A crappy job is better than no job at all....right? How low would you go?

Full disclosure: indignant disgruntled employee in need of a vent. Must get this out of my system before i explode.

So about a year ago all us employees were told 'times are tough, money is short, we have no choice but to reduce your salary.' Grumble grumble economy grumble grumble. But we bucked up, accepted our fate, and carried on. If this is what it takes to help the company survive, so be it. (Might i interject here that i have heard several colleagues in firms across the country that have also had to accept salary cuts. Although, in every other case i heard about, the reduction in salary came with a corresponding cut in hours, i.e. a 25% salary reduction came with a 25% decrease in work hours. This seems like a reasonable compromise. Not so in my case. We were still expected to put in fulltime hours. In fact we even got a lengthy lecture about how we should be expected to put in MORE hours, MORE time at the office, in the interest of 'bucking up and going the extra mile', which would supposedly pull our office out of this slump.

[insert sarcasm font here] [ NEWSFLASH: where i come from, cutting people's pay does NOT inspire and motivate them to 'go the extra mile']

Fast forward to January this year. Despite my best efforts, my going the extra mile, my multitude of overtime hours, my giving it 110%, i was informed that the salary cut will continue for this year as well. Needless to say, office morale among my coworkers is in the toilet. We haven't gotten a raise in 3 years. We haven't gotten a bonus in 3 years. We haven't gotten a single token of gratitude or appreciation for our hard-working efforts, not even a 'hey why don't you take Friday off since you stayed late every night this week' or 'take an extra 2 days of vacation this year since we can't give you a raise.' SOMETHING, ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated. But no.

And finally, the icing on the cake. Earlier this week i was informed that they have decided to HIRE ANOTHER PERSON. While the rest of us are all still on salary reduction. I'M RAISING THE BULL@#@##$ FLAG on this one. In one breath they tell us, 'times are tough, money is tight, we can't afford to pay you full salary' and in the other breath they turn around and add another person to the payroll???? This is the biggest piss-in-your-face gesture i have ever seen a firm pull. It blatantly says to the employees, i don't give a rat's a!@! about your wellbeing, we're going to do whatever we want to do with absolutely no regard to the employees. It's the ultimate slap in the face to someone who has been trying so hard to help the company get ahead.

So where do you draw the line of dignity? At what point do you say, NO i will not be a doormat and allow myself to be blatantly trampled on all for the sake of the sacred cow, the ever-coveted 'at least you have a job'? At what point do you stand up for yourself and your self respect? Or should i just lay down like a good little doormat and take it, because after all, at least i have a job?

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Permalink Reply by Thomas J. Johnson on February 16, 2011 at 7:02am

Wow Trace, you're up early for a public employee in S.D... what was it, like 4:30am when you posted this? ;) Sure you're not on the East coast...? ;)

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Permalink Reply by Trace One on February 16, 2011 at 7:15am

Mr. Johnson, I am an early riser..Aren't all gardeners? don't ask me to a southern european dinner that starts at 9pm, tho..there is nobody home at that time of night..

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Permalink Reply by Thomas J. Johnson on February 16, 2011 at 6:42am

G -

I completely agree that passing-on someones salary information, especially within the office, would be unethical and of poor character, just like any gossiping.

The whole foundation of salary secrecy rides on one very delicate cleavage pivot though, employees not speaking to each other...

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Permalink Reply by David J. Chirico on February 11, 2011 at 3:02pm

The new employee was hired in February, correct? Hardly enough time to give the final analysis that demand for your services has not increased. I would give it at least 6 months.

I remember a while back there was a forum post here from a disgruntled employee who lost a friend in a cutback, but was extremely put out that soon after they revised the building he worked in to include a new cafe or something. How dare they improve their image on the backs of the suffering workers? I wonder how that office is doing now.

A good company needs to put its best foot forward. Where they allocate funds is not for you to decide (at least I don't think it is, correct me if I'm wrong).

I am curious tho, you say it should have been handled differently, how would you have handled it?

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Permalink Reply by mark foster on February 11, 2011 at 4:02pm

The thing that bothers me about this:

I have hired people without explanation.. I have fired people without explanation. I have taken profits from my company and I don't feel a bit bad about it. There are lots of things an employer does not need to explain.

But when you start slashing employees' pay and asking for free overtime--you have just turned them into unofficial and involuntary partners. You better tell it straight, explain your %ss off, and share the pain. Otherwise you are just a manipulative opportunistic scumbag. Fair is fair. Right is right. No situational ethics can get around that.

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Permalink Reply by Nic Wurzbacher on February 11, 2011 at 6:34pm

Life is short quit yer bitching and QUIT !!!!! Find another job, how old are you. Get over it and move on. Life is not fair. That is Lesson #1.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Anthony on February 12, 2011 at 8:57am

I'll second that. It's time to end the pity party and grow up. She’s been given lots of good advice and she still wants to feel sorry for herself. Maybe if LA’s and other design professionals weren’t starving right now I could have a little more sympathy. What’s BZGirl going to do when she has a real problem? She should quit the job and see how peachy life is without any income. Maybe then she’ll see just how good she’s got it right now.

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Permalink Reply by Thomas J. Johnson on February 16, 2011 at 10:10am

I like that... too bad we're not wild (or free)... we're controlled by bogus student loans, pyramid scheming shell-game playing financial institutions and employers who know how to use the two to manipulate and take advantage of it's employees, keeping us perfectly poised on the fulcrum of dependency. It can be a sad existence indeed. Death is liberating.

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Permalink Reply by Craig Anthony on February 16, 2011 at 12:21pm

I’m not sure why your post was deleted Trace One, but I’ll respond to it anyway.

Thanks for pointing out Thomas’ writing ability. Although I don’t always agree with everything he posts. I always appreciate his ability to express his thoughts. By the way you can hold your own as well when it comes to written communication. I realized along time ago that I was totally out classed by some of you folks on Land8 when it came to writing ability. I just hope that I’m a better designer then you guys :)

Any who.

Whenever I start feel down or upset about my problems, I take a step back and inventory what’s good in my life. Here it goes:

1) I live in a place where my police and governmental officials aren’t being found without their heads.

2) I can go where I want to go when I want to (provided I have enough money).

3) I can pretty much say what I want to say.

4) I’m not hungry or cold.

5) I have people that love me.

6) Occasionally I get paid for designing landscapes.

7) Nobody’s shooting at me.

Really, what do I have to complain about? Life is good.

If you have a paying job right now life is absolutely great. Please! BZGirl is not a victim. She has the option of sucking it up and collecting a check or hitting the bricks when ever she wants.

O.K. if we don’t call it self-pity can we at least call it whining? It seems to me she knew the answer to her question on her original post. Stay and get a little piss in your face to get a check or leave and stand in line with a bunch of starving unemployed LAs.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Ray, RLA on February 12, 2011 at 8:12am

BZ Girl....try to remember that all situations are temporary.....yours will change....hang in there until you can start your own shop...

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Permalink Reply by Heather Smith on February 12, 2011 at 8:34pm

Ugh. This whole thread is just...stressful. And I get the feeling I am watching someone on a ledge about to make a bad decision because they don't get that there isn't work out there. :( We aren't being dramatic. It is TERRIBLE and I work in a part of the country that isn't as bad as some. On one hand it is depressing to me that someone would have to keep a job that makes them so unhappy...on the other hand I see you as jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

It sounds like you have your mind made up. I wish you the best of luck. If you decide to stick it out know that you do have control over the way you look at the situation. You can choose to thank your lucky stars you haven't been laid off or you can continue to stew in your discontentment. Or you can quit.

I seriously wish you the best of luck. Just remember most of us don't get the choice.