Modern Buddy

Interesting chain of events at my company.....

- Last week: Management informs us that raises, if any, will be limited to 2% or less. And that's only if you're not at the top of your pay grade. Most of us grunts have been at the place for 15 years or more (last 7 without any raises at all), so that means us. Oh, and by the way, there are no open slots for higher grades.

- Two days ago: CEO announces record earnings and a 15% increase in dividends to shareholders over last year.

- Today: CFO retires and is presented with a brand-new top o' the line Harley.

I'm sensing a slight disconnect here.

Shareholders are always valued higher than the employees, sadly.

It sounds like your company needs an Employee Engagement Survey.

What's a "raise?"

If you can, try to become your own boss. Own your own bzns....and control your own destiny. More easily said than done, but if you start thinking that way, you will naturally start talking to people in that way, your conversations will eventually lead to opportunities to make it happen.

Typical company crapola! Sorry to hear it!

When our CEO retires, we will stop "cowering".

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bus ... /13232815/

Boeing CEO sorry for 'cowering' workers remark

pugbuddy wrote:Typical company crapola! Sorry to hear it!

Yup. I've been with my co. for 10+ years, and I can still remember the first "company" meeting with the boss talking glowingly about how we are all family and if you stick it out with the company you will be rewarded. The "reward" was being "allowed" to still work for the company. Crap raises and no more matching 401k. The last "meeting" was sadly hilarious. Oh well.

RoaringTodd wrote:When our CEO retires, we will stop "cowering".

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bus ... /13232815/

Boeing CEO sorry for 'cowering' workers remark

And yet if you, an employee, were to publicly state that your CEO is a money-grubbing, sadistic slave-driver, your butt would be duck-walked out the front door no matter how sincerely you apologized.

If he were at least an honorable man, he wouldn't have apologized since I'm certain that those were his true feelings. Nothing more than sociopaths in expensive suits.

At least you know who your targets are when the revolution comes. I'm retired, so I'll probably have to use the phone book.

rsrider wrote:At least you know who your targets are when the revolution comes. I'm retired, so I'll probably have to use the phone book.

Know thy enemy.

I have to ask, what is the avatar. I've been lurking in this forum for years and I can't get it!

KrispyKreme wrote:

rsrider wrote:At least you know who your targets are when the revolution comes. I'm retired, so I'll probably have to use the phone book.

Know thy enemy.

I have to ask, what is the avatar. I've been lurking in this forum for years and I can't get it!

Jerry Lewis - Buddy Love

(but I always thought it was Scarface until rsrider mentioned it one time)

^^^Thanks.

KrispyKreme wrote:

rsrider wrote:At least you know who your targets are when the revolution comes. I'm retired, so I'll probably have to use the phone book.

Know thy enemy.

I have to ask, what is the avatar. I've been lurking in this forum for years and I can't get it!

As mentioned, it's Jerry Lewis's character, Buddy Love, from the Nutty Professor. If I ever make it over to Asia, I'm going to have that suit tailor made for me, and ride around on a scooter. For some reason, that suit!!!! I love it!!!

Trivia: The name of the girl that Buddy Love was trying to impress, Stella Purdy....Played by Stella Stevens.

So the movie, The Nutty Professor, is full of "Genuine" goodness.

rsrider wrote:…I'll probably have to use the phone book.

What's a "phone book"?

ericalm wrote:

rsrider wrote:…I'll probably have to use the phone book.

What's a "phone book"?

Oh God, you young pups are SO spoiled!

Comes the Great Battery Shortage of 2015 and us old guys are gonna have to wrap you in a blanket, give you a cup of hot cocoa, and tell you a bedtime story before we tuck you in.

charlie55 wrote:

ericalm wrote:

rsrider wrote:…I'll probably have to use the phone book.

What's a "phone book"?

Oh God, you young pups are SO spoiled!

Comes the Great Battery Shortage of 2015 and us old guys are gonna have to wrap you in a blanket, give you a cup of hot cocoa, and tell you a bedtime story before we tuck you in.

Don't forget to pat them on the head and check under the bed for monsters!

Since I am fighting the temptation to violate the Posting Guidelines, I will caution others against making the types if politically-loaded comments I'm thinking. Or the opposite, which would make you a violator and wrong.

The ":P" signifies that I was kidding about that last part. Don't take it personally.

Jeez, people with opinions and beliefs are so defensive!

I got an email today reminding me to take my company's yearly "culture survey." Thanks, but no thanks. Last year this company threw away everything we stood for previously and turned us into a poor carbon copy of our competitors, causing us to lose many previously loyal customers. Everyone I know voiced their displeasure in last years survey. Typically the CEO or some other suit will address the issues brought up, both good and bad. Last year? Not even a peep. Message received loud and clear. My opinion only matters if I agree with you.

Just to add fuel to the fire... at my last job, a mid-sized print company of about 30 employees, our boss let us know we would not be receiving a christmas bonus one year due to a loss in profits. On the first day we opened back up after the Christmas break, we were treated to him waiting in the parking lot that morning showing off his brand new 30ft fishing boat he had on a trailer.

That guy... sucked. I quit shortly after, half the staff was laid off a few months after than, and they completely went out of business a few months later. That guy was the third generation of his family to own the business and he ran it into the ground buying toys for himself rather than investing in his company.

My aerospace company (which SHALL not be named) was looking for candidates for "downsizing" as part of this concept called "affordability". I had 34 years with the UNNAMED company and requested to be laid off at the age of 58 and ten months. My manager graciously accepted my proposal. Walked out with 28 weeks of pay, plus eight weeks of vacation time on the books, and a modest pension for life. Unusual to say the least.

Well done, Tenchi.

jrstone wrote:I got an email today reminding me to take my company's yearly "culture survey." Thanks, but no thanks. Last year this company threw away everything we stood for previously and turned us into a poor carbon copy of our competitors, causing us to lose many previously loyal customers. Everyone I know voiced their displeasure in last years survey. Typically the CEO or some other suit will address the issues brought up, both good and bad. Last year? Not even a peep. Message received loud and clear. My opinion only matters if I agree with you.

This sounds like basically what happened at my previous employer.
First year: horrible results, results shared with employees. (Nothing changed, of course)
Second year: worse results, "overview" shared.
Third year: no more survey.

Why did I stay so long? I knew eight months in it was wrong, and I was there for five years.

Just when I thought they couldn't stoop any lower.....

I'm included as a co-inventor (or whatever in hell the legal term is) on a patent that has been granted to my company. Now, I acknowledge that under my employment agreement they have the patent rights for anything I do for them. No argument regarding that - my eyes were wide open when I signed up.

This patent should result in a big bucks payoff for the company, not to mention increased dividends for their damned precious shareholders, and so the four co-inventors were told that we'd be given some remuneration as a show of gratitude.

Well, their generous reward showed up in my paycheck today, all $180.00 (after taxes) of it! These miserable greedy bastards didn't have the decency to make the pre-tax amount enough so that the net could be more than the price of a bag of groceries.

It would have been less of an insult to have been given nothing at all. What a slap in the face.

Isn't it nice to know that you're appreciated as much as a poke in the eye?

My boss and his boss just quit this week. Now I report directly to the CEO. I could contain my enthusiasm on the head of a pin.

I was with my company for six years. At one point I was "requested" to take a four month assignment overseas in what is considered a "hazardous" part of the world. I deployed in 5 days, saved the project and made the company lots of money. In all honesty I did well financially too,5% hardship, 20% hazard pay, per Diem etc..but the deployment was a disaster as handled by HR.

I was there for a year. Three weeks before repatriation I was told that after the contract I would be furloughed for 30 days and then let go. I fought...learned that "Company Policy" only applies to employees but I was able to return to my pre-deployment position.

Make noise and you pay the piper. I was let go about a year after returning. It was the typical corporate "release". "Hi...give us your computer, your corporate card, your phone and we will pack up your office and ship it to you. You have 2 weeks notice but don't come back."

I did get a last shot at them...by trying to die two days before the end of my notification...I qualified for short term disability by one day.

After not being able to find work, thinking I would be moving to Bozeman Montana and having that fall through I started my own company.

I don't work for the man anymore I am the man! I am consulting on a project for a past employer and I have had an offer to be bought out in trade for a partnership in a small company.

In the end...my medical situation turned out better than expected...not perfect...but I can live with it. Business is good...I have a year of work minimum 60 hours a week...and I bill by the hour.

So I guess what I am saying is that if the situation is intolerable...don't tolerate it...do something else. I could have done this sooner but it took a kick in the butt to get me going.

I just need to find more scooter time...if that's my biggest problem life is good...it is too short not to enjoy.

BuddyRaton wrote:I was with my company for six years. At one point I was "requested" to take a four month assignment overseas in what is considered a "hazardous" part of the world. I deployed in 5 days, saved the project and made the company lots of money. In all honesty I did well financially too,5% hardship, 20% hazard pay, per Diem etc..but the deployment was a disaster as handled by HR.

I was there for a year. Three weeks before repatriation I was told that after the contract I would be furloughed for 30 days and then let go. I fought...learned that "Company Policy" only applies to employees but I was able to return to my pre-deployment position.

Make noise and you pay the piper. I was let go about a year after returning. It was the typical corporate "release". "Hi...give us your computer, your corporate card, your phone and we will pack up your office and ship it to you. You have 2 weeks notice but don't come back."

I did get a last shot at them...by trying to die two days before the end of my notification...I qualified for short term disability by one day.

After not being able to find work, thinking I would be moving to Bozeman Montana and having that fall through I started my own company.

I don't work for the man anymore I am the man! I am consulting on a project for a past employer and I have had an offer to be bought out in trade for a partnership in a small company.

In the end...my medical situation turned out better than expected...not perfect...but I can live with it. Business is good...I have a year of work minimum 60 hours a week...and I bill by the hour.

So I guess what I am saying is that if the situation is intolerable...don't tolerate it...do something else. I could have done this sooner but it took a kick in the butt to get me going.

I just need to find more scooter time...if that's my biggest problem life is good...it is too short not to enjoy.

I hear ya. If I were a younger fellow, I'd probably pursue something like that. But it's been my experience that age discrimination is rampant in software development. Additionally, this area of NJ was heavily AT&T/Bell Labs/Lucent during the boom era, and the landscape is littered with consulting firms created by laid-off employees of same after the bust. It's a pretty saturated marketplace.

Now, I wouldn't mind repairing scooters for a change of pace, except for the fact that there just aren't enough of them around to provide a stable business base.

I'm old enough to accept that life isn't fair, but I don't think I'll ever be able to accept the growing lack of honor and integrity that's pervading the business world. Even more appalling than the greed are the apologetics used to try to justify it, most especially the "shareholder value" chestnut. Corporations always had shareholders, and they were always a consideration in the running of the business. But not to the exclusion of everyone else, and not to the extent that that "concern" threatened the very viability of the corporation itself.

The "Our employees are our greatest asset" stuff was one of my last companies "Core Values". A few times I also got the line that "There's a lot to be said about loyality." to which I always responded "Loyalty is a 2 way street>"

Don't use the too old to as an excuse...I started my business at 57. Granted I am in a very small niche in my industry and have a good reputation so I was able to procure a good client.

As far as repairing scooters...I don't know. For me I think that is something that sounds more fun than it actually would be. It's a hobby for me, I never charge anyone for helping them...note..helping them, I don't care how long it takes me to finish a project etc. My friends and fellow scooter trash are always welcome at my backyard "shop" and we work on my scooter their scooter...whatever.

I want to keep scooters fun for me!

charlie55 wrote:Well, their generous reward showed up in my paycheck today, all $180.00 (after taxes) of it! These miserable greedy bastards didn't have the decency to make the pre-tax amount enough so that the net could be more than the price of a bag of groceries.

It would have been less of an insult to have been given nothing at all. What a slap in the face.

Hey, at least you got $180!

I had a design that saved the company I was working for $20,000,000. I received nothing. Not even a "thanks" or "good job."

k1dude wrote:Hey, at least you got $180!

I had a design that saved the company I was working for $20,000,000. I received nothing. Not even a "thanks" or "good job."

Yeah, I know it sounds like a case of "first world problems", but when you look at it in the context of the shenanigans I mentioned in my original post, it really starts to take on a palpable "Marie Antoinette - let them eat cake" flavor.

Every person that runs a corporation today has had the same training; to o whatever is possible to increase stock price in the short term. If the company fails a few years down the road it doesn't matter because everyone that had big money invested - including the CEO - has already cashed out.

I am reminded of a bit of trouble Hewlett Packard ran into some years back. I remember it because of the calls by several stock analysts. They suggested that HP sell off the printer division, because that was the only group making money.

Charlie been there done that. Was with large corporation for 15 years and bonus based on a target cost of efficiency which was very difficult to achieve.
When actually did achieve it was told only met the target for 1 quarter and would have to compare to a full year so bonus can not be paid out but would give something for the effort.
Then after multiple changes of management was finally structurally terminated
which is not fun when getting up there in years.
So at least take some pride in what you accomplished yourself it is worth more than the few and far between prizes you are given, and know you are still in the work force for whatever it is. At least you are more aware of what to expect
in the future.
Go for a nice ride and relax next nice day.

Yeah, maybe I could try a new hobby.

Wait, I know: knitting!

That should keep me occupied while the guillotine's down for maintenance.

Syd wrote:Every person that runs a corporation today has had the same training; to o whatever is possible to increase stock price in the short term. If the company fails a few years down the road it doesn't matter because everyone that had big money invested - including the CEO - has already cashed out.

I am reminded of a bit of trouble Hewlett Packard ran into some years back. I remember it because of the calls by several stock analysts. They suggested that HP sell off the printer division, because that was the only group making money.

So, in a nutshell, the old "pump and dump" scheme has moved from the boiler room to the boardroom. Lovely.

I've taken the last three days off and they never stopped calling and e-mailing, despite my having out-of-office messages. Maybe I should print out the definition of vacation (on their printers and paper, of course) and start stapling it to their foreheads whenever I take a day off.

I'm beginning to understand why people jump from firm-to-firm these days; minimize exposure to toxic environments and step off the stern before it sinks beneath the waves.

I've considered working as a scoot mechanic too, but I realize that it's a losing proposition. Workmanship is rushed and sloppy everywhere these days in order to maximize margins. I can't do that; I want it done once and done right and I'll spend as long at it takes to get it that way. That mentality will get one in the poorhouse these days.

az_slynch wrote:I've taken the last three days off and they never stopped calling and e-mailing, despite my having out-of-office messages. Maybe I should print out the definition of vacation (on their printers and paper, of course) and start stapling it to their foreheads whenever I take a day off.

Vacation? What's that?

The 3 companies (all Fortune 500) I worked for after grad school (MBA) had zero vacation. Requests were always rejected. Then, 2 weeks before the end of the year the boss would walk into my office and tell me I had 2 weeks coming, so you're officially on vacation per the law and to get it off the books. But......if you don't show up to work tomorrow you're fired. A few weeks later I was musing with one of the senior VP's and he said he'd been at the company for 28 years and only had a total of 4 weeks off in those 28 years. So for years I never had a day off.

At the last company I worked for, I requested a week off 2 years in advance to get married. It was denied of course, until I told them I was getting married. They begrudgingly conceded. The week before my wedding, I was told I had to be overseas that week. I reminded my boss I was on vacation that week to get married and go on my honeymoon. He immediately blew up and told me to get married at city hall like everyone else at the company. He also told me no one needs a damn honeymoon. He never had one! He told me if I wasn't overseas working that week, don't bother coming back to work. I took the vacation and got married. I was fired a few months later.

Not worth it. I've determined that the devotion they demand is never worth the compensation they provide.

I've worked in too many crap jobs with zero vacation and periods where I worked 7-days a week to stand for that sort of business. I'm not a fan of bureaucratic meddling, but a-hole companies like those need OSHA dropped on them.

k1dude wrote:

az_slynch wrote:I've taken the last three days off and they never stopped calling and e-mailing, despite my having out-of-office messages. Maybe I should print out the definition of vacation (on their printers and paper, of course) and start stapling it to their foreheads whenever I take a day off.

Vacation? What's that?

The 3 companies (all Fortune 500) I worked for after grad school (MBA) had zero vacation. Requests were always rejected. Then, 2 weeks before the end of the year the boss would walk into my office and tell me I had 2 weeks coming, so you're officially on vacation per the law and to get it off the books. But......if you don't show up to work tomorrow you're fired. A few weeks later I was musing with one of the senior VP's and he said he'd been at the company for 28 years and only had a total of 4 weeks off in those 28 years. So for years I never had a day off.

At the last company I worked for, I requested a week off 2 years in advance to get married. It was denied of course, until I told them I was getting married. They begrudgingly conceded. The week before my wedding, I was told I had to be overseas that week. I reminded my boss I was on vacation that week to get married and go on my honeymoon. He immediately blew up and told me to get married at city hall like everyone else at the company. He also told me no one needs a damn honeymoon. He never had one! He told me if I wasn't overseas working that week, don't bother coming back to work. I took the vacation and got married. I was fired a few months later.

This is exactly what tape recorders are for. And they're not expensive either.

pugbuddy wrote:

k1dude wrote:

az_slynch wrote:I've taken the last three days off and they never stopped calling and e-mailing, despite my having out-of-office messages. Maybe I should print out the definition of vacation (on their printers and paper, of course) and start stapling it to their foreheads whenever I take a day off.

Vacation? What's that?

The 3 companies (all Fortune 500) I worked for after grad school (MBA) had zero vacation. Requests were always rejected. Then, 2 weeks before the end of the year the boss would walk into my office and tell me I had 2 weeks coming, so you're officially on vacation per the law and to get it off the books. But......if you don't show up to work tomorrow you're fired. A few weeks later I was musing with one of the senior VP's and he said he'd been at the company for 28 years and only had a total of 4 weeks off in those 28 years. So for years I never had a day off.

At the last company I worked for, I requested a week off 2 years in advance to get married. It was denied of course, until I told them I was getting married. They begrudgingly conceded. The week before my wedding, I was told I had to be overseas that week. I reminded my boss I was on vacation that week to get married and go on my honeymoon. He immediately blew up and told me to get married at city hall like everyone else at the company. He also told me no one needs a damn honeymoon. He never had one! He told me if I wasn't overseas working that week, don't bother coming back to work. I took the vacation and got married. I was fired a few months later.

This is exactly what tape recorders are for. And they're not expensive either.

Unfortunately, there is no federal, state, or local law that requires a company to provide you with a paid vacation. It's all at their discretion.

During my stay at my company I reached the point (15 years) where I was at the 5-week vacation level. This lasted throughout several buyouts and takeovers. The latest owner, however, refused to grandfather it in, so I lost a week. When I complained, the response was simply, "tough - it's company policy".

Now I know that a lot of folks wouldn't find this a big deal as I still get 4 weeks off. But the one thing I've learned about your relationship with employers is that "if you're not gaining, you're losing".

I imagine that a lot of these regulations, or lack thereof, were originally intended to protect small to medium-sized companies where an extended, or repeated, absence by an employee could actually hinder their ability to conduct business. Unfortunately, they have failed to keep pace with reality, and are frequently used as justification for abusive practices by mega-corporations. Indeed, virtually the only reason that they can be "hurt" by the absence of a single employee is that they have cut staffing to the bone in order to prop up their quarterly numbers. As Syd has alluded to, stock price is king and all else be damned.

The company I work for is just the opposite. Vacation time must be used (in fact, half the time by mid-year) or it is lost. Unused vacation time is a debit on the books that many companies that are managed to please Wall St don't want.

Wow! 5 weeks after 15 years? All the companies I ever worked for gave you your 3rd week after 15. It took 25 years to get 4 weeks. But it was all moot anyway. None of them ever approved vacation for exempt management.

k1dude wrote:At the last company I worked for, I requested a week off 2 years in advance to get married. It was denied of course, until I told them I was getting married. They begrudgingly conceded. The week before my wedding, I was told I had to be overseas that week. I reminded my boss I was on vacation that week to get married and go on my honeymoon. He immediately blew up and told me to get married at city hall like everyone else at the company. He also told me no one needs a damn honeymoon. He never had one! He told me if I wasn't overseas working that week, don't bother coming back to work. I took the vacation and got married. I was fired a few months later.

If you're currently employed, I don't see a negative in this. What a douche! That's the kind of place that runs people into an early grave.

k1dude wrote:Wow! 5 weeks after 15 years? All the companies I ever worked for gave you your 3rd week after 15. It took 25 years to get 4 weeks. But it was all moot anyway. None of them ever approved vacation for exempt management.

Not to add salt to the wound, but I misremembered: it was 5 weeks after 10 years. To explain, when I first joined the company it was little more than a start-up. The three founders were stand-up guys who would do anything for their workers, even dipping into their own pockets to advance money when it was tough to make the payroll. The pay was decent, the work was exciting as we were constantly breaking new ground, and when they couldn't give raises, they gave really nice stock options instead. The generous vacation time was an acknowledgment of the 70 -80 hour weeks everyone was putting in to get the company off the flight deck.

Well, it was the necessity of issuing stock for start-up money that killed the golden goose. The three founders decided to take the company private and so offered the vulture capitalists that held the majority shares an excellent price in cash. Unfortunately the scam artist who eventually acquired us offered them $2.00 more per share, but in the form of a swap for stock in his company. Being the greedy pigs that they were, the vultures went for the bait (who wouldn't turn down a $20.00 bill today for the promise of $22.00 tomorrow, right?). Three months later, the stock they had taken in trade tanked to about 1/4 of its original value and they lost their shirts. So, my company was basically purchased with toilet tissue. Thankfully, I dumped my optioned shares on the day of the sale, so I was able to avoid the bloodbath that many of my co-workers fell into. They held on to their shares and even purchased more on margin, or funded by home equity loans. Naturally, they got murdered.

Since then, we've been passed around more often than a hooker at a sales convention. We've lost our identity and the spirit that made the company a desirable acquisition. Now we're just a cow to be milked by one absentee landlord after another.

Good Grief!!! what horror stories.....I had enough money in the bank to quit my job a year before minimum retirement. 12 paid holidays, 12 paid sick (wellness) days, 28+ days vaca, full medical, dental, vision, and was never denied a vaca or sick day. And no one, ever got in my face and threatened me in any manner about how bad it was going to be for me if I didn't do blah blah blah. When I decided to leave early, the peeps in personal showed me how to use my sick, vaca, and ot to extend out and bump my pay scale up to the next level. I retired officially at 55, and when I hit 65 and get my SS, I'll be banking more per month than I did when I was full time employee. Plus, I'll have medicare (or whatever the hell it is). I'm not well off, but then I've never cared about money like some americans seem to obsess over it, and never chased it. I watched too many people work till they drop and still have nothing in the end. Sounds like a lot of you folks are going to be dying at the machine. ugh

They call it the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.....G. Carlin.