Hello everybody!
About 4 months ago, I got hired by a non profit organization that works with my college. They help students with learning difficulties so they can better adjust from high school to college. As somebody who's struggled academically through most of my schooling and have ADHD/ASD, I thought the job would be a good fit for me as I can relate to a lot of the students' struggles. I got hired late into the fall semester and I got to know many of the students I help today. Granted, it pays minimum wage but I enjoy working with them. I also enjoy working with the other mentors and my supervisor too. I live with my parents so I don't have to worry about rent or utilities, but I still have my own bills that I need to pay.
So flashforward to now, my supervisor hired 6 more mentors since the semester started. Keep in mind, we've had 9 mentors including myself that returned this semester. we also have 14 students. This is 1 mentor per student, but usually mentors would be assigned anywhere from one to three students in a session. I've tried getting more hours by looking at the mentor schedule and seeing what works for me. I emailed my supervisor(she gave me more hours before) about this and she just replied with “we're fully staffed for those shifts, but you're more than welcome to cover for someone.” I have no idea how this is supposed to help me now, because I would only get more hours if somebody calls out, which doesn't happen too often. I work only 13 hours a week, and I feel like it's not enough to cover my bills or to save up for anything I want to do in the future. Not to mention for the past few weeks, I've had shifts where there were more mentors than students. Other mentors that are more knowledgeable in a class/subject jump in to help, or they don't need any help. Either way I would end up feeling bored after finishing any homework I have.
Now my supervisor's going to set up recruitment tables later this and next month. I do not think we need more mentors, we have enough as it is. She's paying us to participate in the recruiting tables, I want no part in it. I genuinely don't understand why employers would cut hours, then hire new people, making the workplace overstaffed. And these same people are complaining about how nobody wants to work anymore. Well for starters, maybe you should stop hiring new people and give hours to the employees that you already have. I love my job and I enjoy helping the students I work with. However, if my hours get cut after she hires more people, I'm going to quit and look for a job that guarantees me more hours. I've dealt with overstaffing at my last two jobs, but I'm just sick of dealing with it over and over.