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how is the work force for you?

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Frigo:
Things are OK where I live and work - our town has always been somewhat recession proof in years past, and that trend seems to be continuing now, albeit with a bit more trepidation in the air nowadays than before. I mean, there are layoffs, and there are businesses closing down, but it's nowhere near as bad as say, Detroit. Personally, the company I work for (HP) is global, so I don't really think about layoffs all that much, although I hate my job because I can say without any reservation whatsoever, I'm overqualified for it. This is a well paying job for what basically amounts to secretary work, and it's so hard to justify sitting here for 8 hours a day when I know I can be doing something else. Problem is, is that, while there are few lay-offs, there are even fewer hirings, especially when it comes to the fields I'm knowledgeable in.   :banghead:

Silas (son of Silas):
Hey Frigo, I worked for HP for 10 years and HP makes more people redundant than every year most multi-nationals employ. My Linked-In network is about 80% ex-HP employees who got the chop in the last 2 years.

I had an email today from a guy who just left HP and I asked him why he left. Here's his reply. Its pretty much inline with what you are saying. He ended in a job he was WAY over qualified for:


--- Quote ---in the last years I moved from HPIT to trade and our jobs were totally different, basically filling in spreadsheets. We were not allowed to touch any hardware/software, do any troubleshooting or anything to actually help the customers. HP have spent huge amounts of effort to reduce costs, by taking away all perks and benefits and morale was at an all time low...
--- End quote ---

Another ex-HP colleague who mailed me a week or so ago said the same kinda thing:


--- Quote ---Most of us just gave up the fight to remain in a position we thought was tenable.   A short while after you left, the management started asking any remaining resources to go back to taking calls!!!.  Many of us, including me had not directly supported an application for a number of years (7 in my case)   When your performance would be based on your ability to take calls and successfully resolve them (and with no retraining in sight) and not really wanting to take a 7 year retrograde step in my career, I decided to move on. 
--- End quote ---

I moved onwards and upwards at HP and actually left when things were pretty good, but reports from friends told me that in the offices I regularly worked in (Bracknell, Dornach, Houston, Marlborough MA., Palo Alto) things were pretty dire.

ChadTower:

I've been very lucky this time - the recession has only sort of slowed down my employer's growth.  No layoffs though some functions did get sent to India.

It balances out as I had a really hard time in the .com crash...

Frigo:
Wow, I didn't know that whatsoever.  :o

I know it may sound naive of me to think that I couldn't lose my job; it's not so much that I think it won't happen, but rather that if it does happen, then I'd have some foresight into it before it actually does happen. It's truly amazing to think how much talent is going to waste in this place, but on the other hand, I made a comment the other day about how everyone in this building has a job because of their "technical ability," but a good majority of those working here have no idea what something as simple as a RAID array is, much less how to troubleshoot one. This mindset definitely falls in line with your former co-workers assessment of not allowing us to help the customers due to HP's "streamlined process," and it's the biggest reason I'm constantly looking for another job. Again, the problem is that I'm apparently not the only one who feels this way, because what few technical jobs that are offered in this city, they're all ferociously sought after by dozens, if not hundreds, of potential employees.

Plus, working in a call center is never fun...

AtomSmasher:
The company I'm at has been expanding like crazy since I started here a year ago (almost doubled in size), so I'm not worried in the slightest about losing my job.  However when I started working here, I agreed to a low salary because I had very little professional experience, with the promise of the salary going up fairly quickly when I proved myself.  It's now over a year later and I'm still working for the same absurdly low rate, and any time I ask for a raise they just say "soon."  I have a ton of responsibility compared to when I started and all of my immediate supervisors say I'm doing a really good job, so I know the lack of raise isn't due to poor performance (and I've seen them be completely honest with others who did a poor job).  I recently checked www.salary.com and saw that I'm not only on the low end of the spectrum for my job, but it's so low that I'm not even on their graph.

Anyways, when I hit the one year mark (a couple weeks ago), I again asked for a raise and was told the usual "soon."  That night, as soon as I got home, I started sending out resumes.  I love the work I'm doing and the people I'm working with, but if the company doesn't respect their employee's, then it's time to move on.  Theres not a lot of jobs available in the area, but I'm sure I'll find a new one before too long.

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