Thread: Meh.

Lovely way to spice up my week at work: company president announced today that nobody gets raises this year (not even the crappy 1-3% cost of living nudge), there may be more layoffs and there WILL be tons of cost-cutting measures. Also, the fall dinner-dance (which Engineering doesn't go to, but is a major source of morale for a lot of the company) was cancelled.

All of this after I've ramped up my effort to position myself for a Senior Software Engineer and Trainer position to get the accompanying pay boost to help not just offset the ridiculous cost of living up here in Chicagoland but help make buying our house in the fall easier. So much for that. :3

Meh. Yeah, it's whining, but fuck off, I was looking forward to being able to move out of our tiny condo and into a house that isn't cramped.

And while the obvious answer is "polish up the resume and move on", actually, it's not: I work for a fantastic manager (who just has no control over these kinds of things) and the rest of my team is a great group of people. They seriously make the job worth it, even if the company overall is steering the Fail Boat. It makes it real fuckin' hard to change jobs.

That sucks. Why won't they be giving you a raise? Because the company isn't making money? Or because they don't want to spend anything?

Originally Posted by WorstPE

That sucks. Why won't they be giving you a raise? Because the company isn't making money? Or because they don't want to spend anything?

This is their reaction to several months of break-even or well-under-target income, plus rising costs of literally everything. The owner and the president of our lil' company have a tendency to react WAY too drastically to things. The only good news (sorta) is that they almost can't afford to shave any more people out of Engineering, we're barely able to work on new product as it is, what with the workload of ongoing maintenance. They hired me and two others originally to help with new product development, but within half a year three Engineers got let go in the last round of layoffs (October) and so did a couple of the testers, so we're overloaded again.

It's a challenge, but that's how the market is right now. Just gotta tough it out and readjust our plans, or hope we can find a way to sell the condo while living in it. (Unlikely, we have too much stuff and nowhere to go with it, our storage unit is already packed with MY stuff.)

Originally Posted by CivilWars

The important thing is to enjoy what you do and who you work with.  I know many people that have taken jobs just for the money, and when 8-12 hours of your day just plain suck it carries over to everything else in life.

Sorry to hear about that.

It's true and excellent advice, and pretty much why I'm reacting with anger and not rashness. Get the frustration out of my system so I can get back to work. I've got several training classes to get notes ready for so I can run them.

Like I said, I'm whining. I'll get over it.

Originally Posted by DeusInnomen

Originally Posted by CivilWars

The important thing is to enjoy what you do and who you work with. I know many people that have taken jobs just for the money, and when 8-12 hours of your day just plain suck it carries over to everything else in life.

Sorry to hear about that.

It's true and excellent advice, and pretty much why I'm reacting with anger and not rashness. Get the frustration out of my system so I can get back to work. I've got several training classes to get notes ready for so I can run them.

Like I said, I'm whining. I'll get over it.

I feel you. I'm hoping to become a high school history or government teacher when I graduate. My mother continually stresses to me, "You know, Steven, teachers don't make that great of money." But what my mother or father has never understood is money and material items have never been all that important to me. I haven't bought new clothes or anything new in as long as I can remember (new computer aside). If you saw my desk, you'd laugh at it. For awhile it was two storage bins stacked on top of each other with a piece of plywood on top for a flat surface. My computer chair is a folding metal chair to this day, and it suits me just fine. My birthday is around the corner, and my father asked me if I needed anything for my birthday...nah I'm doing just fine with what I have.

I know you've gotta make at least the cost of living to survive, and a little bit more to support a family, but I'm happy getting by.

Biggie said it best...Mo' money, mo' problems!

Best of luck to you and your situation though.

Its sadly like this everywhere now... more and more layoffs.. less and less raises and good paying positions.. and the cost of everything is going up and up.

I count myself lucky that i have a job in my area even though its not a particularly well paying or fun/nice/enjoyable job. I have several friends who have been let go.. and not because of their preformance.. but because they were on the lower end of the totem pole in their companies and the companies arnt doing very well so they got the axe. One of them was actually 1st in line for a nice promotion and position/pay upgrade but the company is losing money now and they had to axe both the possible position and a large amount of their workforce.

mehh..

Originally Posted by Glock

Never quite understood how people can stand living in major cities when the cost of living is so damn high.

I spent a fair chunk of my life growing up here, and my parents as well as my wife's family live here. And although Chicago ain't the prettiest city in the world (although we actually live in the NW suburbs, 35 miles outside of downtown), what makes this place a good place to live is the people we know here. Oh, and the food. *grin*

Believe me, we've talked about moving somewhere else, such as maybe Denver or back to Seattle (where I used to live until 6 years ago), and I miss living places that aren't built like a 10-year old girl. (Hence, an old joke of mine: "I like my women like I like my landscape, with mountains and valleys to explore." But, we'd have to get over the hurdle of leaving behind a TON of wonderful friends and our family, and that's the hard part.

Originally Posted by DeusInnomen

Originally Posted by Glock

Never quite understood how people can stand living in major cities when the cost of living is so damn high.

I spent a fair chunk of my life growing up here, and my parents as well as my wife's family live here. And although Chicago ain't the prettiest city in the world (although we actually live in the NW suburbs, 35 miles outside of downtown), what makes this place a good place to live is the people we know here. Oh, and the food. *grin*

Believe me, we've talked about moving somewhere else, such as maybe Denver or back to Seattle (where I used to live until 6 years ago), and I miss living places that aren't built like a 10-year old girl. (Hence, an old joke of mine: "I like my women like I like my landscape, with mountains and valleys to explore." But, we'd have to get over the hurdle of leaving behind a TON of wonderful friends and our family, and that's the hard part.

I'm with you. I REALLY want to move to Colorado, but I don't know if I could live without my South Texas beaches and bays and the family/friends that I have around here. Wherever I go, I'd have a Texas flag flying, that's for sure.