The company that I work with has made a lot of changes in the last few months, as the laws surrounding the products we sell(cannabis) have shifted, and we've gone from having a very medicinal “here for the people” vibe to a severely corporate “we're just in this for the money” feel. The company's concern for accessibility accommodations for the medicinal consumers and employees alike have waned considerably. HR is a bygone relic, as submissions about concerns like medical accommodations not being met or ableist management openly implying their intentions to segregate employees needing medical accommodations go ignored for weeks if not months on end. They've started cutting our hours back despite making more now than ever before and have openly defied and delayed a union peace agreement after the employees were able to get the majority's signatures.
A job that I was once passionate beyond measure about causes me nothing but apprehension and anxiety anymore. Well, I guess I can't quite say that. I do still love the customer base. I'm still passionate about educating others on the science behind the plant and how they can use it to either improve their lives or just have a heck of a good time. I'm just so burned out by giving my all to work for a company that just meets me with silence when I have serious concerns that need to be addressed. I'm exhausted and still not being paid enough to afford basic costs of living. I'm living out of a partially gutted camper on a friend's property because I work full time but am not paid enough to afford the cost of rent in the area or a mortgage that meets the local housing costs.
But the worst part has got to be the people I work with who are in steadfast denial of just how bleak things actually are. We have a group chat that's a good way for everyone to keep in communication with one another, to keep in the know about what's going on in the workplace, and people use it to vent about their frustrations at work on occasion. When my latest expression of frustration was met with a response that basically implied I was just being paranoid and that the company isn't “out to get us” by a coworker who has been with the company for a fraction of the time that I have, was given full time in a matter of months, has barely had his hours cut where others(including me) have had them slashed and has been granted an opportunity to basically take the lead in his ideal role at the place while I'm still being denied the chance to even try working in that same area despite my seniority(no doubt because of my medical accommodation needs), I just can't get the feeling of being emotionally backhanded out of my head. I'm so deeply hurt to know that the same people whose rights I would fight tooth and nail for are able to be placated in the moment by the corporate song and dance and willing to ignore the way their coworkers are being hurt. It's disgusting. That's the only word for it. But I guess I'll just shut my mouth and keep my growing sense of discouragement to myself.