I need to vent about work.

kevisazombie · 2020-10-14T00:32:39+00:00

If you’re not a founder you’re somebody’s bitch

Revolution885 · 2020-10-14T00:40:12+00:00

This resonates with me deeply. At one point in my position, I was coming in early, staying late, and hesitant to use vacation time to meet deadlines. Over the years, since those things did not result in pay raises or even an acknowledgement, I slowly started to pull back my work. I'm doing just enough now to avoid the gaze of the higher ups, and not an ounce of effort more. Clock in, clock out. You are indeed a nameless cog in thier machine.

2020-10-14T01:32:19+00:00

Don’t ever give those fuckers a minute of your free time. Once you start, it becomes expected. And if you start and then stop, they will call it actionable behavior for being less productive. Corporate America, or whatever country you’re in, doesn’t give a fuck about you. Only their bottom line.

eewing99 · 2020-10-14T00:50:37+00:00

Take the pay and don’t excel, if your PM asks why you aren’t pulling the same weight you used to just say “My effort is equal to my recognition, and my pay recognizes this much effort.”

You might want to start trying to go 1099/Contractor for the company in the same role and work out a better pay system for yourself so you can choose your own hours, skip those useless meetings, and only have to answer to the PM or his direct under instead of your middle men Admins and other garbage.

Coming from Construction, going 1099 (out of Union/on my own) has been the best decision I’ve ever made and I plan on sticking with it foe a long time.

Good luck and stay frosty

ctgjerts · 2020-10-14T00:55:53+00:00

I've worked at large companies one time. Rose through the ranks to the point of having 400 direct reports. Got let go on a holiday weekend for not playing the political game. Spent the next 15 yrs working for private equity firms as part of workout teams involved in going into distressed companies. Found out small is the way to go. Made others rich beyond imagination and now I'm doing the same for myself.

Figure out what you want to do. Whether it's stay or go do your own thing. If you stay plan on the micro management continuing. I'd advise you to think about starting your own firm and sub contracting your work to the company you're currently employed by. Charge a lot more than you think it will take - the biggest mistake new small biz owners make is not charging enough.

General_Fear · 2020-10-14T01:47:19+00:00

It's best just do a good job and do enough to avoid getting fired.

Don't knock yourself out for a company. Come in early. Leave late. Take work home. Then there is a change of management and all that good will you built up is out the window.

TheRiseAndFall · 2020-10-14T02:00:11+00:00

I am sorry this happened to you as I've been in this very same boat a few times. I learned that hard way that corporate couldn't give two shits about you. It's all a game of numbers for them.

I lead a big project two years back where 60-80 hour days were the only way to accomplish the work on time. Our team was small because most of the group was busy with another project and the six of us had to do six months of work in three. I ended up even sleeping at the office a couple of times.

What did I get out of it? A swift kick in the ass. Once we delivered, the project manager took full credit for leading the team despite undermining my work at every turn. He was half the reason why I had to put in extra time. He never communicated issues to the customer and when issues came up it was hell at the office. At the end I had the project taken away from me because he rose a stink to my boss's boss's boss. Three months later he was let go because turned out it was his fault after all. Did I get an apology and get my project back? lol no.

Anyway, having to stay at work til 8 or 9 PM every day meant that sometimes I got home after 10PM. I still made dinner and hit the gym. Then back in the office by 8. After six months of this it took its toll. Once off the project I was given a much more leisurely assignment. I still usually needed to stay til 6 or 7PM as most of the updates from the team came in at 4 or 5 when their tasks were done and I needed to do my part. Nobody even talked to me before 10PM. So I started coming in at 10 and leaving at 6:30. My boss, who is a grade A retard when it comes to management, though a decent engineer started complaining. I would not see him for a week or two, then an update email makes it past his desk and he swoops in with questions. Why is this not done? What is happening with that? I give him my verbal update, despite having written ones sent to him when needed. He then disappears again for a week. But anytime I roll in after 9AM he's on my ass.

I do not understand the whole issue with being in the office at exactly 9AM or earlier in a non-customer facing job. I have had five bosses so far and only two have ever cared about when I was in the office in the morning. It was the two who had no idea how to do their job, never knew what anyone was doing, and did not understand our work. The other three were involved, highly competent, and judged workers based on their accomplishments and not their daily itinerary.

theslimeonmyballs · 2020-10-14T02:38:21+00:00

Working in a corporate meat grinder suits some us. I don't mind it. But whether you're a coder, doctor, labourer or an accountant; your job description is none of those things. Your job is managing expectations. That's what you do for a job. You do that by doing some coding or accounting or whatever.

I'd call another meeting with managment and indicate that 'in the interest of maintaining a mutually beneficial value based relationship' you need to know exactly what are the expectations your employer has of you so you can continue to meet them. This may include workhours, output, bullshit 'soft-skills' e.t.c. But make sure EVERYTHING is specified exactly so your performance can be accuratley measured(and verified) by both yourself and your employer.

Now you have a baseline. You now know what you need to do to keep your job. Give them that and 2 percent more for a buffer. Now I'm not saying don't go the extra mile. Feel free to but follow this rule: Be certain that of you do, any benefit you expect to derive is a) Certain and b) Quantifiable. If any of these requirements are not met, stick with the baseline + 2% rule.

Setting yourself on fire to keep your employer warm is also doing a disservice to your colleagues too. You are subconciously raising your employers expactations of staff in general by raising the average. Don't be that guy.

Ok-Collection-8948 · 2020-10-14T01:59:10+00:00

You’ve got a great work ethic. Keep at it, some people are always oblivious.

CoinSwapTrader · 2020-10-14T02:40:53+00:00

Bosses love threatening your raise with any excuse, then see how long youll still stick around the job with no raise...then they will measure your dependence on them and thus can exploit you more...The more they need you the more they will seek to make you FEEL like you are nothing and useless and easily replaceable (even if they cant replace you fast...) If they can get you to convince yourself that you are worthless then they can exploit you more easily!

ElectricalCost0 · 2020-10-14T02:44:05+00:00

I worked at three large acute care, extended care and rehab hospitals for 29 years. Support Services is the red headed stepchild no one wants but still needs to keep equipment working. There was enough money for nursing, the techs, the MDs but at the expense of plant services. Whenever things got tight they would insist we would do without. They didn’t appreciate a $20 part would completely disable a $30,000 bath tub or patient bed. To get the $20 part we needed a purchase order costing $60 by itself. We complained to the union and they told us to work to rule, or just blindly follow orders using correct policy procedure. Nothing screws things up like that! Within several weeks we were back to doing things the way we had been doing it and without a peep from management.

In other words, follow their dictates until it crashes. And don’t be afraid to go several levels above the guilty manager to vindicate yourself. If you are good they will not fire you and if they do, they aren’t worth working for.

UglyScarTissue · 2020-10-14T06:38:25+00:00

You sound like a hard working bloke who cares about the job that he does. That's very laudable and good on you.

This being said, when you work in a large organization -- you are just a cog in a large machine and no matter how right you are, corporate politics will always win out.

Large companies will toss you to the gutter without batting a single eyelash so really, I'm having a hard time understanding why you put up with this. A guy with your work ethic and your skills can find a job anywhere, just ditch that toxic pile.

You'll be much better off working for a smaller organization where your efforts will make a bigger difference to be honest.

If you really want to stay there and truly got praises form other engineers in the org, try to get transferred to where those engineers are at least.

In a big company, you should be strictly pay to play. Don't work one hour more than what they are willing to pay you. As someone already said here better than I could, don't give your 150% when giving 102% will be more than enough.
I started my own business to get out of that rat race. Best move I ever did (IT).

ThrowawayGYOW · 2020-10-14T02:11:59+00:00

Sorry my man. That sounds pretty familiar. The Devs at my tech company also experience similar levels of burnout.

My perspective from a Business function (Corp Strategy & Dev): You're an engineer, you're a the commodity that I get $5,000 if I recruit. If your company's treating you like a housewife treats you, then you're in a perfect position to tell them to fuck off.

There's cooler, better products where you can make more money out there.

firstpitchthrow · 2020-10-14T06:55:20+00:00

first rule of corporate: do not care about any job, employer, superior or co-worker, until they prove to you that you should care. Second rule: the rules are the rules, but even as a serf, you'd be surprised how much flexibility you actually have.

I've been at the job I have right now for a dozen years. The reason I stay is that the President and CEO of the company has known me since I was 10 years old. His wife and kids drove me to the post office when I mailed my college applications.

Even if you don't have that kind of situation, you need to understand that you are under no obligation to work hard if that doesn't suit your career and your options. At the company I work at, we just worked the past entire weekend, and no one complains, because the management is competent.

There is one manager I'm not a fan of. It's not nearly dysfunctional or anything, but I know he'll stab me in the back if it makes him a nickel. When dealing with people like that, always keep in mind what you are responsible for and what you are not responsible for, and never do more than you have to.

If it's mission critical and he needs it, I'll do it for him. If it's not, and I disagree with it, I just won't do it. I'm busy enough that I can justify pretty much anything as "low priority" and not have it really be questioned. If I trust someone, I'll have the conversation about why I don't think it's a good idea, if I don't trust someone, I won't have the conversation, because it's not worth my time, and it's not part of my job to have that conversation. I'll just ignore it. I would never do that for people I trust, but if I don't trust you, I'm not going to be insubordinate if it is a request you have the authorization and the need to make, however, I am not going to go out of my way to help you. If I know something, I'll keep it to myself, something I would never do for the people I trust.

You are not responsible for overtime. You are not responsible for going the extra mile. You are not responsible for the project's success. Your manager is responsible for the project's success. You have no obligation to work more than the normal 9 to 5 and the rest of the time is your time. If the project fails because it doesn't get done, that's your manager's problem; he didn't assign appropriate resources. That is not your problem, unless you're not working the 9 - 5 (that is, unless you're not putting in the time you are obligated to).

Here's the thing about the meetings. You have to understand: your managers have no idea what it is you do. At the place where I work, we've got a ton of really bright electrical engineers, and we've got a couple really good accountants. I often watch the accountants work and I cannot figure out what it is they do. I watch the engineers work, and I have no clue in hades what it is they do. They tell me the same thing: "when we watch you write computer programs, we have no idea how you do what you do."

Your boss is similar. Your boss can't discern good code from a hole in the ground. Your boss can track that you didn't show up for a meeting, and your boss can track that you weren't at your desk at 9 AM.

Your boss is tracking what they CAN, not what is IMPORTANT. They have no way of knowing what's important, because they do not understand what it is you do. However, they are obligated to measure what you do and to assign a score to it somehow for a performance review. If I was an Electrical Engineer manager, my knowledge of the field is so limited, I couldn't tell you what makes something quality work. I am completely unqualified for that. Your boss is similar.

Here's the good news: your boss also has no idea why a project fails or succeeds. That's what separates good management from bad management. I have a rule that I've noticed many times in the corporate world in my life: if a boss is two levels removed from what I do, his knowledge of my contribution or value to a project is zero. My boss might know what I do, and what my contribution is, but my boss' boss will have zero clue. All my boss' boss has to judge my performance is whether I attended all the meetings and whether I showed up at 9 and left at 5. If a project has more than two layers of management between you and the PM, there will be no credit for you if you work extra hard to succeed, and no penalty if you put in your 9 - 5 and nothing else. The incentive structure is obvious. At that level, if the project fails, the PM gets the blame. You aren't helping yourself with extra work to get the job done, you're helping the PM's career. He got the job done at a cheap cost. Don't let him do that. If the project falls behind, he is obligated to add more resources. If he doesn't, he gets the blame, because guess what? The PM's boss doesn't understand what the PM does, but the PM's boss sure as hell understands that the project is behind schedule. That's the PM's in office everyday at 9 and has attended all the meetings.

Unshack · 2020-10-14T01:11:05+00:00

If you not delivering software development libraries as the product the design pattern is not relevant as long as it makes basic sense and gets the job done. The customer will never see it and doesn't care.

This_Wrangler · 2020-10-14T01:34:30+00:00

Time for leetcode.

pilllogical · 2020-10-14T01:48:10+00:00

Consider walking across the bridge before burning it. There's always work out there for great people. Find the work where they respect you. Move up or move out until you find that. Don't forget to enjoy the ride through and learn learn learn.

Bitcoin_Bastard · 2020-10-14T10:40:02+00:00

For god's sake the PM even sent out an email to the entire program recognizing me!

Go and see him and talk to him directly. Trust me he will make time for you if you are carrying the weight of the business.

I used to do this whenever some fucking idiot tried to undermine me.

I knew I was the best worker in the office so when someone got under my feet i would make sure the boss found out I was unhappy (in my case it would be just syaing I was pissed off and going to leave in front of his secretary (she would tell him everything everyone did or said) sure enough I'd get a call into his office "hey B_B everything alright?" "Well not really boss bit pissed off to be honest"

Next thing I knew i was given a pay rise and the "offender" an untalented woman (no shit) was given a "talking to"

She never crossed me again.

I live by the phrase "the squeakiest wheel gets the grease" it always works

jd46249 · 2020-10-14T02:43:01+00:00

Management always sucks. They prefer ass kissers to actual doers.

goldenmic908909 · 2020-10-14T07:22:12+00:00

FAANG?

silly_birb · 2020-10-14T07:29:27+00:00

If there's somethingbiblearned is that it's comoanies care more of theirbuseless meetings than actual work.

It's like in highschool, they want you to fit in woth them or they will hate you for being the one that stays home to get better grades.

That's why many men begin to open startups and take commissions from those same companies, because at least they can decide the amount of work based on their staff.

RangoDj · 2020-10-14T07:35:19+00:00

Similar case. I have been part of a security team where I do the heavy lifting while being hugely underpaid. I thought that since it's a learning phase this thing may be normal. But soon I realised that only thing that matters to the boss is what new I did today. Being an analyst I was doing investigation, analysis, report writing, attending meeting, developing, training, writing RFPs, manuals. That was not at all 9 to 5. I was advised to sign-in before 10 min of the actual sign-in time. I regularly stayed late because other team mates are too professional(leave on time) and no matter what boss loved them. I never licked so I was always on the receiving end.

I was called to the office in the night 12 or sometimes 1 o'clock in the morning to help others. My personal life was 0 other than the tea I have with me in the evening. I almost forgot that being part of a team who had 6 members I was always scolded for their mistakes. Because 4 of them were girls. In last 2 years I got a raise of only $136. And many times I referred to as unproductive and my juniors were asked to take care of me.

I'm still working there but I took an unpaid leave of few days for myself. My boss already called me many times and literally requesting me to come back. I heard from some team members that clients are scolding my boss for poor reports and how nobody in the team is able to complete things on time. I don't know what should I do.

Neldot · 2020-10-14T10:12:14+00:00

I'm sorry for you, but you have to adapt to this shit. What you describe, it's exactly the textbook way how useless managers affirm their power towards the most useful employees, like you.

Aussie_Chart_Trader · 2020-10-15T00:25:00+00:00

I don't know what to tell you mate. But I know where you're coming from.

You can't win.

You don't work overtime, it doesn't get done, and you're reprimanded. You do work overtime, you get it done, and you're reprimanded for something else (lateness, quality, whatever).

You're a hardworking dude. Look for another job, but don't expect it to be different. In future, maybe tell them straight-up that 3 guys is not enough for a project that size or with such a quick turnaround.

Take it easy.

bitcoin-optimist · 2020-12-03T05:57:05+00:00

However, today I was called into a sit-down with management. They informed me that skipping these meetings (to do actual work) and getting in at 9:15 is unacceptable. Some of the higher-ups have noticed and are not happy about it. I told my manager that they need to be enlightened to the fact that I routinely stay far later than should rationally be expected and have given up weekends for this team. All things considered I failed to see how skipping morning standup a few times is such an egregious offense.

Welcome to game development.

https://imgur.com/gallery/klt2iAH

Title	I need to vent about work.
Author	GaiusClaudiusNero
Upvotes	64
Comments	48
Date	October 14, 2020 12:31 AM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MGTOW
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MGTOW/comments/jaq4x7/i_need_to_vent_about_work/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MGTOW/i-need-to-vent-about-work.320778 https://theredarchive.com/post/320778

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