My Friends,
I hesitant to write this post, as I am afraid I’ll reveal my current employer. My current situation is bizarre, toxic, and somewhat unbelievable. In order to protect myself, ‘ABC’ will serve as the company name.
A few weeks ago, I filed a formal complaint with ABC’s Ethics department. ABC is synonymous with the industry and operates nationwide. ABC employs people of all walks of life, many of which are highly skilled and educated. Overall, ABC is great! Healthcare! 401k! Stability! Structure! etc, etc. All The Things (!) we were taught to value no matter how toxic the environment, how small the paycheck, or how little the appreciation. Many individuals happily retire with ABC and that is wonderful for them! I recently celebrated…just kidding, I, like my supervisors, barely acknowledged my 6 year milestone. Many of ABCs employees possess graduate degrees, doctorates, J.D., masters certifications, etc… you get it. Individuals who are highly skilled, competent, and considered experts by industry standards. For the purposes of this verbose rant, I will only reference this specific group of individuals. I am, in no way, commenting on others’ capabilities, work ethic, life choices, education, or limitations. I say this while acknowledging I have privileges and opportunities others may not. My intention is not to offend, but clearly describe the toxic space I occupy without identifying myself or others. Hard work is hard work, no matter what field, no matter what age, and should be recognized and rewarded (Fair wages? Fair compensation? Paid sick leave? Promotions? Student debt assistance for degrees we must hold per local, state, and federal guidelines? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?)
Over the last few years, highly respected individuals in my division preferred to quietly exit rather than deal with executives’ (execs) passive-aggressive and borderline unethical tactics (re: management skills). Some transitioned to random divisions (re: not better pay or promotions), while some flat out quit. Their not-so-sudden departures hit particularly hard as each individual possessed specific skills and expertise. So…. Irreplaceable? Maybe replaceable but could take years to replace? Those of us left thought, maybe, just maybe, execs would recognize the alarming turnover, address retention, improve conditions for remaining staff, and immediately fill vacant positions. Wrong. Not only was the exodus never addressed, their positions were not filled for 14 months. Oh, and this is peak pandemic.
You may be saying to yourself, ‘Oh nooooo, a few disgruntled employees left! Suck it up! Do the work! Be lucky you have a job!’. To that archaic line of thinking, I would like to highlight the importance of this particular Division that only employees 12 individuals. Each is hired for their proficiency in the field, as well as, unique skillsets. Of the initial 12… 5 fled. Of 12. Of. 12. Not 5 of 100… of. 12. The additional months can only be described as, what’s the proper business term? … an absolute shitshow. Exec did not hire, did not address the stress, frustration, low morale, or obvious burnout. Instead, execs superior problem-solving skills concocted a master plan to address the rising number of tasks (not people leaving). The result: rename, rebrand, and shuffle a few things around. Then distribute the New Task Plan to the remaining 7 (Spoiler Alert: it was the same amount). Why didn’t we say something, you might ask? We did. Over. And over again. Magically, new new hires would appear at random, only to see others exit.
This is an ELI5: simple math. You start with 12. 12 – 5 = 7 + 3 (new!)= 10. Buttttttt, 10≠ 12. But wait, …there’s more! 10 – 4 = 6. Wait, 6 ≠ 12 right? Right!!!?????
What execs failed to take into account, was the current well-being of those keeping the Division afloat (Spoiler Alert 2: it was bad). Each new addition was a band-aid on a severed femoral artery. Only a true psychopath would remain unfazed under such working conditions (reminder: during a pandemic, aside from personal lives and individual experience). Further exacerbating the working conditions, we were not compensated or rewarded for completing work meant for 2…..for an entire year. It’s worth recognizing, the Annual Quality Report ABC posted that year miraculously mirrored the previous year, except one tiny detail. Division functioned on an unsteady 7-10 compared the to normal, consistent 12. ELI5: previous years with 12 employees yielded 10 straights As. This year with 7-10 fluctuating employees also yielded 10 straight As.
Another year somehow passed, the Divison sustained on 6, then 10, then 5, then 10 again. At one point, some individuals held 3x the amount of tasks than normal. Execs were routinely advised of the compounding issues – burnout, mental health decline, covid, languishing, personal losses, panic attacks, lack of morale… yet nothing was done. On top of that, execs became… irritated? hostile? Even skeptical of the validity of our concerns, complaints, observations, and general unhappiness. The placating, false promises, and attempts to instill some sense of hope ceased completely. Instead, we became the problem. It didn’t matter people were having panic attacks at work, task amounts tripled, and individuals were quitting! No, No. This is a you problem. We were informed our work was subpar, sloppy, and unreliable. Our demeanor- irrational, unprofessional, and unstable. 10 became 8. The Annual Quality Report ABC posted this year with 6-10 employees yielded 8 As and 2 B+.
Despite being fully aware of the overall decline in functioning of each highly skilled individual, the narrative has shifted. Any problems are surely personal. The growing number of tasks, poor retention, lack of training, hostility, and flat out minimizing and ignoring very real problems translates to one thing…. You. You are the problem. Your responses and general unhappiness are yours and yours alone. Learn to regulate yourself. Learn to manage your work and your personal life. This is a you problem. 8 became 7. Then 6. Then 5….. somehow, very recently 7 more were hired. It took 2+yrs to reach capacity. But why? Why now? It’s too late for me and those of us left. We are actively seeking employment outside of ABC. Over the next few weeks I will meet with the Ethics committee openly. At this point, I have nothing to lose and nothing to give. No amount of benefits or name recognition is worth total burnout and callous disregard for a humans overall well-being. My time here is done.
Over the last 3 years, ABC publicly boasted about their ethical standards and practices. Each year their billions in profit grows and is recognized as industry standard.
TL;DR: No job is worth your complete loss of self-worth. At all levels of education and employment, individuals are subjected to unfair and unethical practices. All hail the almighty dollar.
No banana for scale.