that as far as I know has never been done before, so there was an awful lot of generous guess work in the schedule. I'm not slowing down just because I'm getting ahead. If everything wraps up faster, great! Time to move on to something else, or see if I can help out someone working on a different piece of this project. But on the flip side, if I'm behind because the schedule is ridiculous, that's not my problem either. And management who regularly treats it like it is is likely to find themselves even farther behind schedule when I find better management elsewhere.

Being an outside contractor makes this somewhat easier. As it's pretty simple to just not take jobs form company X again, of even not to take jobs where I'll be reporting to idiot Y, and still taking other jobs at company X. Though really, I've been working for the same people for almost three years at this point, so it's been a while since I've had to shop for a new gig.

I hear you... i think i was just trying to say that i work this hard all year, put in 55-60 hour weeks all year, when only 40 is required @ 100% production. I usually put in 60 hours @ 180%+ production. All year.

That's what i was trying to say, when i say i work no harder if they're cracking the whip or not. They can't count on me to ramp up my work pace/hours to cover their asses.

Friend of mine once said there's only three kinds of jobs. Jobs you love, jobs that suck because they're hard, and jobs that suck because they're boring.

I've worked in companies ranging from large multi-national corporations, to small independently owned businesses, over a time spam of 25-years, and have come to the following brutal conclusions:

1.) In a private company, the owner(s) will be the weakest link. And no matter how hard you work or prove yourself, unless you're related to them, or buy your way in, you'll never make it to the top.

2.) In large public-traded corporations, the company is largely managed to the growth of the stock price to please the shareholders, often with little regard to the longevity of the business. But give the time, talent, education and persistence, you can(in theory) climb all the way to the top.

I dunno. Guess I'm in a minority here. They have a job. They offer it to you. You take it. In return, they pay you. End of agreement.

If you don't like the job, quit and get another one. It's not really thier problem. As long as they're paying you to do the job, you should do it. You entered into the agreement. If it doesn't work for you anymore, you have the freedom to terminate it.

There are larger issues, but in the interest of not derailing the thread, I'll leave it at that. The way things are now, that's how it is.

petegossett wrote: I've worked in companies ranging from large multi-national corporations, to small independently owned businesses, over a time spam of 25-years, and have come to the following brutal conclusions: 1.) In a private company, the owner(s) will be the weakest link. And no matter how hard you work or prove yourself, unless you're related to them, or buy your way in, you'll never make it to the top. 2.) In large public-traded corporations, the company is largely managed to the growth of the stock price to please the shareholders, often with little regard to the longevity of the business. But give the time, talent, education and persistence, you can(in theory) climb all the way to the top.

Really interesting. I've only worked for #2s. Everything being about the bottom line can be a pain, but the rules are clear. If you play by them and work to make it happen, I've found your observation to be true.