Topic: Job Burnout!

[Alieo]

Just to vent a little... I seriously almost walked out on my job today. I hung in there though. I am a floor manager at a grocery store, and it is UBER UBER stressful! I'm the guy that goes around and approves your checks, gives the cashiers/sackers breaks, overrides coupons, listens to customer complaints, etc. Today, in my over three years I've been at the company, and 10 years overall in the grocery business, I personally declare as THE hardest. It, for some F-ed up reason, was busier than the day before Christmas AND Thanksgiving COMBINED! It was pure horse manure I tell ya!

It's not that we don't have the help... We HAVE people (checkers and sackers) that want to work and complain they don't get enough hours, etc. BUT, upper management doesn't allocate enough hours to meet the demand, as per district management orders (and they're probably under divisional management orders). They wanna milk EVERY ounce of work out of the hourly employees that they can. It's a corporation; I understand that's how they make money; shooting for over 100% efficiency.

Still... as a floor manager, floor supervisor, manager's puppet, whatever the HELL you wanna call me, my job is to not be on a check stand, but to be out in the front "directing traffic" and jumping on a register and calling for backup when necessary. Jumping on when necessary... hmm... and it was necessary for me to be on the check stand for 6 straight hours today? No one could get their break! We NEEDED another checker, and we were denied that.

This company is unioned in the "right-to-work" state of Texas, so it isn't imperative that we be all union members. However, I am a union member, and I see it as a good thing. Having the union on your side is like having a personal attorney; they'll help out out if management throws their weight around unjustly, and it has happened to me an a few others more than once. But, because we are unioned, our wages suck. I've been there for over 3 years and I only get paid $9.65/hr as a supervisor, starting out at $8.50/hr. There is no raise for becoming a supervisor. The hope is you become a good enough supervisor, and you get to become the backup Customer Service Manager, who's the head of the front-end/customer service department. Their pay is set firm at $15.75 per hour. I've been staying at this for over 3 years now, and still no "recognition." At this company, it's not what you know, it's who you know, and I've seen some poorly qualified people become CSMs in no time, with less seniority than I. I'm not leaving any details out. I'm not lazy. I work HARD, giving it my all everyday.

On top of all this other crap, I gotta deal with unmotivated high schoolers who make $7.25 if they're a sacker, and $7.35 if they're a checker, earning a 25¢ raise every 6 months. It's ridiculous. But these unmotivated teenagers don't come in to work! They call in, say their tummy hurts, or that they can't come in because they sneezed. !@#$!!! As tightly knit as the schedules are, there is no room for missing personnel. And you can't work more than 8 hours a day or it's overtime according to the union rules. And you can't fire them because they have to call in 3 days IN A ROW before we can "legally" let them go! B***SH**! So, bless the union for protecting me, but damn them to hell for keeping the bad apples!

But as hard as I work, I feel like $9.65 per hour is severely underpaid. I'd rather take a one dollar pay cut and work at the mall! Or, I could go right over to this state-wide grocery chain (not unioned, mind you) and start at $10+ per hour if I wanted to, but I don't because, I'm always thinking, maybe that promotion is JUST around the corner! If I just hang in there a LITTLE bit longer, just MAYBE I'll get that promotion. But who am I kidding. I don't want to be the poor bastard who's old and crippled and preparing to celebrate 30 years with the company. What a f****** waste of life!

So... shall I stay or shall I go? Do you think I'm getting paid enough, or am I getting financially a** raped every day I go in there?

[Matthew]

Union? What's that?

I feel your pain though, companies always try to understaff as much as possible. For me, most of the day is too slow for the managers to have another person scheduled, but we always seem to be one short of where we should be when the lunch/dinner/snack rush comes around. And our location was specifically mentioned in the regional weekly summary mail as having too high labor, so it's only going to get worse until summer when business is steady enough to have the hands we need. On the bright side, the General Manager seems to have finally become aware that a couple of his personal favorites are druggie slackers who don't do anything all day and it's likely I'll be working with 1 or 2 less idiots soon.

On that note, we'll be 2 shift leads short of where we were last summer. One kid is almost certainly getting a promotion, but there's really nobody else mature enough for shift lead with the seniority he has. I'm personally hoping I might be able to pick up a promotion for the summer months, but I'm still a long way off as far as seniority goes.

Don't you guys have any rules regarding finding somebody to cover your shift when you call in? We can swap/drop/add shifts as we please, as long as we find somebody else to take our shift or take somebody else's.

[NUMBERZero]

Key word for everything: Union

It's just like communism. It looks good on paper, but people begin to hate their jobs and would like to have "the other guy's" job. And then the regular workers hate the union. For example, to install a special "tool" at my Dad's work, the tool needs to be off-loaded from a truck, carted into the fab, installed into a station, and literally plugged in with an electric cord. It is so easy that one man can do it in under 30 minutes, but for the union it takes over an hour because they need to bring in an off-loader, a pushing cart guy, a mechanical engineer to install the thing, and an electrical engineer to plug the cord into the wall. That's right, THE CORD into THE WALL. If the mechanical engineer were to touch it, then he would have to be reported.

I personally think that the union has overstayed their welcome.

I think that you are being underpaid. After all, they don't have an army of floor supervisors like they do baggers n taggers, so they should at least bump your pay up to $11.xx.

I heard about someone fresh out of high school who got a job at a bank and was getting paid $20.00 an hour. I forgot what qualifications he had. I think he had at least a Marketing class and a solid resume.

[Alieo]

Don't you guys have any rules regarding finding somebody to cover your shift when you call in? We can swap/drop/add shifts as we please, as long as we find somebody else to take our shift or take somebody else's.

Because of the Union, employees are not required to do this. They are encouraged, but not required.

Oh, and I forgot to add up there, I'm working solid from 2/10-2/16. All 12-8 or 3-11. 7 days in a row. Next day off is Friday.

[Scyphi]

At least you have a job (unlike yours truly).

[-<WillyP>-]

You got that right, Scy.

Alieo, I would strongly urge you to find another job before you quit the one you have. You are much more likely to find a better job if you are looking for a better job, than if you are just looking for a job. Hiring managers today can afford to be very choosey as there are a lot of people out looking for work. Quitting a job, in their eyes, is very bad. Trying to better yourself by moving to a better job, however is a good thing.

[VANGUARD]

Alieo, I would strongly urge you to find another job before you quit the one you have. You are much more likely to find a better job if you are looking for a better job, than if you are just looking for a job. Hiring managers today can afford to be very choosey as there are a lot of people out looking for work. Quitting a job, in their eyes, is very bad. Trying to better yourself by moving to a better job, however is a good thing.

I agree. Sucks more looking for a job when you're unemployed. At least with a job, you can still have that satisfaction of working at the end of the day. My last job SUCKED!!!!! And I was stuck there for 13 months, but still looking for a job.

[Alieo]

At least you have a job (unlike yours truly).

There comes a time that you have to ask yourself, "Is this really worth it?"

Alieo, I would strongly urge you to find another job before you quit the one you have. You are much more likely to find a better job if you are looking for a better job, than if you are just looking for a job. Hiring managers today can afford to be very choosey as there are a lot of people out looking for work. Quitting a job, in their eyes, is very bad. Trying to better yourself by moving to a better job, however is a good thing.

Would it be such a bad thing if I quit on good terms with a proper 2 week notice before finding another job? I've got income tax refund to hold me over for awhile, and have a backlog of projects to get done here at the house. All I know is I've GOT to get out of that place!

I believe that in every action we do, every product we buy, every job we go to is a vote; a vote FOR support of the things we do... and I do NOT support the business practices of my company. I'm not the only one feeling this way... the deli manager, who's been with the company for 10+ years walked out on the job this week after a confrontation with the district manager! Other long timers have quit too. Labor there is stretched ridiculously thin, and there is NOTHING anyone can do about it because you have both the district managers and the union working against the good guys -- the hard workers.

My thinking is, I want to quit "properly" before I get into another situation where I want to just walk out on the damn job. That way, I wouldn't burn any bridges and throw it away based on an inevitable emotional decision.

[VANGUARD]

I admire the way you think. You could give two weeks, but end up unemployed for a while. I would say follow/seek the Lord, but I don't know where you stand with Him.

Times have changed. I guess back then, it was easier to give a notice and then end up with another job. Sad in a way, we can't have the sort of respect and responsibility like some people had before.

[-<WillyP>-]

Would it be such a bad thing if I quit on good terms with a proper 2 week notice before finding another job? I've got income tax refund to hold me over for awhile, and have a backlog of projects to get done here at the house. All I know is I've GOT to get out of that place!

It would be pretty much the end of your career. You'd be lucky to get a job flipping burgers at McD's.

[Scyphi]

WillyP's right, because in my attempts at job hunting, I've come under the impression that in this job market, with good jobs being scarce-ish, employers aren't just giving them away to anyone, they want people they can count on for a long while to do the job good, and not only can it be hard to find good jobs (varies in degree on location it seems), but employers are less likely to hire those who have been unemployed (again, depending on how long they've been unemployed, but  the longer it is, the more likely this will be) because that suggests they don't have enough work ethic. Not to suggest that you don't, of course, but that's the impression employers will walk away with. Again, it depends on how long you've been unemployed. If you can get another job within only a couple weeks of being unemployed, then it probably wouldn't be too bad, but, and I hate being negative, but if you manage to land a good job like that in this job market, then luck must have been REALLY on your side (which, assuming you go through with this, I hope it is .

There is also the fact that if you leave your present job under bad terms, the less likely they're going to speak well of you to other employers following up on your references when you apply to them, so you should keep that in mind, too.

Basically what I'm saying is that before you do this, at least you be sure that you've got a good game plan figured out before you do it, and be prepared to deal with all the possibilities. But, whatever you decide to do, I wish you the best with your efforts.

[Kaiaatzl]

I can't do anything but agree with everyone else's advice because I don't know much about how it works down in the States (where the recession hit much harder).

I just need to say that 9.65 / hour is below minimum wage here.  For the kind of work you say you're doing, you deserve better.  So definitely do this the right way, but I say do it.

[-<WillyP>-]

If you are unemployed, prospective employers will think you are unemployable. And that you are desperately applying for any job just to have a job, that you don't really want to work, and aren't willing to work.

Whereas, if you have a good job, and are looking to better yourself, they will see that as a positive thing... It says you are smart, aggressive and ready to move up the food chain.

Your prospective employer will view your current job as an easy job compared to the one you are applying for and if you couldn't handle it why should you be considered for a more challenging position? Don't have the attitude that you are looking for a better paying, easier job, keep in mind that you are looking for a more challenging position, in order to expand your talents.

[VANGUARD]

my old friend was unemployed for two years, and for all I know, still is. I was lucky to have gotten a job within three weeks after being laid off.
temp agencies can be nice.

[Matthew]

Protip for anyone looking for a job: I know all the Minnesota dairy queens are starting to look at hiring for the summer, and I'm sure they're not the only ones. Start putting in applications.