Anyone else working at a place that is perpetually falling apart? How are you doing?
Posted by gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 21 comments
I’m getting really stressed nowadays. This is going to sound mopey but I’m starting to not give a rat’s ass about this place I work at. I can’t hone any particular skill because every week I have to scramble to learn a new thing fast because our contract is expiring for SOMETHING and new boss doesn’t want to renew because he wants to cut costs by 80% so he can appear impressive. Despite us having some really good products and solutions. Same guy always asks me for suggestions, yet everyone of them is met with hard resistance and ultimately we go with what he picks lol…completely pointless.
I’ve applied to so many jobs where I’ve made it to 2nd and 3rd rounds but haven’t gotten an offer. I’m almost considering taking a pay cut just to get the hell out of where I work. Lol I take one step forward and am forced to take 20 steps backwards.
AegorBlake@reddit
I am not allowed to fix anything and am slowly losing my mind.
gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit (OP)
Wtf…why??
VeryRareHuman@reddit
Eventually things will go bad to worse for us, Sys Admins. Usual culprit is new management (CEO or VP or even director). When things are worse new guy walks in, says things are going really good.
Fortunately It's my 7th year. There are plenty of work going on and plenty to look forward to. Of all the work, I don't feel any pressure or frustration. It's only because two levels of management is competent leaders, keeping our culture intact. But like someday new management will stir things up! I will keep checking the waters and decide when to jump ship.
Sportsfun4all@reddit
Goat farming anyone?
phainepy@reddit
Yeah. They laid off more than half of my team and I can’t find it in me to care very much to keep things afloat. Fired the ERP expert and the SOX compliance guy and the one that oversaw all the CAD software.
It’s really grim.
I attend my meetings (few and far between) and most of the time I’ve just been playing video games and occasionally I’ll address a request that comes in. C suite only brings up cutting costs when they speak to me, but even then, they don’t talk very much either.
gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit (OP)
Damn…that sounds worse. Sounds like you’re in a larger company what with the specialized roles. That can’t be easy to deal with. Do you also have days where you’re pulled in 20 different dimensions?
phainepy@reddit
My company was around 200 people. 150 people post the last wave of layoffs in October. The IT department was 5 direct people. I lost 3 of them, so it's just me and one other guy.
Definitely being pulled in every direction. People are asking "Oh who's the new ERP expert that'll work on our tickets." I just reply back that we don't really have anyone and that I'll do what I can. (I don't even promise my best effort anymore.) Because of all the layoffs there's a lot of information that's gone and now I'm being asked to get into accounts for software that I didn't even know existed in our environment because the Shadow IT has always been bad here.
I don't let it get to me. If I get fired, I'll file for unemployment. Otherwise I sit here collecting my paycheck and giving only like 15%.
I don't feel too too bad about it. We only had specialists because the business needs dictated as such. Our ERP System is the bread and butter for the org. We're also publicly traded so we need to have strict controls over it. It's been a constant battle with leadership of where they don't pay bills on time. Even if I have a PO that's been approved. The COO (I report to them now) literally only lets AP pay for things after they expressly ask them. They look at a spreadsheet every week and say "What should we pay this week."
I keep getting notices that services will get shut off. I just laugh it off. Gallows humor. All things considered, I think my mood is pretty okay. I'm sorry to hear it's impacting you. I hope the weight lifts. I can understand what it feels like to be in such a shitty situation with your job.
gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit (OP)
Thank you I appreciate that. Wow though, that sounds so damn familiar it’s crazy. Only difference is we’re expanding so much we’re spread like single ply toilet paper thin. No willingness to grow the team whatsoever. My particular site supports just about 1000 users across 6 locations, and there’s only 3 of us lol. We are also the busiest location by a country mile.
I ask if we can get another tech “well we need to make sure tickets are being created, etc. so we can show numbers”….and then I show the numbers, my two techs pump out about 600 tickets a month between the two of them, plus my meager 100 because I do the higher level stuff but I try to help them out, “well we need to find a way to get a better report, blah blah blah”. After having that conversation 20 times and showing the report 10 different ways, I’m right with you in giving 15% effort lol. I just don’t give a shit anymore. Skilling up and getting the hell out just like you are doing.
Good luck to you man! Hang in there, you’ll break out soon enough!
sobeitharry@reddit
Skilling up and tuning my resume is how I'm doing. Done with the house always being on fire.
30yearCurse@reddit
I always look at is as a labor of love, like Sisyphus and the boulder, some days like punishment of Tantalus, other days it worse.
Rags_McKay@reddit
I took a paycut to get out of a place. I am glad I got out, but I definitely did not get into a better place. It is not as bad as where I left, but it ain't much better. I am continuing with the search for the greener pastures.
gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit (OP)
Do you at least have decent benefits? Benefits can make a place tolerable at least.
We don’t even have that here. 6 holidays they’re trying to cut down to 4. Complaining my team doesn’t also work Sundays even though we do M-F with rotating Saturdays lol. No 401k match. The list goes on.
Rags_McKay@reddit
I would say yes, but I don't use most of them. It is a government job so yes lots of vacation and sick days. Which I guess is nice. I am so used to working all the time and never using PTO that I don't really take advantage of them though.
gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit (OP)
You totally should, it’s so good for your brain it’s unbelievable.
Ok-Double-7982@reddit
I promise would quit tonight if I won the lottery jackpot.
Jeremy_Zaretski@reddit
Your new boss is responsible for the cost-cutting so he should be the one to whom you direct all user complaints related to the cost-cutting.
I do not know how tech-savvy your boss is. There are many potential reasons why he is asking for your suggestions, but it may be that he is more interested in using you as a source of information on all possible solution rather than an advisor on which solution to be implement.
IamHydrogenMike@reddit
Even with a giant cost cut, the cost to move over to a new platform and get everything set back up is more expensive in the end when you are constantly changing. Sometimes people who run certain businesses have no idea how to calculate the actual cost of doing this and just think the only cost is the licensing they are paying. So annoying...
cjcox4@reddit
This is not all that unusual. You come in, things are a mess and then, with patience, one by one, everything is made better. Yes, those fires slow things down, but fun to see it evolve over the years. The question that is important, "Are things better at the site now?"
So, with that said, if there's enough pressure to "destroy", it's possible that you can never answer the above question "yes", in which case, you could be looking at a never ending faulty run business. And yes, I would leave.
gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit (OP)
It’s gone backwards here since I started. Old boss was trying to move company forward, new boss is just kneeling to the CEO’s every demand and we’ve started moving backwards.
I know cost cutting is normal but we’re cheaping out on stupid things at this point. There used to be actual planning, coordination, etc. now it’s just a scramble to put things together with duct tape and bubblegum and move onto the next thing.
Definitely going to keep looking. I don’t mind doing the work associated with the job. What I do mind is being setup to eventually fail.
cjcox4@reddit
If things are "spiraling", you can't run very long before total collapse. IMHO, they'll lose their business entirely if things are very bad.
With that said, I am known as a "yes man", that is, where possible when someone asks for "something" I try to honor it. Though they do have to go through my "sanity" filter.
gotmynamefromcaptcha@reddit (OP)
I don’t think they’ll go out of business any time soon but they’ll certainly start losing money soon. They’re buying up location after location and spreading us (IT) thin. They only care to fill every building with sales.
At this point I’m a “yes man” too because I don’t care anymore lol. I do resist some things because there’s some things only I know (we were acquired) and the way they want to just cut stuff could be disastrous if it’s not planned properly. Our story is a long one here since we were acquired last year and merged IT teams. Via that I got a new boss since my old boss quit that actually had a vision for this place. Anyway.
Updating my resume yet again and casting a wide net. Lol I feel trapped right now and I need to run before my site becomes the focus. I’m keeping it running best I can until I get the hell out.