I stayed with a company for 13 years, out of loyalty, the reason being is that it was the first company that hired me when I immigrated to the U.S. This is a company in the Bay Area and the cost of living was way up to what me and my husband was earning so we had to live in the nearby city 45 minutes away. Through the years I was given so much responsibility and has worn too many hats, but the pay wasn't increasing as fast as the responsibilities and duties. 2008 recession came and I was spared during the massive lay offs.
One time during a lunch out, our District Manager asked me how old my car is, it was more than 5 years old during that time, and I have finished paying it off. He stressed how having a new car is very important in the branding of a company. Since I represent the company I was given an advise to buy a new car or to park in the back of the building. It was mind boggling because I keep my car in good condition and sometimes it does get dusty but not for long periods of time. I couldn't understand why I have to walk an extra five minutes to get to the entrance of my building. And why I need a new car to park close to the building. Mind you I do not have a vehicle allowance like the Project Managers and Sales People have in my company. He also started dishing out about one of our employee who recently got divorced, kicked out of the family home and is living in his car. I was told to tell him that he can't park his car in the company parking lot, mainly because it's an eyesore. We can see his clothes piled up at the backseat and things that he has accumulated. Of course he wants his car in our parking lot so he can keep an eye on what was left of his belongings but it was deemed an eyesore and has to be parked elsewhere. There was no sympathy or concern for the welfare of his employees. Do we really need to kick a man down when he is already down on his luck?
I couldn't understand why our DM is tone Deaf during that time, he wants his employees to keep up appearances despite the fact that we were barely eking by with the salary he is giving us. Our DM receives an annual bonus check anywhere from $350K to $400K aside from his monthly salary, he is not even the level of the multi billionaire/millionaire upper management. Looking back I can now understand how hard it must be to feel emphatic to your employees when a person has never lived in a level of reality where a family lives paycheck to paycheck.