b6bloke Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 First of all i dont want this post to seem ungrateful as its intention is just to find out just how common this is at the moment. Work for me at the moment is stressful, i am so busy its untrue, I am Health and safety but now given environmental plus other things but there are quite a few others at work going through the same thing with the company saying that we can not call in extra staff in the current climate, someone has just gone on maternity leave and her friend has been told to just do her work. Now chatting with guys at the villa and the gym it seems this is not just us and people are having to give extra at the moment, most also are prepared to do this to help the company and maybe secure their job in the future but i wondered just how many other people are going through the same thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 A lot of companies around the world have used the excuse of the downturn to dump from on high on their staff. Threats of job losses, changes to working practices that have knocked back the rights by years etc etc. Management by fear is the new style Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I have to work more lately to make ends meet, yep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 I agree. I have never been so stressed than I have been in the last 6 months or so. I'm going to work when i'm ill, i'm doing at least 2 hours extra per day and I still struggle to get through my pile of work. People are leaving and not being replaced and the verdict from the top? "Be grateful you've got a job!" Don't get me wrong, I don't mind working hard but I would like it to be recognised by the people that pay my wages and bonuses. The fact is, i'm probably going to be £20k-£25k down on my bonus this year despite working harder. I'll keep my head down for the time being but I won't forget! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted October 10, 2009 Moderator Share Posted October 10, 2009 I don't really have the sort of job where this can happen. I go in for 8 hours and deal with whatever is thrown at me for 8 hours and go home. I suppose with the recession we've been slightly less busy so I've had slightly less to deal with but now we're back in almost record levels of business territory (the students have hit town) I get more to deal with. Having said that I prefer to have more to deal with, it helps pass the time I suppose in one respect I did have to answer calls as a telephonist last night for a few hours, which it could be argued isn't strictly my job but management have realised the shortfall in staffing levels in those areas and now business has picked up again are in the process of recruiting and training new staff, so that is a temporary thing and its understandable in our business and the current climate that there will be a few weeks lag between the increase in business and the increase in staffing levels but we know its in hand and don't mind "lowering ourselves" for a while. If we didn't we may lose business, an abandoned call is treated as business lost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Pretty much the same as Bicks. I work in public transport, so my workload is unchanged. Apparently we are about 6% down compared to the same quarter last year, but I am not sure how that is calculated. It might be raw passenger numbers, it might be income vs expenditure vs budget, but knowing the nature of the railway its probably as complicated as the most complicated way you could think of calculating it. But on a personal level my workload is unchanged. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind working hard but I would like it to be recognised by the people that pay my wages and bonuses. The fact is, i'm probably going to be £20k-£25k down on my bonus this year despite working harder. I'll keep my head down for the time being but I won't forget! Holy shit. How much did you earn last year? :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 my division has never changed, we didnt boom so haven't bust either, however other ones such as our housing one have let some people go, and its the deadwood that seems to go rather than the last one in so maybe not that bad a thing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b23avfc Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Mine is but then I work for myself and try to improve on every job, then show the world. So I guess that ball has grown since the recession started as my marketing and internet presence, to do with work overall, has increased greatly. Not really that useful to most of us on here but if you work for yourself you can keep going if you have a skill that is marketable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaEire Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Yep more work for less money. There is a recruitment freeze on so nobody gets replaced when on maternity, holidays etc. As I work in the public service it looks like I'm going to get another pay cut in the next budget which I could really do without as I have a wedding to pay for next year and my wife to be is now on a 3 day week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wol. Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Management by fear is the new style This is what is happening at my place, we lost the owner last year and then after a month the new guys took over and called a meeting with a few of the senior staff. The message being they wanted to "bring back fear" and being shit and faceless to people was high on the agenda. It hasn't worked in my opinion, some staff now couldn't give a shit, we have a lot of youngish lads who have never been out of work so don't really get the fear. I think they are taking this approach as they are feeling out of their depth and have the fear themselves. So kicking the dog, a poor approach by people who gained success through circumstance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 TATA have used the downturn to get all the JLR office / salary staff to do a 40 hour week instead of the 37 they were doing for no additional money. It is interesting though because when TATA appoched Ford for the purchase they made it clear to the unions that they wanted a 40 hour week at some point, the recession gave tghem the perfect opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnsonp Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Management by fear is the new style Now that is something I have noticed more recently Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Don't get me wrong, I don't mind working hard but I would like it to be recognised by the people that pay my wages and bonuses. The fact is, i'm probably going to be £20k-£25k down on my bonus this year despite working harder. I'll keep my head down for the time being but I won't forget! Holy shit. How much did you earn last year? :shock: I did very well last year. My 'basic' wage is nothing to write home about though. As a banker I increase my wage by my bonuses. This year is tougher than last year unfortunately :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer1 Posted October 10, 2009 VT Supporter Share Posted October 10, 2009 A lot of companies around the world have used the excuse of the downturn to dump from on high on their staff. Threats of job losses, changes to working practices that have knocked back the rights by years etc etc. Management by fear is the new style Thats a very accurate description of what's been happening at my place the last 6-8 months. I've also spoken to a few friends who work in the same industry and they seem to be experiencing the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagicMarlon Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 The climate we are in at the moment has actually benefited me, I have more work to do and am getting paid more, a pay rise came at the perfect time for me. Initially I was just about scraping by each month, now I am living comfortably and fingers crossed my wage will increase further in the not too distant future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted October 10, 2009 Share Posted October 10, 2009 Things are getting tougher with us. Decisions like do we bid for a contract and find ways of reducing wage costs, or not go for it and not try to create the jobs. If it's a contract we already have, not much choice - we will try to preserve the jobs. Spending a lot of time on thinking of ways to cut back-office costs, improving processes etc. Sometimes, the first reaction from staff is to think that you are trying to cut out their role and their employment, rather than cut out the crap and deploy them on stuff which actually adds value. Some people seem to think there's an option of plodding along as they always used to, and that any attempt to dislodge them from that comfortable state of affairs is some sort of management trick. In fact, the only available options are cut costs, or cut jobs. But some will always think the status quo was a viable option, if it suited them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trimandson Posted October 11, 2009 Share Posted October 11, 2009 I've never been so busy in my whole life, doing level 3 tasks on a level 1 wage, with no obvious news of a permanent position (currently secondee to my role) or a hike in wages (currently at least 10k under what my 3 closest colleagues earn, who also get BUPA healthcare and extra holiday), and about 7k under colleagues across group (so I understand). The thing is, I've found a job I love, a job I'm good at, and a job I can continue to develop at for a long time to come, so I don't really wanna kick up stink about it right now. But it's **** demotivating at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 11, 2009 VT Supporter Share Posted October 11, 2009 My workload is less. They cut back the hourly paid workers hours at our place and extended the salaried hours from 37 to 40 to cover for it. But it doesn't make much sense, because most of the hourly paid are guys on the line who actually make the cars, where as Iwork in Finance whichisunrelated to them. Me working 3 more hours a week doesn't make up for anything. So my workload has stayed the same, I just have longer to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted October 11, 2009 VT Supporter Share Posted October 11, 2009 I did very well last year. As a banker I increase my wage by my bonuses.Well. This is topical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HongKongVillan Posted October 11, 2009 VT Supporter Share Posted October 11, 2009 Well always been busy and even more busy cos they are trying to cut corners if all possible meaning we have 1 member less in our team, and I am sure there will be no pay rise next year. and pissed off with work recently, planning to quit next year, if market gets better...hopefully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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