Need serious job advice- long story, also causing me great anxiety

musicjunkie

So I started a new gig earlier in the year which was a significant pay bump from my previous position, but of course the position was only open because the person that held the job before me was let go(due to making too much money after multiple raises). Upper Management & executive leadership told the entire IT staff in a meeting, that they wouldn't be cutting any more tech employees after this. Two months later, they just cut the IT director who's been here for almost two decades and literally replaced him with a new employee one day later, just to cut costs. This environment already seems extremely toxic

After all these changes & upper management basically being dishonest to our faces, I don't feel very comfortable at all in my new position. It's a bit of a difficult spot because I've only been here about 5 months. Should I just ride it out the rest of the year and focus on myself obtaining more certifications or should I go back on the market again?

I'm also starting to realize culture>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>money.

paul78

Unfortunately, what you are experiencing isn't new or unique. Especially for companies whose primary business may not value IT or technology is a supporting cost-center. Since you are relatively a new hire - assuming that your employer uses traditional forecasting and budgeting processes, you are probably safe from a cost-cutting exercise for the remainder of the fiscal year. But given recent history, my suggestion is that you consider casually interviewing. It never hurts to keep your options open - you could find a more stable employer.

Good luck!

mikey88

Best advice I can give you is: 1. A savings account with at least 3-6mo of living expenses. It is there for unexpected situations like this where you could get laid off. 2. Keep your skills sharp and certifications current. If you loose your job, finding the next role won't be so bad when you have in-demand skills.

Best of luck.

EANx

No job is worth the strain on your mental health but people have different definitions of "toxic". My definition leans more toward bullying and screaming managers than to a management team that may have had to change its mind due to a poor quarter. If your toxic environment has daily/weekly instances of blatant disrespect and disregard for the basic humanity of the staff then start looking now. If you're worried because upper management said one thing and then a couple of months later did the opposite, well, welcome to the world of business. Over time, you'll learn what questions to ask in an interview. If you ever walk into an interview without a list of questions, you're already at a disadvantage.

scaredoftests

Start sending out resumes.

musicjunkie

scaredoftests wrote: »

Start sending out resumes.

I did, just to be on the safe side. I think i'll stick it out for the rest of the year though. If something drastic happens, I luckily have plenty of money saved.

DatabaseHead

Director of IT isn't a tech position. I guess in a twisted way they kept their word.

ccie14023

To give someone pay raises to the point that you then need to fire them shows extremely poor management skill. I have no idea the size or type of company you are working at, but we would never give someone a pay raise and then fire them because they are making too much. I do wonder if there was something else at play there. Oftentimes just listening to the employee who exited will give you a biased perspective. Nonetheless, it sounds like there's some instability at the management layer and you might consider finding a way out.

LeBroke

ccie14023 wrote: »

To give someone pay raises to the point that you then need to fire them shows extremely poor management skill. I have no idea the size or type of company you are working at, but we would never give someone a pay raise and then fire them because they are making too much. I do wonder if there was something else at play there. Oftentimes just listening to the employee who exited will give you a biased perspective. Nonetheless, it sounds like there's some instability at the management layer and you might consider finding a way out.

Accounting probably isn't happy that a Director of Something Computers is making 100k when he started at 50k 20 years ago and received regular raises and promotions since.

Clearly he should still be making 50k, and that 100k is way too much, so they hired the first idiot that walked through the door who asked for 75k.

Basic85

You should be interviewing the employer just as much as they are interviewing you. Unfortunately, some employers will take exception to this because they are not use to being sized up but too bad.

It definitely sounds toxic and you should have an exit plan soon.

musicjunkie

Yeah it sucks, a good job search takes half a year anyways so I'll just put the resumes out there for now. I already have a vacation booked in December, which I might not be able to take if I start a new gig.

TechGromit

mikey88 wrote: »

Best advice I can give you is: 1. A savings account with at least 3-6mo of living expenses.

As you stated, you got a significant pay raise, continue to live like you did before you got that raise and bank the difference. Having money is the bank gives you a lot of flexibility. As for the job, so long as things aren’t too bad, stick it out for the experience, but this is certainly no long term employer, get your experience and get out.

DatabaseHead wrote: »

Director of IT isn't a tech position. I guess in a twisted way they kept their word.

This is my thought too, technically they didn’t lie to you. But to cut staff just because they make too much money is a d1ck move.

TechGromit

ccie14023 wrote: »

To give someone pay raises to the point that you then need to fire them shows extremely poor management skill.

It’s probably something to do with a change in management, either a company sale, or just a new high level manager. Your paying your computer programmers HOW MUCH? At my last company we paid them half a much and they were perfectly happy. I predict it’s only a matter of time before they outsource half the staff.

musicjunkie

So obviously after doing some research on our new boss, it looks like this person is a fan of outsourcing. I put my resumes out there just to be safe.

PCTechLinc

One of my favorite quotes from one of my least favorite people (Judge Judy): "Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."

If you're going to do something, then fine. Don't tell me one thing then do the exact opposite. Just don't tell me period. I would expect to lose my job eventually, and plan accordingly. They aren't worth anyone's skills. /rant

victor.s.andrei

musicjunkie wrote: »

So I started a new gig earlier in the year which was a significant pay bump from my previous position, but of course the position was only open because the person that held the job before me was let go(due to making too much money after multiple raises). Upper Management & executive leadership told the entire IT staff in a meeting, that they wouldn't be cutting any more tech employees after this. Two months later, they just cut the IT director who's been here for almost two decades and literally replaced him with a new employee one day later, just to cut costs. This environment already seems extremely toxic

After all these changes & upper management basically being dishonest to our faces, I don't feel very comfortable at all in my new position. It's a bit of a difficult spot because I've only been here about 5 months. Should I just ride it out the rest of the year and focus on myself obtaining more certifications or should I go back on the market again?

I'm also starting to realize culture>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>money.

Everyone lies. Management especially. The only difference is about what.

Start looking now. I can not emphasize this more. Now.​

If a prospective employer questions the short length of time, you can tell them that certain aspects of the job were not as advertised. So long as you don't have a history of short tenures at different employers (unless you're on 1099), you should be fine.

The comments about a savings account are good.

I would add that having a side gig is also a great idea. IT tutoring pays quite well, or so I hear.

Basic85 wrote: »

You should be interviewing the employer just as much as they are interviewing you. Unfortunately, some employers will take exception to this because they are not use to being sized up but too bad.

It definitely sounds toxic and you should have an exit plan soon.

Of course they aren't used to be sized up. If they care, tell them it's just business. Isn't that what they tell employees as they escort them out of the building?

thedudeabides wrote: »

Leave with no notice and a middle finger held high.

Or just leave. Tell them it's for "business reasons."

TechGromit wrote: »

This is my thought too, technically they didn’t lie to you. But to cut staff just because they make too much money is a d1ck move.

Actually, they did. The position is a tech position; it's just as a people or resource manager rather than as an individual contributor.

TechGromit

musicjunkie wrote: »

So obviously after doing some research on our new boss, it looks like this person is a fan of outsourcing. I put my resumes out there just to be safe.

I'm not fan of outsourcing, but I have to admit it makes financial sense in some cases. But you should never outsource mission critical tasks to your business. They should be done in-house were the company has complete control over it's data and products. As for outsourcing, foreign firms, at least the ones In India, China or any other 3rd world country should be avoided like the plague. There's reasons they are so cheap and paying there staff less isn't the only reason. Cheapest often equals low quality, outsource at your own risk.

Here's a quote i found from an anonymous source posting:

Finally, companies are recognizing that their most important asset is their intellectual property. By shifting their supply chain to countries with little regard for US patent and copyright protections, they’ve inadvertently opened themselves up to a new threat: turning their vendors into competitors.