In For a Penny

I’ve seen the gradual implosion of my current working conditions, as one after another good person is slammed into a quivering heap. People make mistakes, particularly in an environment where literally everything changes by the minute, and literally every manager tells you something different. Considering that, to watch good people get ground underfoot pisses me off to no end, and it’s emptying the building at the speed of light. Add to that pay cuts totaling thousands of dollars per month for a lot of our top performers (each), and it’s pretty easy to identify a company poised on the brink of going out of business.

Not only is the above not an exaggeration, it’s just a small slice of the big, messy pie. I’ve been reasonably lucky to date, escaping any major grinding sessions. (I assume they just haven’t gotten around to me yet.) The atmosphere did a full 180-degree turn from when I was hired, and adding to that, the administration did precisely what they swore to me verbatim, “We’ll never [do].”

The image associated with this post? That’s what this job is feeling like. I push every day, and every day it doesn’t budge.

I have the luxury of a small financial cushion, if needed. However, it’s possible it won’t ever be touched. I am being actively recruited for another job. It’s one which, if it turns out to be as promising as it sounds, would make a huge difference in our living situation. The pay would be well over double what I now make, plus benefits and perks. In fact, it would come damned close to triple my current income. Kind of a big difference, far too big to dismiss or ignore. I didn’t seek out the job. The job sought me. We’ll see whether or not it pans out. If it doesn’t, I’ll start looking in earnest, before things go any further down the rabbit hole at my o’dark thirty job.

I’m perfectly calm about things, and not walking out until I have something else lined up. But I expect to give two weeks’ notice and be walked out. That’s the company’s pattern, and I’m fine with it.