Octopus Overlords

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:33 am From my experience, those are the same thing, just from different generations.

Generally REMF would be those hiding in corporate offices. Fobbits are at least somewhat NEAR the front-lines.

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:46 am

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Mar 19, 2020 10:33 am From my experience, those are the same thing, just from different generations.

Generally REMF would be those hiding in corporate offices. Fobbits are at least somewhat NEAR the front-lines.

Yeah, you're on target. It's still too early for all my systems to be online.

I started my new job on Tuesday. Except for the few hours I was in the office for the HR briefing/form signing, I've been working from home. Which really means just reading some stuff and working on left-over projects from my last job, since I haven't really been told what I should be doing or trained to do anything yet.

I wonder how many are going to be permanently let go?

We are offering PTO, unpaid leave, or labor pool as the three options for non-essential staff. Labor pool means you get your full pay but you are on call during your usual shift for any job they call you in for (and that you are qualified for). Like a CRNA might get called in to do swabs in the fever triage. An data analyst may get called in to transport patients to radiology.

I'm volunteering to take PTO one day a week to cut my on-book salary by 20%. I can do this for 30 weeks until I run out of PTO.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 20, 2020 12:43 amI wonder how many are going to be permanently let go?

It may be seen by some companies as an opportunity to cull their worst workers, but most will need the experience and knowledge to come back to them when they can finally open their doors permanently again.

I just was on one of the worst client calls in my life. They are potentially cutting my whole program due to the economic impacts and fallout from Covid-19 and the Saudi/Russian oil trade war. My practice is already carrying a bench that is too deep. I might have saved a couple of lines with some quick thinking but this is looking bad.

I probably mentioned that the campus news editing gig that constitutes my "day job" has dried up since the university closed. Blue Hills Editorial had a great Q1, but Q2 was looking grim. Where I'd typically expect 15+ stories per week, I'm now getting 0-2. Today my boss told me that they're soliciting covid-related news through the same portal. If the content providers cooperate, that could generate enough work to keep me busy again.

malchior wrote:I just was on one of the worst client calls in my life. They are potentially cutting my whole program due to the economic impacts and fallout from Covid-19 and the Saudi/Russian oil trade war. My practice is already carrying a bench that is too deep. I might have saved a couple of lines with some quick thinking but this is looking bad.

Oddly my client is having the opposite effect. They are making money hand over fist due to orders for food. We had to emergency release a software fix to prevent stores from over ordering.

Our SVP attended a bi-monthly meeting today of infrastructure management. He said all of the right things, commending us on our efforts. I wonder how many execution orders he will sign for our group once we've all done our job.

Crossing fingers that being in the defense industry on a contract that has already been paid for through the end of 2021 let’s me weather this storm.

I just laid off 25% of the employees at my company. I gave another 25% two months notice. I want to turn off the lights and crawl under the covers in my bed.

Sorry to hear it, MM. Here's hoping for better and brighter days in the months ahead.

Moat_Man wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2020 7:11 pm I just laid off 25% of the employees at my company. I gave another 25% two months notice. I want to turn off the lights and crawl under the covers in my bed.

Extraordinary times. Sorry to hear it, it's happening everywhere.

Condolences, MM.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2020 8:00 pm

Moat_Man wrote: ↑Tue Mar 31, 2020 7:11 pm I just laid off 25% of the employees at my company. I gave another 25% two months notice. I want to turn off the lights and crawl under the covers in my bed.

Extraordinary times. Sorry to hear it, it's happening everywhere.

Not to minimize your personal trauma, but there are literally millions of stories just like yours out there. There's never been a crash like this one.

The Institute's drive to replace campus news with Covid news is getting a good response, so the volume of stories needing editing is picking up again. Wife just started a new job that will send some editing my way, too. My business should get through the next month OK, assuming that I do.

Still staring the Grim Reaper in the teeth and saying, "you've got a little spinach there".

We run out of money in June. Don't know what happens after that. A lot of people depend on the meds they get through us. Have our first case of COVID-19 at the next station over, and waiting for our first official case. USPS can't source enough hand sanitizer or gloves, not that those are anything but psychological. I carry a bar of soap, towels and water, just in case.

malchior wrote: ↑Mon Mar 23, 2020 11:37 am I just was on one of the worst client calls in my life. They are potentially cutting my whole program due to the economic impacts and fallout from Covid-19 and the Saudi/Russian oil trade war. My practice is already carrying a bench that is too deep. I might have saved a couple of lines with some quick thinking but this is looking bad.

Word finally came down. 50% cut to program and they are trying to get rid of as many external people as possible. What that means is my whole team except me got sent back to the bench. I'm going to solo the project at reduced billing. Those people aren't laid off but business is unsurprisingly not booming so I'm doing everything I can to boost signal in my network to let folks know I have great candidates for their projects.

As to me, I'm actually in line for a promotion but I told management I'd rather stay in a stable position rather than get marginally more money. It is an interesting time to be for sure. Both time I was in consulting there was a major financial crises and I watched other people get cut. It just sucks but I'll ride it out. Ain't like I have any choice.

...and I am still interviewing a couple people a week. We are still hiring, our summer intern program is still on, we have a slew of college hires coming on in August. Honestly I am kind of shocked that there has been so little impact to us. I expected 2008 to happen but so far, other than working from home, it feels like business as usual.

In mid-March I was offered the chance to work from home. While I was appreciative (and already had the necessary hardware/access anyway), I didn't initially take the opportunity because as a senior supervisor/operations support type, I thought it sent the wrong message. Almost all of the shift supervisors had already been give the ability to WFH, while very few staff in the trenches had; just a few seniors citizens, those with underlying health conditions, and some who otherwise manipulated the company into letting them do so (most of the mentioned shift supervisors). Management sent an email at one point in March saying they expected 95% of staff to be working from home by the following week. That never happened.... 25% tops. We just didn't have the necessary hardware/infrastructure, and some staff lacked the necessary compatible home computers and internet access.

Well, in early April, I had a death in the family, injured my lower back (it took about four weeks to heal), and my depression nosedived. I parlayed this into three weeks off that otherwise wouldn't have been possible in my current role, even if I'd scheduled it as vacation time. I didn't feel good about it... morale continued to crash at work. But I was completely burnt out. At one point in late March I think I did something like work 9.5 12-hour shifts in an 11 or 12-day span due to Covid-scare-related absences. My manager encouraged me to WFH as I transitioned back from my back injury. Eventually my back returned per normal, and I just continued to WFH (with management's blessing). In my absence, the supervisor trainee I'd been shadowing and semi-training had demonstrated the ability to be able to run things on site effectively.

Flash forward to a month ago, and Covid numbers in the province were really dwindling (and have remained stable). About half the WFH crew were subjected to a mandatory recall, and the Covid premium for on-site staff was cancelled soon after. Except... half of those recalled never actually came back, or only showed up for a day or two. They evidently either effectively demonstrated a need to continue to WFH, or management realized we'd lose them otherwise and just caved. (These are mostly people in key positions we can't easily replace.) You can imagine how pissed most of those who did return are. Not to mention all the staff who never had the option of WFH to begin with, and are no longer getting a premium to put up with the perceived risk of working from site. We made masks freely available over a month ago, but almost no one wears them. (Yet they still complain about having to sit in cubicles four feet apart from the next person?)


My dilemma is... other than obviously needing to find a new job (lol) while the market is shit... I don't know whether to milk this is far as I can for my own health, safety, and convenience, or make the decision to return to site of my own volition and resume my daily two-hour public transit commute. I don't have any health risks other than obesity, though my wife does have a recurring respiratory illness of some sort going back to last year. (And our home is too small for us to isolate from one another.) I've been working on night shift for the past 10 months which is horrible for my physical and mental health, and if I return to site I can potentially complete the training of the new supervisor and get off nights entirely and return to my regular role (that enables me to be far more productive in terms of improving the workplace, and subsequently more content). But this will also mean going from my current 0-hour commute to 7 hours weekly (on 12-hour night shift rotation), and ultimately 10 (days). Presented with an alternative, I don't really want to be sitting on the bus for ten hours a week while Covid's still out there.

I do realize that I'm incredibly fortunate to still have a job right now at all, let alone be able to work from home.

I'd personally go with my health and safety over a company's "feels" ... and any company that can have people effectively work from home right now but is requiring them to go into the office probably deserves to lose those people because they're not putting them first, not demonstrating any trust, and not operating ethically. COVID-19 is ripping the masks off a lot of problems.

This year is an eye-opener to see what businesses really think about the people that make them function. Either you're just a worthless cog and they grind you up (resulting in poor morale and shoddy quality) or they show that they care and the employees appreciate them all the more (generally resulting in higher morale and better quality of work).

Imagine the progress we might make towards climate change if people who didn't have to be in the office simply didn't have to commute every day, let alone keeping us all safe from the plague going around?

So I started as an insurance agent a month ago, and I'm surprised by how well this is a fit for me. I've always been the kind of guy to walk up to people and strike up a conversation, and I hate normal working hours, so this has been a godsend. I wish I would have done this years ago.

Life or casualty?

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:39 pm Life or casualty?

Life!

Eel Snave wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:58 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Jul 20, 2020 9:39 pm Life or casualty?

Life!

My dad was a very successful casualty insurance salesman. He excelled because he really believed that nobody could have too much insurance, and because he was a gregarious man who could connect with anybody.

When I was a struggling new adult fresh out of college he bought me a whole life plan, but fell on hard times so I had to pay for it myself. I naturally dropped it because it didn't contribute to my survival. He was crestfallen when I did that and I've since regretted it -- it would probably be worth a billion bucks today -- but at the time I was surviving month-to-month and paying money for nothing was not on the table.

The moral being you'll prosper if you believe in your product.

Still way overworked. 84 hours one week, and 92 hours the next. Between the the absenteeism, the increased package volume, and the inability to train enough people fast enough to fill the 80+ vacancies in the city, the cracks are showing. New hires are walking into 12+ hours a day by necessity, and most of them bail out in less than a week.

Got a call about a job at a large area health system. Probably going to check it out but it's back downtown and I don't like working down there. Big upgrade though, could be a 6 figure raise depending on bonus structure.

Ugh, hate these adult decisions.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:09 am Got a call about a job at a large area health system. Probably going to check it out but it's back downtown and I don't like working down there. Big upgrade though, could be a 6 figure raise depending on bonus structure.

Ugh, hate these adult decisions.

A 6-figure raise? Damn.

pr0ner wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:30 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 9:09 am Got a call about a job at a large area health system. Probably going to check it out but it's back downtown and I don't like working down there. Big upgrade though, could be a 6 figure raise depending on bonus structure.

Ugh, hate these adult decisions.

A 6-figure raise? Damn.

Yeah, when I type it out like that I'm wondering why I'm not banging on their [virtual] door for an interview but I'm in a comfortable place right now. This would be high pressure, always on.

Quality of life is a valuable commodity as well.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:31 amQuality of life is a valuable commodity as well.

One that can never really be properly compensated, in my book. A six-figure raise won't do you much good if the job chases you into the grave.

I got a six-figure raise this year if you count the ones to the right of the decimal point.

Kraken wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 4:19 pm I got a six-figure raise this year if you count the ones to the right of the decimal point.

That's still not bad. Before they kicked me to the curb, my former employer canceled their generous 1% annual raise.

I had a meeting a few weeks ago with the regional manager at Robert Half. He sent me their 2020 salary survey, and told me I was rather underpaid at my last job (surprise, surprise!) Not that I'm expecting a lot of response at the moment, I've been applying to jobs and when asked the inevitable salary expectation question (which I'd rather not answer and is even more negotiable now in the WFH age), I've increased it 10% over what I was making before. If I could land a WFH job though, I could probably settle for 20% less and come out ahead.

i'm on some kind of track to getting hired - and continued contract extensions until that does - but i'm not finding the work challenging. i've mastered the essentials and then some for the QA workflow and i receive praise for the errors and defects i find, but i never get to actually do any test automation coding - which is a part of my _actual_ job title. promises from management never amount to anything. i understand my 'temp' status opens me up to a lot of 'just do what we tell you' tasks, so it's possible that could change with full time employment?

i'm at the age where challenge isn't a primary concern. Pretty much I'm looking for something that could tide me over until retirement, I want to leverage what I already know to get me there.

Default wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:21 am Still way overworked. 84 hours one week, and 92 hours the next. Between the the absenteeism, the increased package volume, and the inability to train enough people fast enough to fill the 80+ vacancies in the city, the cracks are showing. New hires are walking into 12+ hours a day by necessity, and most of them bail out in less than a week.

That's just brutal. I have no idea how you can keep up that pace with no breaks.

gbasden wrote: ↑Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:25 am

Default wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:21 am Still way overworked. 84 hours one week, and 92 hours the next. Between the the absenteeism, the increased package volume, and the inability to train enough people fast enough to fill the 80+ vacancies in the city, the cracks are showing. New hires are walking into 12+ hours a day by necessity, and most of them bail out in less than a week.

That's just brutal. I have no idea how you can keep up that pace with no breaks.

You don't. It's an unsustainable model. This is burning human capital for profit and it's not a long-term business strategy.

Paingod wrote: ↑Thu Jul 23, 2020 7:20 am

gbasden wrote: ↑Thu Jul 23, 2020 4:25 am

Default wrote: ↑Tue Jul 21, 2020 7:21 am Still way overworked. 84 hours one week, and 92 hours the next. Between the the absenteeism, the increased package volume, and the inability to train enough people fast enough to fill the 80+ vacancies in the city, the cracks are showing. New hires are walking into 12+ hours a day by necessity, and most of them bail out in less than a week.

That's just brutal. I have no idea how you can keep up that pace with no breaks.

You don't. It's an unsustainable model. This is burning human capital for profit and it's not a long-term business strategy.

We're a non-profit. This is a wartime footing until we get a vaccine or some sort of effective treatment. Going back to work Saturday, We'll see how long the next streak is.

Some people can and do do it. I got burnt out 60-70 hour weeks and now I have a very hard time putting in 45 while they always want more. I am not one of those of those people and I'm not sure I can bounce back. I could do it when I was younger but now I'm just tired all of the time and my focus is too often dead by 14:00 or 15:00.

LordMortis wrote: ↑Thu Jul 23, 2020 7:32 amSome people can and do do it. I got burnt out 60-70 hour weeks and now I have a very hard time putting in 45 while they always want more. I am not one of those of those people and I'm not sure I can bounce back. I could do it when I was younger but now I'm just tired all of the time and my focus is too often dead by 14:00 or 15:00.

Hear hear. When I was 20 I thought nothing of working 90 hours in a week. I liked the overtime. When I was 25 I was working full time, had a part-time 30hr/wk internship, and going to school to finish a CS degree.

Today I put in my 45/wk and only begrudgingly do weekend work because it's when systems aren't in use. 50 hours is too many. I could probably still do 80, but I'd hate every moment of it.