So, my job is mainly running the schedule between volunteer tutors and students for our program. Volunteers are divided into two groups: those that are from Company and those that are not. We're a small program, but we get a lot of students going in and out, and since the tutors are volunteers and not actually paid, we also get a lot of mentors dipping out. Ironing out scheduling issues takes up most of my time. I also have a list of volunteers who have expressed a lot of interest in the program but due to scheduling cannot be given a student; however, they keep in regular contact with me and told me that they can come in on short notice when we suddenly have a kid who needs a tutor. So when we have a new student come in that wants a certain time slot and there is a volunteer available, I used to be able to just put them together and bada-bing, bada-boom, I can move on to the next schedule issue.
Now, however, my manager has decided that some tutors–specifically the ones from Company–need students. Except, that same manager has also said I'm not allowed to talk to Company's liaison–the one who has the availabilities for all the Company volunteers. So whenever I have a sudden scheduling issue, instead of going to the people who I know are available, willing, and ready, I have to contact my manager, who contacts the liaison, who contacts Company volunteers who said they are available then, then gives that information to my manager, who gives it to me. And by then, the student has been sitting in a Zoom room for the past twenty minutes (in a thirty minute session) without a tutor. And because *I'm* the person the parents contact, I am the one who gets texts from upset parents.
I am fine with micro-managers. I can handle having to report every little thing to someone else, even if I dislike it. But I hate how, even though my job is to know how the scheduling works and keep everything running smoothly, because I'm the new hire, I can't say shit to a manager who wants to… I don't even know. It's not even a matter of keeping Company sponsorship, she's just doesn't want Company volunteers feeling “disappointed” or “excluded”. And yes, it sucks to feel bad. And yes, we do need to make sure volunteers don't want to quit. But the fact is, my job is to make sure every student has a tutor and right now, we have more tutors than students. If someone has to suddenly go, then my job is making sure another tutor is there to substitute *fast*, and I can't do that if I have to go through three degrees of separation within 15 minutes after 4:00 p.m. on a workday. If I have the choice between someone my manager wants that will take 20 minutes to get ready or someone I know will be here in five minutes but will make my manager mad, I will choose the latter every time.
And the cherry on top: whenever it's my manager's shift to be a substitute tutor, she just so happens to have another meeting or an appointment or visitors at that time, so she can't make it, so I have to call in a different manager to cover her shift.
I am very close to getting another job and I know that once it's confirmed, it will be so hard not to reply to every one of her emails with just: “I am not doing that, because that doesn't make sense. :)”
(I know this isn't technically anti-work, because I'm actually *trying* to do my work, but I feel like here understands the bullshit that American work culture puts people through. Plus, I actually enjoy scheduling, so it doesn't feel like work to me. It's when I have to jump through a bunch of hoops that makes everyone's life harder that makes it “work” rather than something I enjoy.)