First post from a throwaway account that I created just for this purpose.
I've been lurking this community for a while, and while I don't agree with everything I see posted here, I have gotten a lot of value from some of the ideas you represent.
For myself, it took Covid and a slight semantic shift for me to appreciate how much I was actually value at the company where I work, and to learn what I could do about it.
I won't name the company, but I've worked there for decades. I've filled a number of roles and had always prided myself on not limiting my work to my job description. You name it, and I've probably done it at some point. I've worked unpaid overtime and been called in on weekends; I've missed important family events and been absent as a parent at times when I was needed, all in the belief that if I created value for the company, it would eventually translate into reward for me.
I'm now done with all that.
I started out as a salaried employee, but in a corporate takeover, I got switched to hourly, because that's how this company operates.
When Covid hit, the company stock hadn't even taken a dip when the company decided that all hourly employees were now part-time in the interests of saving costs. No exceptions. We remained that way for over 2 years. However, after one year, my work was back to pre-Covid levels, meaning that I had to now do a full-time job on a part-time schedule.
I had been given a small raise just before this schedule shift. That was rescinded without notice when my hours were cut. Subsequent raises were below inflation level and actually the financial equivalent of “participation trophies”.
A major anniversary in my employment was missed without recognition or even comment. This is a company that used to offer a catalog of “gifts” for each milestone, with the value of the gift increasing as the anniversary number got larger. Now, nothing, not even a hearty handshake.
Holiday functions are a joke. From the beginning, I saw them dwindle away from large events with gifts, incentives and prizes to nearly nothing.
Staff has been reduced drastically, with people leaving and not being replaced, meaning that the people left behind have to take over the workload with no additional incentive.
Meanwhile, the company boasts of its profits in its shareholders' reports, and the CEO gave themselves a 200% raise in the last year…an increase of millions of dollars while everyone else gets pennies.
Now they're trying to pull the “family” card again, encouraging re-engagement of employees with things like diversity, pride and playing up our work culture.
I know this is not a unique situation with businesses right now; it just irritates me to see if from within a corporation that I used to see as a good place to work.
My initial response was anger, but I soon saw that this was not going to get me anywhere. I've got too much time invested here to quit, and the group I work with are, individually, good people.
Instead, I've employed a little bit of neuro-linguistic programming that has helped; a little linguistic shift that takes off some of the stress. Instead of saying I work “for” ABC company, I say I work “with” ABC company…I work “for” me. That simple little shift means that I put myself and my goals as my first priority, and only do the things that I think will benefit me, and either make my life better or my job easier or more interesting.
I've stopped doing the extra things I used to do, and for the first time in my working life I've started paying attention to my job description. I don't work overtime unless I'm guaranteed to get paid for it. On my off hours I am unreachable. I have certain skills that I won't put at the disposal of the company for any reason anymore. I take my breaks and will not allow them to be interrupted. I take all my vacation days, all my sick days, and any other benefits I'm entitled to…and you'd better believe I know what they are. And if I'm not feeling it that day, I phone it in. I get my work done, but that's about it.
As someone here said recently, if you don't pay me what I'm worth, I'll be worth what you pay me.
In short I've lowered my expectations on the company and chosen to focus on what I want, and I am doing much better as a result. I'd recommend to anyone who's going through something similar to make that same semantic shift from working “for” a company to working “with” a company, working “for” yourself. It may seem trite and “self-help”-ish, but once you put yourself first, you can realign your values towards making your life better rather than a corporate bottom line.
A corporation can issue as many mission statements and memos from the CEO as they want, but they will never value your life and your time as much as you should. Don't let them fool you…you're an asset to be disposed of at their convenience.
TL:DR: Corporations suck. Life is short. Work “for” yourself, even if you work “with” them.