Long time reader, first time poster. Let me begin by saying class solidarity is the only way out of this mess. Second, I will admit I am very privileged because my parents let me live with them for free. It’s freed up time and money to allow me to find another job if I don’t like the one I’m currently at. Given all that, I wanted to share that I just quit my job after accepting a new position and I hope sharing my experience might inspire somebody here.
I accepted a position that required a commute. It was two hours in the morning and one hour back in the evening. I was seduced by advancement opportunities, climbing the corporate ladder, etc etc. I was hired as an assistant manager. On day one I realized it was just me and my manager running the branch because the other employees all recently quit. That should have been red flag number one. After my first week there, my manager was transferred to another branch and I was left alone to manage this branch. That should have been red flag number two.
Training basically came to a halt when the manager was transferred to another branch and I was expected to run this branch by myself during my second week there (keep in mind, this industry is heavily regulated and it made no sense to allow a new person to take on this much responsibility). District manager asked me multiple times during my second week if there was anything he could do to help make things easier since he knew I was taking on more work than expected (at no additional pay). I told him multiple times it would really help to have more than one person at the branch, specifically if there was somebody more experienced to help continue training me since I’m still new. I saw him interview 5 people and reject all 5 of them. I’m convinced that he had no intention to hire them, and the conspiracy theorist in me believes somebody was pocketing the surplus payroll budget for the district by intentionally keeping us understaffed. Customers would constantly complain and yell at me for not providing better service, and each time my response was that it’s just me running the branch and I’m new and doing the best I can 🤷️ pretty awful customer experience but the company either didn’t care enough to include a customer satisfaction metric or they knew and didn’t care to address it.
By the one month mark, I realized things were not getting better. I was told if I showed dedication and commitment to the company, opportunities would open for me. The company had branches that were actually closer to me but claimed that they didn’t have any openings at the moment and they needed me at this branch. I decided to update my resume and start applying elsewhere. Landed a position that’s only 20 minutes from my parents home, which I am incredibly grateful and thankful for. I now have so many hours back of my life that won’t be wasted on commuting. I told my district manager and he told me that they can transfer me to a closer branch if I’ll consider staying with the company. So now, all of a sudden, after announcing I am leaving, the branches closer to me have openings? The same ones that didn’t have any openings a month ago?
TLDR: company made minimal efforts to accommodate me, only made an offer to accommodate after I announced I was leaving. I hope everybody reading this realizes their worth as an employee and applies to jobs that add to their quality of life. Don’t let employers exploit you. If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. Keep those resumes up to date and never close yourself off from new opportunities in life.