In any case, I prefer when I have more work than not having any, but this is really too much. When I think they can’t add more to my plate, they add more anyway. The less benefits, the more work ,,, that's Ford.
I can't afford losing my job at the moment, and on the other hand, I don't know if it would change anything if I talked to my superior about this? Is there any way not to accept extra work without jeopardizing your job?
5 replies (most recent on top)
The company has always had a policy to ride the backs of those who do the work. After all, if a manager knows you can do the job, he will ride that horse so he or she meets their objective.
I know because I have had to do the work of 2 or 3 people before. But no more. I will take a package next year if offered. I am tired of it. The company I hired into is long gone. I do not recognize the place. I wish those near their 30 year and 55yr old mark good luck.
But I cannot trust what I hear coming out of JF or BF anymore. Thier actions speak more than their words. Trust is not one of them. You reduce NA PD headcount to only staff up south of the border! BF uses company funds to purchase an old train station with no accountability to the shareholders. I am sorry but that was terrible choice, he should step down. Because that clearly demonstrates he does not know what he is doing. First it was a tech center, then apartments, now an Art gallery. Sorry, those are excuses for failure. If Wall Street were smart request he step down.
This is really good soup for the soul, and the poster hit on multiple key points. I too had this happen to me, and I may take your advise. Others have been telling me this as well. I may even go so far as to tell my supervisor he's only getting 40 out of me- I'm beyond fed up and have checked out. It amazes me how we time and again hear about the people constantly put into "rain maker" roles while the ne'er do wells endure untouched because they don't want to have the tough conversations/take the necessary actions. Yep, our dept is full of them as well, and it amazes me the number of LL6's doing GSR work that barely meets SG8 definitions, while I have to play rain maker. Mind blowing...
@OP:
If you were to broach the subject from a "too much" work point of view, you'll surely get labeled as "a non-team player," "ungrateful because the alternative was to lose your job," "a work avoider," "somebody who does not want to pull his/her weight," etc, etc. They may take things off of your plate, but be prepared to suffer the consequences down the road, which could also mean them reassigning even more undesirable work later You will also most assuredly become a marked man/woman come job elimination time.
The only way I would broach the subject as you're describing is if it's super compelling and you can lay out your case with facts and examples. You'll also need to tie in how it hurts the company because it's only about what you're doing for them and what you will do for them. But I would only do this again if your case is beyond compelling.
This said, I think the only conversation you can have is around prioritization. But the key watch out is that they deprioritize all your easy duties while emphasizing all of the impossible. I've seen these conversations more than get turned around on people as well. Bottom line is to go in having rehearsed as many of their possible responses as possible (i.e. What's important? "All of it." Bottom line is you could come out of a conversation like that with more work and or little to no gain.
That's right, and precisely. You can see it everywhere in your lifestyle. Many businesses are reeling with only a handful of staff within their establishments. "We're hiring" signs on every building the country over, and it's not because people are getting paid too well to sit home. That's nonsense. The premium pay ended months ago. We even see some businesses folding up due to lack of staff.
We work in an industry that is already skeleton crew. I'm told we had two reqs open for new hires, and what we picked up were two "green" individuals. Green, green, green. One fresh out of college, and one unknown. That was the best that was available. Our last "prior" recruit met half of the hiring criteria, but they caught on just fine with proper coaching. I'm not so optimistic this time. They don't know anything, about much of anything, and this is a required combined expertise position. It'll be a nightmare.
Current dates and workloads are always being pushed back. Engineers and management requesting things simply to check off their box, yet it takes notable time on our end to meet their check mark.
When the shot mandates are executed, and there is a timeline for dismissal, I will have zero issue sitting out for years or decades. None, nada, ziltch. Let the system burn itself to the ground. They'll find that neither the carrot, or the stick has worked.
If they want these EVs and AVs to take off, they best re-evaluate their incoming brain drain.
Just wait and see how that workload gets 10x worse if mgmt continues down the path of eliminating those who believe their personal medical choices are their own business and no one else's.
That happened to me before Covid-19. My team was looking good until then, because some of us were carrying it in our backs. Upper management overloaded us; after all we had the numbers for it (in paper). The problem was we were already overworked by doing the slackers part, so now it was really bad.
Some of my teammates resorted to work over 70-80 hours a week, but the projects were long term, and after a few months, some were already burned out. Management was cutting corners, going back on decisions already made and creating more work, it was chaos. Some of the good people left our team or the company. The rest of the hard working employees started to slow down after a year, and at one point, managers moved the deadlines further in the future or reduced the requirements to deliver in time.
At the end, some managers (the crappiest of all) were promoted. All managers were congratulated for a good job. The result was awful, barely able to meet the diluted requirements, and we had so many pending things, that we were still working in the projects months after they were "delivered".
As I said before, some of the best people left, but no slacker was replaced or let go. Managers did not listen to us, and the LL6s didn't have enough authority to change anything, including deadlines. However, when the big managers' bonuses were in danger, all was fixed to look like a success.
I was very disappointed with the company. I got a "bigger" salary increase, but not as big as I was expecting after taking care of so many things. Of course, during the SRD (and since then), I was concerned because having a higher salary than your peers could be the reason to lose my job.
After that "experience", I try to keep it to only 40 hours a week. Yes, I don't do as much as I used to, but I am still doing more than the slackers. If I cannot deliver in time because I have too many projects or last minute "emergencies" at work, then I don't deliver in time. Yeah, I am not in the center of all the issues anymore, but I haven't lost my job yet. BTW, I decided to ride this "pony" this way, better to lose my job than being overworked. It is a personal decision.
@OP. You could go for the 70-80 hours a week, but remember that no matter your skills or contributions to the company, you are not valued by management and you could be let go at any moment.
I recommend to ask your manager for priorities and focus to deliver the most critical. As long as you deliver something, you should be in the clear. Having several projects open at the same time, with no end in sight, looks really bad in the annual review. Work smart, not hard. Good luck!