Those madcap kinetic artists who brought you the choreographed treadmill dance video are back. This time with dogs.
I'm pretty sure all their props came from Ikea.
Also, this time their mamas didn’t dress them funny. Perhaps the dogs are a positive influence on them.
(Extra points if you spot the non-pawed, four-legged ringer.)
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Labor Day 2010 (Part 2)
This employment thing is still eating my lunch. It makes me wish I had killed off a considerably greater number of my brain cells with alcohol than I evidently have done.
It’s the inherently unequal relationship that gets to me, something I didn’t feel until we got into this century. That’s the one that puts the employee in the permanent position of being a supplicant.
I feel this particularly as, yet once again, I’m looking for work. Again & again I’m expected to demonstrate how passionate I am about Company X & it’s product line(s), & to show how I personally can add several digits to the bottom line through my expertise & enthusiasm.
At no time am I expected to inquire what I might expect in return by way of compensation, career growth, benefits or satisfaction.
It’s interesting; recruiters want you to give them your salary history (completely irrelevant, since you were being paid to do something specific for a particular employer; not for whatever Company X anticipates you’ll do for them), or at the least your “expectations”. When I counter that I can’t really say what I expect until I understand what I’m meant to be producing (specifically), or what the entire package is to be, I get, “well, you must know what you need as a minimum.”
Uh—what I need as a minimum to survive is completely irrelevant—unless you’re telling me that your company expects me to work for survival.
(While I have no doubt that this is precisely what they’d like to get away with, I assure you that I have no interest in anyone who’d expect me to do that in real life.)
Of course, that compensation “package” these days is melting like gelato in August. Business try to spin their little attempts to appear competitive, but they’re risible:
When it comes to vacation, they cleverly call it “PTO”, which, when you look it up, turns out to be “paid time off”, doled out like gruel in a Dickensian work house. Employers tout a number of “PTO” days, but this number includes all time off: vacation, sick, holidays. So “20 days PTO” doesn’t really amount to much.
For retirement, an employer considers itself paragon of responsibility if even has a 401K, which amounts to them contracting with a vendor to charge you fees to invest your own money poorly. What—you’re looking for corporate matching? What asylum did you escape from?
(Of course, do not by any means pretend that you’ll be with a company long enough to actually retire.)
If they say they have tuition reimbursement, you’ll discover that when it comes time to make use of it, there’ll be restrictions. My last attempt to take advantage was stymied when I was told that there was only enough budget for one employee in the department to take courses. (& this was with a supposedly advanced enterprise software firm.)
I’m currently involved in discussions with a San Francisco health insurer, which offers a salary that’s about $15K below market, no signing-on bonus & “benefits” that include their health plan (extremely badly reviewed on consumer sites), 20 days PTO & “discounts on alternative care services such as chiropractic, acupuncture & massage therapy.” Here’s what they tout for a commuter program: “An employer-sponsored plan that allows you to make pre-tax contributions into a special account used to purchase your public transportation fare or to reimburse yourself for eligible out-of-pocket expenses for vanpooling or parking”
So, basically—nothing.
What I love, though, is the “employee recognition” “benefit”: “Thank you cards to recognize fellow employees.”
Well, that certainly makes up for the $15K loss, plus the $6250 annual commuting costs.
(The recruiter explained, “we’re a non-profit.” Really? I wonder if your rate-paying members agree with that designation?)
Here’s a suggestion to corporate America: if you want me to be “passionate” about your welfare, show that you value mine by offering me compensation (the whole package) commensurate not only with my experience but also with the job you want done, & don’t pretend for an instant that I should treat you with any less contempt than you direct my way.
It’s the inherently unequal relationship that gets to me, something I didn’t feel until we got into this century. That’s the one that puts the employee in the permanent position of being a supplicant.
I feel this particularly as, yet once again, I’m looking for work. Again & again I’m expected to demonstrate how passionate I am about Company X & it’s product line(s), & to show how I personally can add several digits to the bottom line through my expertise & enthusiasm.
At no time am I expected to inquire what I might expect in return by way of compensation, career growth, benefits or satisfaction.
It’s interesting; recruiters want you to give them your salary history (completely irrelevant, since you were being paid to do something specific for a particular employer; not for whatever Company X anticipates you’ll do for them), or at the least your “expectations”. When I counter that I can’t really say what I expect until I understand what I’m meant to be producing (specifically), or what the entire package is to be, I get, “well, you must know what you need as a minimum.”
Uh—what I need as a minimum to survive is completely irrelevant—unless you’re telling me that your company expects me to work for survival.
(While I have no doubt that this is precisely what they’d like to get away with, I assure you that I have no interest in anyone who’d expect me to do that in real life.)
Of course, that compensation “package” these days is melting like gelato in August. Business try to spin their little attempts to appear competitive, but they’re risible:
When it comes to vacation, they cleverly call it “PTO”, which, when you look it up, turns out to be “paid time off”, doled out like gruel in a Dickensian work house. Employers tout a number of “PTO” days, but this number includes all time off: vacation, sick, holidays. So “20 days PTO” doesn’t really amount to much.
For retirement, an employer considers itself paragon of responsibility if even has a 401K, which amounts to them contracting with a vendor to charge you fees to invest your own money poorly. What—you’re looking for corporate matching? What asylum did you escape from?
(Of course, do not by any means pretend that you’ll be with a company long enough to actually retire.)
If they say they have tuition reimbursement, you’ll discover that when it comes time to make use of it, there’ll be restrictions. My last attempt to take advantage was stymied when I was told that there was only enough budget for one employee in the department to take courses. (& this was with a supposedly advanced enterprise software firm.)
I’m currently involved in discussions with a San Francisco health insurer, which offers a salary that’s about $15K below market, no signing-on bonus & “benefits” that include their health plan (extremely badly reviewed on consumer sites), 20 days PTO & “discounts on alternative care services such as chiropractic, acupuncture & massage therapy.” Here’s what they tout for a commuter program: “An employer-sponsored plan that allows you to make pre-tax contributions into a special account used to purchase your public transportation fare or to reimburse yourself for eligible out-of-pocket expenses for vanpooling or parking”
So, basically—nothing.
What I love, though, is the “employee recognition” “benefit”: “Thank you cards to recognize fellow employees.”
Well, that certainly makes up for the $15K loss, plus the $6250 annual commuting costs.
(The recruiter explained, “we’re a non-profit.” Really? I wonder if your rate-paying members agree with that designation?)
Here’s a suggestion to corporate America: if you want me to be “passionate” about your welfare, show that you value mine by offering me compensation (the whole package) commensurate not only with my experience but also with the job you want done, & don’t pretend for an instant that I should treat you with any less contempt than you direct my way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)