Matt's department had a meeting today. While I can't full describe the details, they basically re-allocated the high ranking responsibilities to teams. Matt being versatile and a fast learner, they are hoping to move him to different teams depending on the needs of the department. This does require him to take up some of the responsibilities he was dreading, so I am not pleased for him. The whole department has also been assigned mandatory overtime (8 hours a week!) "until such time as 6 more people can be hired." 6 more people!! I am annoyed because this means a lot more time out of the house for Matt, and it seems like he'll be one of the last to be let off OT.
Being an old fashioned company, they aren't inclined to re-evaluate anyones salaries until they are up for review. Fortunately for Matt, this is in October for him. Presumably if he keeps a stiff upper lip and looks like a real team player, they can make it worth his while. He seems optimistic that this will work itself out eventually, and that he'll get paid for his efforts at some point. All this overtime makes him anxious to spend his windfall, so he would rather talk about big TVs than job-seeking.
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6 comments:
As a member of...whatever generation identifier I'm supposed to be, allow me to offer my opinion that this mandatory overtime is a load of, well, let's call it fertilizer. As someone who has grown up watching Enron and Fannie Mae and countless other companies implode by putting their singular desire for wealth, and wealth only for upper management, I have a healthy distrust of my employer.
I should hope they're at least paying him straight time for all the hours he works, if not 1.5 time. And if they're expecting him to work for free, I'd take a long hard look at exactly how much money they're taking out of your pockets. I've been lucky enough to never run into this sort of scenario, but it's behaviors like this that make me evaluate management, both in terms of what they're asking me to do, and in terms of what this says about their priorities.
2 cents,
-N
Well, let Noel be the cynic, but knowing what the history of this company is, I'd say there is less Enron and more Amish family farm at work here. This is an older, traditional manufacturer that values seniority and experience rather than skill sets and edgey vision. They are used to life-long workers and 2nd/3rd generation families on the payroll with a committment to the job rather than the paycheck. Thats very hard to maintain in the modern economy and even harder to sell to a young and mobile workforce.
I don't know what pay arrangements Matt's being offered but they sound like a place that expects to be fair, not exploitive. In the Union based environment of the old rust belt, mandatory overtime was resisted mostly because it limited worker numbers/union membership. Double overtime, holiday premiums and all sorts of penalties were floated to keep workers in control of their own lives instead of in their boss's hands.
Matt's been very fortunate to find work that's at least related to his education and based in a currently very strong part of the economy, especially in a climate of a melting American auto industry. If they ask too much of him, I hope he leaves for a better opportunity rather than a misperceived insult to his work ethic.
my two bits,....Dad Preecs
Well, yes Matt gets paid time and a half, and double for Sundays/holidays. Dad was right about their corporate attitude. But I think he was hired on at a bit of a bargain to begin with. I am assuming they will make this ok come October. Right now we are just trying to figure out what he should ask for come his review.
A Brazillian Dollars!
-N
Well, if it helps any I checked the Consumer Price Index for Pittsburgh and it was 2.9% last year and 4% for the first 6 months of this year. So he needs to at least keep up with that.
Love you,
Mom
Speaking as someone who never likes to negotiate or argue about something as painfully personal as your "worth" to an employer, I must admit I was struck by an article on the net about the implications of tough times upon lifetime earning power. The gist was that during lean hiring and slow recruitment times, new hires often started lower on pay scales and stayed lower for a sustained period of time as employers locked into graded promotions and raises from that low starting point. It would show up in relative pay 10+ years downstream for the fortunate/unfortunates that started low in the system and never got reset in truly better times. Noel was quite aware that the best strategy in salary mangement during his time in the relative post 9-11 boom times in defense engineering was to change employers to someone making hungry recruiting efforts, not to stick with the promotion cycle with his original employer.
I guess I'm trying to say that Matt would do well to reach for his best package now when his employer is hungry for competant help rather than trust to the system of review and raise to take him where he wants to be. Having said that, I didn't get the sense that there was a lot of opportunity in the Pittsburgh industrial community to play one employer off against another like Noel and Jessie had in the LAX defense corridor. I just hope he doesn't get stuck in some pigeon holed pay system which doesn't credit his skills but just focuses on his longevity. Love, Dad Preecs
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