Need to vent about the current state of my job. Don’t worry, I am looking for something else.
I’ve been with my company for 4 years. Even before the pandemic, it was a remote job. When I was offered the job, I was told that it would require a little bit of travel, up to ONE overnight trip per month. Keep that in mind: once a month. At the time, that was fine for me because it was mostly remote, I was salaried, and the hours were flexible as long as I met my deadlines, etc. It was a small company with about 30 employees.
Then, Covid happened, and everything changed. There was no big announcement. We were all just doing our best to stay afloat, accommodate our clients, and keep our jobs. At the time, when so many Americans were losing their jobs left and right, I just did what I was told so that I could keep mine. 9 employees have left over the last 2 years, and they haven’t replaced any of them.
All of a sudden, my “maybe once a month” travel turned into every single week, often twice a week. I was having to pick up the slack of the employees who had left without being replaced. No salary increase, BTW. It seemed like I was never home. I was depressed and miserable. My husband and I were arguing about it a lot. I also have a 2.5 year old son who is non-verbal and has autism. He has speech and occupational therapies every week. Parenting him is a bigger task than it would be for a neurotypical child. I was constantly having to reschedule his therapies. Ugh.
So anyway, last month, I told my boss that I simply cannot keep up with the travel, and I reminded her that when I was hired, I was told it would be once a month. I explained about my son’s therapies. And do you know what she said to me? “We all have things that need our attention. So-and-so has a dog with special needs, but she still manages to keep up with the travel.”
She compared my child to a fucking dog.
I’ve worked there for four years, covered their ass during Covid, and took on added responsibilities for $0 extra. During that time, I have called out of work precisely twice. (Since I mostly work from home, if i’m not feeling well, I just give myself a light day and don’t bother getting out of sweat pants.) But last month, my entire family had this horrendous stomach virus, my son ended up hospitalized, and I needed to take off 2 days. My annual review was the following week. And in the section about what I need to improve, they wrote, “Employee needs to find alternate childcare if her child is sick.”
I get 5 sick days and NEVER use them. That’s the first time I have ever called out! And they put it in my review.
What a toxic cesspool. I can’t wait to leave!