Thanks for the clarification, IRstuff. I feel better now. I also was having a cynical day yesterday. I reminded myself last night at bed time that I work for myself now, so any job stress is my own darned fault. When a client throws an unattainable timeline in my face, I can treat it as if it were a key lime pie. Scrape it off my face and into my mouth (yummy), then wash up and forget about it.
Back on topic: Even though I'm on my own, I remain on the loyalty-begets-loyalty side. Companies will punt you out the door with two weeks' pay at any moment, without warning, to make the profit hit the goal. The decision is made in private, without consulting you or even letting you know that your livelihood is being discussed. If the company is large enough, the people in that meeting don't even know your name.
Look at the employer the same way. You don't owe them anything for hiring you. You work, they pay, all is square. Nobody owes anything. If they hired you at a below-market salary, you have already felt their stinger. Don't hang around for more.
I would expect my company's employees to treat me the same way. As the mafia used to put it in the movies, "Nothing personal, just bizness. (Bang!)"
Nota bene: I did work for one company over the years that was the polar opposite. The owner was a wealthy man, and he let everyone know up front that if sales tanked, zero profit fine with him. Even a pretty good loss would not lead to layoffs. "If the doors are still open and you're doing good work, you have a job." That was the loyalty that begat loyalty from those who worked there. Rest in peace, Bob.
The ones that chap my backside are those who try to budget for a really huge increase in profit for the coming calendar year. We'll call the goal $XXX million more than the prior year.
If the sales projections in January say that the growth will only be $XXX * 0.98, headcounts roll out the door at the year's start to make the budget fit the projections. Keeping that bottom line number the same is the number one goal. Six months into the year, when it starts to appear that the profit will only be $XXX x 0.97, headcounts again parade to HR for their bye-bye paperwork and pay. I have heard that some companies are extra nice and give their evictees roller skates so they can get around when their cars get repossessed.
I'll stop now. I better not read this thread again, it's bad for my blood pressure.
Best to you,
Goober Dave
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