<p>HImom, it has been my impression that people work at non-profits for psychic income, not financial income, so I’m guessing those who work there are generally more satisfied with the actual work they do. As opposed to us Corporate louts who feel like we’re just helping the Big Boys get richer and not saving mankind.</p>
<p>Are you psychic, HiMom?? If so, what are today’s lottery numbers? We can all win and then we don’t have to work for anyone :)</p>
<p>This is not what I see among lawyers. Morale is low, anxiety is high, but those who are busy are very grateful to be busy. They used to take it for granted.</p>
<p>“Where I work, we are losing people (luckily, most through attrition) and they are not being replaced. Yet the same amount of work must be done, and the deadlines seem to be tighter each quarter. So we are all feeling that. Add to that the lack of loyalty that companies (especially bigger ones) seem to have toward their employees, and everyone’s on edge.”</p>
<p>Yup. This seems to be the common pattern. Companies really look for loyal employees but when economics are involved they show no loyalty to those employees. They seem to expect us to be happy to have a job and to put up with poor working conditions. It sure is nice to be at the end of my career where I just don’t care. I spent way, way too long swallowing the corporate lies. Where I work, there is little concern especially about the long term employees. There know that we are unlikely to leave when we are within 5 or 10 years of retirement.</p>
<p>My specific boss – the psychopath – rubs his hands together in delight when he realizes he’s got a good employee whom he’s grossly under-paying. He asked me about a particular employee – whether she was asking dumb questions – and when i said that her questions were actually quite thoughtful, he rubbed his hands together and said, “Not bad for $37,000 a year, huh?”</p>
<p>It was as if he was gleeful that he could get away with it.</p>
<p>My company officially has a 3% merit increase “pot” every year. Theoretically, if you give Joe 5%, you have to give Sally 1%, so the total overall is only 3%. Yet I know my boss’s boss (the OCD lady) received 7.1%. So there are rules, and there are rules.</p>
<p>Two years ago I had one of the few job reviews that I have had. My boss gave me a great review and then told me how much money he thought I made. His amount was at least 15% higher than my actual salary. First he told me I was wrong and did not know how much I made and then he checked and told me that he would work on getting me an adjustment. I am still waiting… When I quit and give the minimal notice, I will be sure to explain that I am relocating because I cannot afford to live here. Of course, I will not mention the forgotten adjustment. I am willing to bet there is a magical, last minute salary offer. It seems to take a resignation to get a raise. For me it will be too late regardless of the amount.</p>
<p>I enjoy my job (most days). But my situation is different than some, I was out of the paid workforce for 10+ years and returned a few years ago so I am not “burned out” at this point. Also, I am fortunate in that I was able to take a support position in my field (accounting) which is fewer hours and less stress. Not everyone has this option, and I feel truly blessed.</p>
<p>I was recently talking to two friends who are my age (they don’t know each other) who are also very happy in their jobs. One was in finance, but changed careers to nursing which she has found to be very fulfilling. The other is a teacher’s aid in a school with many low income students.</p>
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<p>I’ve been in the corporate world for 30+ years, and worked in non-corporate for 10 years before that. (In other words, I’ve been around.) Giving someone a counter-offer when they’re about to leave never, never, never works. The company might keep the person for the short-term – two months, maybe six months – but the things that bothered the employee haven’t changed; the employee will resent that it took his quitting to get more money and wonder why he wasn’t “worthy” of it before; and emotionally the employee will have already decided to move on.</p>
<p>edad, it will be interesting to see what happens in your situation. Good luck.</p>
<p>Actually we have had a number of employees turn in resignations and then get an offer of a better salary. Several have stayed with good results. That only happens when management wakes up and realizes they need the individual and have been underpaying. A more typical response is anger. We expect our employees to be happy and loyal even if they are underpaid or have poor working conditions. Once they have left we usually think poorly of them and blame them for numerous problems.</p>
<p>I would predict I will get the counter offer unless management realizes I have sold my house and reached the point of no return. I can also predict that I will later be blamed for some problems which I did not create. I can also predict with a high degree of certainty that my current position will become two positions with a total cost of over twice my salary.</p>
<p>Here, people have a tendency to leave the company and go work for a competitor for a while…then come back. Never fails, when they come back they are always hired with a (much) higher salary than what they had when they left…and much higher than the people who never left the company in the first place. Again - very discouraging.</p>
<p>When I got an offer from my current employer, I told them I was thrilled to have the offer, thought they were a super company, but would be really happy if the starting salary could be XXXX higher. They met my request. Going forward, however, I figure I’ll be lucky if I get anything more than a few percent a year. If you don’t negotiate it when you’re going in, you’ll never get it. They never want you more than before they have you.</p>
<p>Unhappy with my job? Naw . . . </p>
<p>I just got, through my Outlook calendar, invitations for 15 meetings (well, conference calls), each of which will take place from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM every day to prepare for a big system cutover.</p>
<p>I can’t wait! What a blast!!</p>
<p>Inspite of not being happy with my job, inspite of being really P.O.'d about the salary and inspite of being in limbo waiting for the prospective buyers to get loan approval so I can sell my house and retire, inspite of all lot of other resentments…well here I am at work. My whole neighborhood was shut down due to the big snowstorm, but I dug out enough to get my car on the road and commute the 31 miles on poorly cleaned roads. Something is seriously wrong with the work ethic of my generation. No wonder corporate America runs over us. We let them do it again and again and still come back for more.</p>
<p>edad, you mean you should have just said the heck with it and stayed home today? That’s not what responsible people do.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I think most people are working harder for equal or less pay these days. I also think that people in management positions are more stressed because they are being squeezed by their employees that are working harder and feel that they deserve more money (and alot do) and by upper management to “make the number with less resources”. They know they can’t give their employees more money and they know that if there is a bad quarter or two, there will be cuts. So, everyone down the food chain is feeling some dissatisfaction and instability thus creating more unhappy/stressed people.</p>
<p>I own a small business and there is more competition today than there was 10 years ago. It is also hard to find skilled people. Many of the corporate training programs that were available to our generation when we graduated college do not exist anymore. In one of my first jobs, all new employees, regardless of level, were required to take a 3 basic day seminars - professionals skills (basic phone, customer, and presentation skills), how to manage a meeting, and stress management. You would be surprised at how many people with less than 10 years experience do not have what I would consider “basic professional skills” - even MBAs from reputable schools.</p>
<p>YEE HAW!!!</p>
<p>Just got the email that the buyers for our house got their loan commitment. It was getting more stressful by the day since we already were in contract extension. Tonight we go out for dinner and tomorrow I put in my resignation paperwork.</p>
<p>edad, woohoo!!</p>
<p>I’m amazed too at how many people just don’t show up for work on snow days! My work instituted a new policy this year because they had so many people calling out for snow last year - you can make your own snow delay of 1-7 hours (note, not 8 hours. if you take off 8 hours you use a vacation day) but you have to make up any time missed later in the week. It seems like twice as many people are showing up since they started it. People are able to shovel themselves out and come in an hour or two late as opposed to calling out for a whole day and using a vacation day for snow. Certain people live in areas where plows are always late coming through and they used to call out for the day, now they’re coming in three or four hours late and making it up. It’s been a win-win.</p>
<p>Congrats, edad. Been there, done that. Time to celebrate.</p>
<p>edad - I would wait for the closing!!! Buyers have been known to back out, even with loan committments…</p>
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<p>I was thinking the same thing. It’s not over until the ink is on the closing documents. I’ve known several people whose sale fell through * at the closing*. :(</p>