Age and experience - reflections on working (I am 44 this week, a review of my life at work)

[The Straight Story]

Over the years I have heard the mantra "Companies in a free market will hire the best people for the job and work to retain them."

At one point in my youth I believed that.

I turned 44 this week and thought I would share some of my job experiences with you.

Over the years I have worked in security, been a deputy, worked in manufacturing, and the computer field.

Time and again I have seen people (myself included) screwed over.

I worked for a manufacturing company in my 20's. Spent 3 years with them. Won awards each year for attendance, most suggestions (that were implemented), I helped out with all the committees (Christmas parties, etc) and was one of their main contributors for their monthly newsletters. I was promoted up the chain quickly. After an injury and a worker's comp claim I was fired. I won a suit against them. The HR director had left a year earlier, totally disillusioned with them (he was a good guy whom I had become friends with).

After working for them went to work for a similar manufacturing company as a temp. Work 90 days and do well and get hired in they said. 90 days after that you can get benefits. Several people there told me that they often fired people who had families after the second 90 day period - saved them money on their insurance. I broke 3 company records for production. One week before my final 90 days (had been hired on) I was let go for some bogus reason (dealing with break lines that I had been working on. One of the team leads was a friend of ours and told me there had been no problems with them and smugly told me that he had warned me ahead of time about putting my wife and kids on my insurance policy).

I went into the computer field after all that - which is what I have been doing the last 15 years.

One company I worked for went bankrupt, and offered to pay retention bonuses to keep me and some others on (over a period of time). Promised to pay us the full amount if they were bought out. I got one check from all of that, and then we were bought out. I stood to collect a lot. New company said they did not have to honor that agreement. We were all laid off (although I was able to stay on to help with transitioning the data bases).

I have worked for Enron, JP Morgan, Bank One, Verizon (as a temp through another company), Nationwide, and several small companies. I excelled at each job. But in the end, they did not care about my skills in programming, running data centers, project management, etc.

At one point I had 4 offices when I worked for Chase, my director said I was the best manager (data center wise) they had.

But in the end it was the same.

They needed to save money. I worked well, worked my way up, and replacing me and others saved them money.

You and your skills? Valuable to them in the short term, but stay long term and you will cost them more.

Busting my ass, taking work home with me, studying and taking tests and getting certifications. Showing up, excelling at what I did - none of it mattered in the end.

Now I am 44. Seen as an old school guy.

Never mind I can program in several languages, know a lot more about data bases in an enterprise environment, keep up on new technology, etc.

Workers have become disposable because companies can count on money from government, investors, etc, and your worth to them is something they can toss out easily.

YOU mean nothing to them in the future. They have NO loyalty to you, only to themselves and share holders.

And if they lose money because a valuable person gets canned? So what - they will get more investment or bailouts anyway.

[Brickbat]

1. The American Dream = The American Lie.

Showing up and doing a good job just doesn't cut it anymore. You have to be willing to do it for a pittance.

[kestrel91316]

28. +10

[Bonhomme Richard]

2. I learned that ten years ago and went to work for myself.

End of wash, rinse, repeat.

[TexasObserver]

3. Recommend. Good read.

[Sanity Claws]

4. You're right; Also remember corporations have NO loyalty to its workers

[OhioBlue]

5. This sounds like similar stories

that I hear a lot. Mostly around here... the company just shuts down.

Family business - built over many years, treated employees decent, sell out to a corporation - down side of bell curve... suck out all the profits, outsource, offshore, downsize.. then close. I can think of a dozen in my County like this over the past 10 years. small county.

There's also a lot of similar stories to yours -

I'm sorry you've been going through this.

[Greyhound]

10. Most people just don'y realize the extent to which the nation has been hollowed out.

Those that do pay attention read numbers; The numbers say we make a lot, but scratch the surface, mostly we assemble and ship a lot of stuff made elsewhere.

[OhioBlue]

13. I agree. It is almost as if these corporations have a play book

it seems to go the same way every time... buy up a profitable company... outsource, downsize, offshore.. close. oh - and mix in a little union busting and begging for tax breaks & corporate welfare...

[AdHocSolver]

17. You nailed it. That is the new business model.

The goal is to boost the stock price of the purchased company by outsourcing, downsizing, and offshoring. Then the suckers buy the stock, bidding up the price, and the new "owners" dump the stuck at a hefty profit.

Then the company is sold "for parts", since the new owners never intended to run it as a business.

A lot of mergers work the same way.

[Greyhound]

22. Multiply this a million times and we see how small business has steadily lost ground to the

mega-corps for going on 40 years.

Small business created about 80% of the employment in this nation through the 70s, this number has steadily declined to about 40% today.

It's no wonder that, after turning our economy over to businesses that are primarily concerned with shedding employees, we have such a hard time employing Americans.

[SPedigrees]

6. There was a time when companies had loyalty to their employees

and vice versa. That was before the era of the upwardly mobile society, back when one went to work for a company at an entry level position right out of school and worked their way up. The expectation was that employees would spend their entire working life with a company, eventually retiring with a pension. Back in the day employee/employer amounted to a stable family relationship.

Now the workscape universe is one of greed, every man for himself, merging and dissolving companies constantly restructuring, with many going under. This trend began in the 1970s; I remember reading articles about the changing social work sphere back in the day.

Most employees would not hesitate today to leave a company for a more lucrative offer elsewhere, relocating to do so. And companies no longer see their most qualified workers as a valuable commodity.

[onestepforward]

24. Yes, there was.

I'm 47 and I think my parents generation was the last generation when companies had loyalty to their employees and vice versa. Greed has definitely taken over.

[Daphne08]

37. I remember it as well and wish I could smile about those days,

but that's a bit too much to ask right now.

[UpInArms]

7. we were raised on the theory - Oratio Alger - Work Hard - Do Good -

but ...

for us

it has been

....

work hard

...

get screwed

[Kievan Rus]

12. Horatio Alger stories = B.S.

[Fumesucker]

8. You write well..

It's obvious that you are intelligent, I expect that you are indeed a good employee..

I also know that and five dollars will get you a coffee in America today.

[Lex]

9. Best thing I ever did was decide to work for myself.

I have busted my ass doing it for 17 years, and it's stressful, but I haven't had to worry about being screwed over by a shitty boss or by bogus company policy or trumped up problems in order to fire me.

[Kievan Rus]

11. Understand this...everything you have is at the whim of the rich

Everything you currently have...your employment, your house, your family, your health...is all at the whim of a some rich asshole with penthouses in midtown Manhattan and downtown Los Angeles that probably thinks three yachts to his name are not enough.

It does not matter how well you excel at your job...you are just another cog in a machine, especially if you work for a large corporation. If you work for a small business...well, you're still screwed since big business gets all the tax breaks.

I used to think people that said this stuff were anywhere from misinterpreting the evidence to flat-out nuts. After what happened at the G-20 in Pittsburgh, I realized that they were right along. Coupled with what happened at the healthcare town halls.

Abraham Lincoln is rolling in his grave. We a government of the rich, by the rich, for the rich.

[dysfunctional press]

14. i got out of the shit 13 years ago when i was 36...

disability can have it's advantages.
sure- my monthly check is only $1250- but the FREEDOM is priceless.

my main goal in life was to get to a point where i didn't have to HAVE a boss, or BE a boss.
a disabling spinal condition made my dreams come true.
(and i get a lifetime supply of narcotics, to boot :woohoo:)

[Patchuli]

35. It's good that you can look on the bright side

and I wish you the best. Personally, I'd rather be physically fit and deal with the crap. Only 11 years and 6 months and I can retire for real. Hopefully I will still be as healthy because I intend to enjoy my retirement!

[baldguy]

15. Modern feudalism.

[AdHocSolver]

16. In the "good old days", the management usually had some competence and expertise about the business.

Your chances of being recognized and rewarded for good work were higher. This wasn't universal, but more likely than today.

As the "old" generation retired, the replacement management was less interested in the products or services provided by the company than they were in the financial management and personnel manipulation. In other words, the "engineers" retired and the "bean counters" took over.

A "cult" of management took over in which an MBA was a better ticket into management of a manufacturing company than an engineering degree. I worked as a programmer for twenty years and at only two places that I worked did the manager or supervisor have any real expertise with computer technology.

Another problem that I encountered was knowing more about the work than the boss. Being a competent, hard worker is not an advantage when your boss's only skill is manipulating people. Such a boss is worried that his boss will decide to replace him with you or someone who knows at least as much as you do. Such bosses will downplay your skills to higher ups. Then they give small or no raises so that they can brag about saving money for the company.

Another thing I learned over the years, that the scum rises to the top. Whether a corporation, a nonprofit, or an academic institution, it was often true that the higher up in the organization that one looked, the dumber they got.

[JDPriestly]

19. MBAs are the problem. You nailed it AdHocSolver.

[LibDemAlways]

36. Absolutely on the mark. My husband has had a succession of

terrible managers in his engineering career who know nothing about what he does. None of them have been qualified to assess the quality of his work or give him a fair review. As he's gotten older, it's become increasingly frustrating. He's worked his ass off, gone the extra mile to produce quality work, commuted 1000 miles weekly for five years without complaint....and all he has to show for it is that at 58, he's currently hanging on by a thread- commuting 72 miles each way to another distant job site having to "audition" for another group - all to avoid a lay-off. Big corporations = people wasters.

[defendandprotect]

18. IMO, the only real occupations are arts and humanities --

the way that people grow is thru their own creative experiences --

"The most profounds experience you will ever have in your life is with yourself!"

[JDPriestly]

20. Your story is so familiar.

Just change a few facts and your story is mine and the story of many others on DU.

Face it, the nation and ordinary Americans have been sold out by a greedy few.

[eridani]

21. Jeebus! 44 is too old now?

Used to be that that shit didn't kick in until you were 55 or so.

[MindPilot]

23. I hear ya -- I turned 55 last week

In June I took an "early retirement package". It was VERY generous, but not enough to completely retire on so I'm job hunting again. I've gotten three interviews in the past four months, but no offers.

I'm heading back to school to get a masters in wireless communications. Will that help me get a job? I hope so: it will be my third "re-invention" of myself since a back injury took me out of the car business.

[stopbush]

40. I turned 55 mid-September. My job was eliminated on Oct 1.

It wasn't an age thing. It was a budget thing that I saw coming (so I already had my feelers out).

Luckily, I have contacts in the area and have had 4 face-2-face interviews to date. That's way above the curve. I have been unemployed for long periods and gone months without a bite.

BTW - at what point does the lack of job security cause the American dream to implode? Our economy is based on home ownership and buying crap. Why own a home if you have no job security? Why put that down payment down if you're going to have to sell your home and relo for a new job every 2-3 years? One might as well rent. A transient worker doesn't need to own a home.

The American Dream grew out of an era where employees worked for a single company for their entire lives and stayed put for decades. That doesn't exist now for anybody, save the local small business man. Seems to me that the American Dream as it was is long gone.

[rucky]

25. Onion: More Americans Falling For 'Get Rich Slowly Over A Lifetime Of Hard Work' Schemes

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43212

[southernyankeebelle]

26. Anyone that works for a company over 20 yrs seems to get it in the

in. I have a relative that works at Wal Mart for several year and makes over $10.00 per hr. The employees are going through changes. As soon as a full time employee leaves they don't replace them. They want to hire only part time people so they don't have to pay the bennies. There allot of older people working at Wal Mart and they usually get 2 days in a row off. Most ask for the days off that matches their spouses. One lady who has worked there over 20 yrs faithfully asked for specific day off because that is the only day her mate gets off. The split her days. They told her no, you work these days or quit. What could she do? Why do they make changes and don't think about their employees needs. Am sure many people would work together to help each other with the schedule. Why split peoples days like that. One person said he would quit if they split his days. They need their rest. I think Wal Mart is trying to get rid of seniors and people who have worked there many many years. They helped build this company and they treat them like they were trash.

[mike_c]

27. you've uncovered the essential lie at the center of capitalism...

...that's used to exploit workers for all they're worth, then to dispose of them. In a capitalist economy, EVERYTHING is valued according to its ability to generate profits for the rich (and bear in mind that corporate personhood makes many corporations, especially large, publicly held corporations, synonymous with "the rich"). Workers are resources, plain and simple, and in the cut-throat calculus of profit and loss, any resource that costs more than it absolutely has to is a bad investment. That means you, unless you can provide a service that no one else can provide for lower cost, or a service that no one else can be coerced to provide at lower cost. Some people are valuable because they're actually irreplaceable, and some people are just on the right side of the organization chart, so their worth doesn't get examined as closely or as often, but in general, most of us are valued only until we can be replaced at lower cost.

[snake in the grass]

29. k/r

[Greenheron]

31. Change you really can believe in.

My wife and I decided many years ago to go into business for ourselves very much for the same reasons you are writing of. I have to say though that even then, many of the horrific ordeals we had .....................Holy Shit! This is surreal.I started writing this and my wife just called me and told me she just got fired. I'm numb. Anyway I was going to tell you my story and give out my e-mail address and website for a life changing thing we are working on. Looks like it might be forced to happen sooner that we had wanted. fuenteverdecommunity.org My contact is [email protected]. Wife is on the way home.
Peace

[ChairmanAgnostic]

30. I'm 52. seven years ago, I left a midsize, comfy firm

and went out on my own. Paid my own health insurance, provided good service for clients, even donated much time and effort to those in need.
Then, a year ago, a drunk hit us, and changed our lives. The nice thing about going solo is that you control your day. The bad thing about being solo is that when the odd chance that a drunk fucks you over horribly, with med bills in excess of $270,000, multiple surgeries, and nonstop pain, it tends to affect your work. and income. and ideas about this world.

Pure capitalism is as bad, if not worse, as Stalinism, Mao's great leap forward, cultural revolution or Hitler's effort to find more living room. Those with some success can milk it and use leverage to damage its competition, change the rules, even guarantee its own obscene profits. (Goldman Suchs is a great example).

Perhaps people will start to notice that those who demand a pure, capitalistic system are the ones who have already profited from it.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

32. Working is highly overrated as a religion.

Although the people who make us work tell us that it's good for us.

[2Design]

33. Same story - different players n/t

[MrMickeysMom]

34. I turned 56 this week, and... what luck, I'm in health care!

Ye-ah...

I love the field I have been in for many years, but I have come to absolutely HATE the corporatism that has taken it over, especially in the "non-profit" world.

Let me tell you that when it comes to the devil type of employer in health care, he is also known as one slave-master who is managing to devour the entire SW Pennsylvania health care system.

This "system" is tax exempt, but with its fund balance manages to buy up international health care systems in the UK, Turkey, Asia, etc. Meanwhile, they have closed down local health systems previously devoured and burped up. Their ultimate goal? I believe it's with the intent to control upstream and downstream entrance for sick care, and try to get as much fee for service as is humanly possible. Health care professionals are burnt out if in nursing, not my field. This system likes to employ to feed the "fee for service" side, by bringing professionals on board, but in a "16 hours/week limited" employee status, making folks like me ineligible under those limited hours for benefits. Oh, I have routinely work OVER those hours, but I can still be technically kept "limited".

It doesn't matter how well experienced I am, or outstanding reviews I have gotten. In two years, I've gone through two people who review me, then move on in disgust themselves.

I realize I could have chosen to stay in a full time position, not directly related to patient care, but it too was turning into the same shit. So, at least I've got the ability to do good patient care. THIS IS WHAT I DO, AND I REALLY DO IT WELL.

Does the devil slave master care? No, but you knew that...

Thanks for allowing me to vent, and though I live low to the food chain and have downsized really, really well with my husband, I'm not as bad off. I just share your sentiments.

Meanwhile, I have my pride and the patients appreciate it.

[blues90]

38. I'm 2 weeks away from 61

All I knew was workworking and spent 33 years years at ford dealerships , last was a assistent service manager now I don't matter , I went to every dealership near me , either nothing or they hired and trained someone much younger.

So all it amounted to was surviving until 2006 now it's gone.

[lib2DaBone]

39. I am 60.. have re-trained 3 times in my life..I can't re-train any more

I always believed my guidance counselors, I did everything they said. I worked hard, studied, and strived to excell in the Americian Workplace. How come every ten years I lost my job thru no fault of my own?

When Poppy Bush got in in 1990.. I retrained for IT. They brought in HB1V Workers. So sorry.

When Georgie Bush Jr got in.. I retrained in 2000.. as a truck driver. Now we have Mexican Trucks rolling in Duty-free. So Sorry you dumb-fuck Americans.

You will run out of years in your life before you can satisfy the Big Corporation demands of Tim Geithner, Larry Summers and Ben Bernake. You can not win and you will never win against these guys. It is set up this way. The playing field is rigged.. never to be level.

They do not want you to succeed. No one in Washington wants you to succeed. Did you not get the memo?