Month: April 2022

So a bit of back story about my previous employer. When I joined the company it was a super chill place to work, nice projects, no fuss about getting some days off, no complaints if you didn't want to work overtime. And then management decided they wanted to make more money. I didn't get a single holiday in the past two years, overtime was downright mandatory, if you didn't work overtime they would retaliate by putting you on the worst possible jobs. Nobody got an increase to their salary no matter their performance. I even had a colleague who couldn't make ends meet (while working 60 hours a week) and asked for a minor increase so he could live paycheck to paycheck. They told him he was allowed to work more hours if he needed the money. Two months back I decided I had enough and went looking for something…

For the life of me I don’t understand. I have a bachelors degree, including 8 years of managerial experience when I managed a Hertz car rental branch. Yet, interviews are scarce. Then I read things like this: “Job openings totaled nearly 11 million in December, more than 4.6 million above the total unemployment level, according to the Labor Department.” I’ve applied to hundreds of openings. My success rate to get an interview is 1/7. After the interview it’s 0/35 that passed the first interview to go on to the 2nd. I don’t believe it’s me, because I’ve never had a difficult time getting a job before. In addition, when job seeking in the past, I ALWAYS heard back, either a decline or an accept. What’s interesting is that out of the 35 interviews only ONE came back no. Nearly all are ghosting me and I have no idea why. Why…

So as stated in the title, the company I applied to is based in Spain, and that's where my interviewer was located (video call). When it was time for me to ask questions, I asked about the benefits package. She said she didn't know a lot about it offhand, but that they do offer it, and told me she'd have someone email me with more specific information. Then she laughed a bit and said that when they expanded into the US, the higher-ups had to sit down and get all of that sorted out, and it seems crazy to her. In Europe, she said, if you need some time off, you talk to your boss and work it out. If you're hurt or sick, you see a doctor. Must be nice to live somewhere that actually values quality of life over capitalism.

So today I heard this phrase from a customer and I don't think she was expecting my answer. We were talking about 2020's summer furlough in the UK and how nice it was to have a break being paid 80% wages for having to do nothing. We both felt like it was taking extra (and needed) vacation days. Then she said the dreaded phrase, she felt that because people had been paid for doing nothing they didn't want to go back to work. Now, I had two choices here, put on the customer service and just nod along ooooor, tell her that actually people are less inclined to put up with the crap they have to for wages that don't allow them to live. She was a little taken aback until I told her that in retail and especially hospitality some customers behaved worse and more disrespectful to staff than…