Comment Eliminate this Market! (Score 2) 246
Sympathy first: I, and all of us who make the machine go, feel for you. From one point of view, you are a noble hero trapped in an evil system.
You may, however, take another point of view that will give you your life back - you don't need this job. This job needs you.
That's how they sucked you in, right? You're "mission essential". You're "on the team" and the team needs 110% from every player, right? It's YOUR JOB and you'll LET YOUR TEAMMATES DOWN if you don't live for it.
I'm going to indulge in a bit of personal speculation here, so I ask that you not be offended if it isn't you; it's a profile that tech employers look for, and your post shows some of the signs.
You are young, technically competant (perhaps even brilliant), have a powerful work ethic, and little social life. You probably relocated to take this job, further separating you from non-work involvements. You want money, of course, but also recognition of your value.
This looks complimentary, from my perspective - but you must realize that your employers do not think like you, or me - they are an alien race. To them, you are a "technical person": i.e., not a real person. When they find someone who fits the profile above, it's like hitting the lottery - they can buy your whole life for the price of a real person's 40 hour week!
You've already made the connection to hourly pay, which is good. Check this out, too - do you make more than the CEO of the company? More than the CFO? No?
Were eithier of those working at 4 am last Friday in a 90 degree room? Do they ever have "emergencies"? NO?
Hmmm.... Now, in a logical world, that should mean that you are more important. You HAVE TO make it work. It is CRITICAL. What the CEO does isn't - it can wait for morning.
So there is a twisted prestige involved, too - you must be important. They tell you how critical you are all the time.
Consider that for a moment - if anyone is that critical, a very foolish management decision has been made. What if that critical person is killed in an accident? The business closes and everyone goes home, right? After all, that ONE PERSON was the only one who could keep it running, and keep us competitve - without him, we just have to quit.
Have you ever heard of that happening?
Was the SysAdmin "mission critical"? When did he switch from being essential to being disposable? What changed?
Nothing.
It's a lot cheaper to provide the illusion of importance than to hire enough people to actually run a 24/7 operation. They are lieing to you, and if you buy it, you will someday be disposed of when someone needs a scapegoat for a failed policy.
I could keep ranting for pages, but it is time to sum up: You are getting robbed of your time, and you cannot expect the robbers to stop it if you don't make them.
Take less money; ditch the prestige. Work where your boundaries are respected. When you are off, be OFF - no pager, no phone calls. Remember, even surgeons and nurses ( who are compensated specifically for on-call time, even if they are not called) get days of inaccessability.
If you want the money, contract your work on your terms by the hour, and reject jobs when you feel like you are working too much - you will find that this might make you even more valuable because you are so hard to get.
When the brilliant "technical people" are no longer offering whole lives for sale at bargain rates, the business minds will begin to give over reasonable staffing plans - but not until what they are now doing hurts them. It is up to us, folks.
Pat.
________________________________________________ __
Remember, there is no "I" in team - but there is a "U" in F___ YOU!
You may, however, take another point of view that will give you your life back - you don't need this job. This job needs you.
That's how they sucked you in, right? You're "mission essential". You're "on the team" and the team needs 110% from every player, right? It's YOUR JOB and you'll LET YOUR TEAMMATES DOWN if you don't live for it.
I'm going to indulge in a bit of personal speculation here, so I ask that you not be offended if it isn't you; it's a profile that tech employers look for, and your post shows some of the signs.
You are young, technically competant (perhaps even brilliant), have a powerful work ethic, and little social life. You probably relocated to take this job, further separating you from non-work involvements. You want money, of course, but also recognition of your value.
This looks complimentary, from my perspective - but you must realize that your employers do not think like you, or me - they are an alien race. To them, you are a "technical person": i.e., not a real person. When they find someone who fits the profile above, it's like hitting the lottery - they can buy your whole life for the price of a real person's 40 hour week!
You've already made the connection to hourly pay, which is good. Check this out, too - do you make more than the CEO of the company? More than the CFO? No?
Were eithier of those working at 4 am last Friday in a 90 degree room? Do they ever have "emergencies"? NO?
Hmmm.... Now, in a logical world, that should mean that you are more important. You HAVE TO make it work. It is CRITICAL. What the CEO does isn't - it can wait for morning.
So there is a twisted prestige involved, too - you must be important. They tell you how critical you are all the time.
Consider that for a moment - if anyone is that critical, a very foolish management decision has been made. What if that critical person is killed in an accident? The business closes and everyone goes home, right? After all, that ONE PERSON was the only one who could keep it running, and keep us competitve - without him, we just have to quit.
Have you ever heard of that happening?
Was the SysAdmin "mission critical"? When did he switch from being essential to being disposable? What changed?
Nothing.
It's a lot cheaper to provide the illusion of importance than to hire enough people to actually run a 24/7 operation. They are lieing to you, and if you buy it, you will someday be disposed of when someone needs a scapegoat for a failed policy.
I could keep ranting for pages, but it is time to sum up: You are getting robbed of your time, and you cannot expect the robbers to stop it if you don't make them.
Take less money; ditch the prestige. Work where your boundaries are respected. When you are off, be OFF - no pager, no phone calls. Remember, even surgeons and nurses ( who are compensated specifically for on-call time, even if they are not called) get days of inaccessability.
If you want the money, contract your work on your terms by the hour, and reject jobs when you feel like you are working too much - you will find that this might make you even more valuable because you are so hard to get.
When the brilliant "technical people" are no longer offering whole lives for sale at bargain rates, the business minds will begin to give over reasonable staffing plans - but not until what they are now doing hurts them. It is up to us, folks.
Pat.
_______________________________________________
Remember, there is no "I" in team - but there is a "U" in F___ YOU!
