i tried to ford the river, but my oxen died

Yesterday I received my official “displacement” notice.  I also figured out who stole my job.  My poor bosses… this person really can’t do the job, nor will she do it well.  Which is why I thought it humorous that HR tried to convince me that I was being displaced by a “more senior, more qualified” person.  Just because because she’s older than dirt doesn’t mean she’s more qualified.  I bit my tongue.

I have seven days from yesterday (19/02) to decide which layoff option I’m going to take, and then an additional eight days beyond that (27/02) will be my last day in my current role of “That Guy”.  I technically have six choices.  Eliminating the ones that are not relevant or bad choices, I’m down to two: take the severance and run or try to steal someone else’s job.

If I decide to take the severance I would get 4 weeks pay plus accumulated vacation and one month of COBRA.
Pro: I get money… money is good
Con: I have no job.

If I decide to try and steal someone’s job, it would be a lower position and a pay cut.  Plus there’s no guarantee there is a position.  Additionally, there’s no guarantee I wouldn’t get “displaced” again.
Pro: I would potentially still be employed.
Cons: If I do steal someone’s job, my new co-workers will hate me, just as I’ve made sure my current co-workers hate the Usurper.  Pay cut. If they can’t find a job for me, I get no severance.  They basically wash their hands of me.  I could be displaced again.

I’m leaning toward taking the money and running at the moment.  I really don’t like the idea of stealing someone else’s job and making them unemployed.  And the jobs I would be taking aren’t exactly difficult to fill, which means everyone would be vying for them.  Plus, being easy to fill means I fear for future displacing.  There are a lot of people who have been here a lot longer than I.

Now granted, four weeks of severance is nothing, but I do have a hope.  My current boss and a co-worker and I have been scheming.  My co-worker used to work as a web administrator in DCH (children’s hospital on the hill).  He said it was an awesome job and the person he trained to replace him a year and a half ago, just left.  The position hasn’t been filled yet.  It’s also paid for by a private fund, not OHSU money.  He also has an in with the manager who would most likely hire me on his recommendation.

The only obstacle… THE UNION! (bastards)

But, the minimum requirements aren’t something that just anyone can fill.  They require HTML knowledge, programming, that kind of stuff.  So it narrows the field.  Plus it’s in the HemOnc ward, so we’re trying to angle it as someone needing to be okay around really sick children (heart of stone for the win!).  And if we make the position .5 or .7 FTE instead of full time, I think less people would be interested in it.

The reason I’d be okay with the fact that it’s not full time is that being displaced has helped me get motivated to go back to school.  It’s too late to matriculate, so I’d be taking classes on the side. And if I work at OHSU at least .5 FTE, I still get tuition discounts at any school in the Oregon University System.  It’ll still be expensive, but it’ll be $450 a class cheaper at least.  I’ll just have to see how I can survive on that salary.

So, I need to make a choice.  Any thoughts?  Oh, and happy long weekend if you get one.

Posted in The Great Recession, The Union (bastards), education, holiday, ineptitude, photos, work | Comments Off

So like hipsters, I was previously ambivalent toward unions. Sure, I’m part of a union, but it’s not like I have any choice. My alternative is to leave the union and still pay the dues. Fat lot of good that would do. And unions did bring us 40-hour work weeks and paid holidays and weekends, so they’re not all bad.

But then, like hipsters, someone ruined it for everyone. The former was my neighbour. The latter was their recent decision.

I mentioned in my last post that I had survived the layoffs. I thought I was in the clear because I was loved by my current and former bosses. But then the union struck. Apparently, if you’re inept and get laid off, you can bump someone else out of the way if you’ve been here longer. That someone else is me.

Yes, I am apparently about to be laid off. [EDIT: I was in fact laid off. I still have to decide if I want to steal someone else's job or not just as mine was stolen from me.] Not because my job is unnecessary. Not because I cannot perform my job. But because someone else couldn’t maintain their job. Meanwhile, I am surrounded by any number of inept people who have no risk of losing their jobs because they’ve managed to hide their ineptitude long enough to be virtually untouchable.

A brilliant business move. Maintain the incompetent at the cost of losing the abled. Both my current and former boss, who share me, are trying to think of ways to finagle the system. But the union is a behemoth who can’t be touched. And as a result there’s little recourse.

If I do find I get laid off for the simple reason of being the one with the least seniority in my position, I too have the option of bumping someone else lower than me. Menial work and a pay cut for the win! Huzzah.

What motivation does this provide anyone? “Oh, well I’m not the one with least seniority, so I can’t be touched no matter how bad I mess up.” What a dumb-assed plan.

I can safely say that this is what caused me to become anti-union. If there could be some middle ground between an unchecked plutocracy and the unindustrious union, I might give it another chance. But until then, I’m thumbing my nose at the whole thing.

I’m now more than ever entertaining the idea of going back to school. My problem lies in the fact I don’t know what I want to study or how I could apply that to a job. I don’t want to have a doctorate and be homeless. Sigh… I need direction.

I find out if my job still exists in the next day or so. I’m sure I’ll be back to let you know.

Cheers.

Posted in The Great Recession, The Union (bastards), education, ineptitude, work | 5 Comments »