Woman in the work force (edited: former title Shamma were you watching good day NY)

Original post by WithThisRing

Apr 24, 2003 02:29 PM

I am editing the title to make this a group discussion.

I was posting about women in the workforce and something I saw this morning on TV.

SonicStef and Shamma have brought up such wonderful points.

I figure we could all make this a group discussion and share our views and thoughts on this.

(Please no drama. I am posting this as a friendly conversation where we can all discuss our jobs if you are working, your company, is it woman and or mommy friendly, etc...)

Sassyz75 Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:31 PM

Re: Shamma were you watching good day NY this morning

Alina- Right, it does cost $$$.. but it goes back to that SAS Thread- if you invest the money in your employees- they will be happier- work better, be more effective and get MORE done in LESS time. It's a short term expenditure for a long-term return on investment.

WithThisRing Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:36 PM

Re: Woman in the work force (edited: former title Shamma were you watching good day NY)

sassy you are so right. Anything as long as its more then unemployement. Its so tough out their.

I have had people tell me I am over qualified and that I would be bored. One place told me right their in the interview that they are sorry but would love to have me as an employee but I wouldnt be challenged enough and my skills wouldnt be used to their full effect.

Alina it just baffles my mind about companies and their spending. I was working part time while a full time college student and I did the budget for my group. I did the entire computer lease budget, head count budget, and salary budget as well as T&E budgets, and collatarol. I would get so mad because they couldnt give me a raise but they could spend an unbelievable amount of money on state of the art computer leases, lunches every other week, brochures that just sat in a closet, and office supplies no one used. But they couldnt even give me a small raise.

I was in charge of the moving budget when we moved floors and it costed my floor over 50,000 dollars to move (boxes, computers, misc. items) then 2 weeks later was 9/11 and we were moved to NJ. That costed the company over 300,000 to move people from Wall St to NJ and the people that were in the tower to Wall St. Then the company wondered why they had no money and layed off half of its employees.

Olgaki Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:37 PM

Re: Shamma were you watching good day NY this morning

The company I'll start working for in Sept seems to be great with mommies. WHile they work you like a dog, once you have a kid you have tons of options. Above flex time, I've known women who have taken off 6 months to be with their children once they are born. Some opt to work at home, some not. They also offer, if you are manager level or above, to only work on special projects throughout the year. Also, starting this year, they are allowing women to take off up to THREE YEARS and come back to their job GUARANTEED after having babies.

alina Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:37 PM

Re: Shamma were you watching good day NY this morning

Sassy, but that would be in ideal world. The reality is, my company is part of the cyclical industry, with constant hirings/firings. During the bad times, the employers can cherry pick, and during the good times, frankly, no everyone realizes the benefits of stability, flex time, etc until they get to a certain point of their life.

Most of my male coworkers have stay at home wives (or someone who has a business from home doing some kind of consulting), and female coworkers are mainly childless. The more senior women tend to have live in nannies to help them out during the week.

My company never went out and hired extensively during the boom, so we didn't have as many layoffs, but on the flip side, our bonuses were down this year and may be lower during the bull years than other companies.

alina Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:41 PM

Re: Shamma were you watching good day NY this morning

Chippa, its nice that you're careful with expenses. I once asked our admin for an oversized clip (the big 1 inch. ones), and she goes: Do you need this document now, b/c otherwise I can send it to the printshop for binding. I said: I don't need it bound, its fine w/a clip, no need to spend $. And then she goes: well, I'll send it to be bound anyway when you give me the file for filing. The company has enough $...

I was actually a little upset, b/c in some respect the printshop charges eventually translate into a lower bonus for me. In reality, I doubt she'll go through the file to bind the document.

WithThisRing Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:43 PM

Re: Woman in the work force (edited: former title Shamma were you watching good day NY)

Last year my old firm they didnt give any bonuses. (I still have friends on the inside who give me all the gossip) and people complained. I told my friend what the heck are these people complaining about, at least they have an office they are going to everyday.

Sassyz75 Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:47 PM

Re: Shamma were you watching good day NY this morning

Yes- an ideal world- I just can't figure out why they send us to MBA programs to learn all this great Organization Behavior methodology and won't implement it because of money... yet they are short sighted enough to lay off everyone and wind up understaffed or spending gobs of $$$ on recruiting efforts- a weekly add in NYTimes alone is a ridiculous amount of money..

Chipp- I totally feel your pain- it takes a lot for me not to feel like total S H * T about myself because of my situation. I was very very successful for a long time just to get knocked down on my A S *. But I think that everything happens for a reason- maybe I was too cocky and had not reason to be- maybe I was supposed to be going in another direction? Who knows. But I just try to concentrate on what's great in my life.

Hopefully when I have my MBA (in another 3 years) things will be better.

The market is awful- take what you can find and hang in there... as my mother always says, 'without the downs, the ups wouldn't be so good'.

WithThisRing Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:48 PM

Re: Woman in the work force (edited: former title Shamma were you watching good day NY)

I was always so careful with expenses. It really annoyed me how the company would spend over 100 dollars on bagels for an hour staff meeting, but i couldnt get a raise. I made sure every dollar was accounted for and that everyone stayed within budget. I am so anal about budgets.

It just boggles me that because the company is paying for people think its ok to do certain things. unless its a collatarol budget where you have to use every dollar because if you dont the company will give you less of a budget the next year)

WithThisRing Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:54 PM

Re: Woman in the work force (edited: former title Shamma were you watching good day NY)

sassy thanks. I know its so hard and I just keep rolling with the punches. But their are just so many punches one can take. Their are days I dont want to get out of bed and face the world and their are days I am glad to be home.

I wish companies would be kissing the ground the employees walk on. Without the employees the companies wouldnt be where they are. When HR people ask me why they should give me the job I tell them I have over 6 years industry experience, I can handle all levels of management, I've dealt with CEO's of companies, celebrities, confidential information, critical information, and worked on a trading floor. I can handle no matter what a day throws at me. I am very professional, stern when I have to be, laid back when I have to be and I make sure I get the job done. I take my job so seriously I have a hard time delegating which means you know that you give me something, it will be done and to perfection.

It just amazes me how some companies treat employees like garbage

Sassyz75 Posted: Apr 24, 2003 05:59 PM

Re: Woman in the work force (edited: former title Shamma were you watching good day NY)

It's just disgusting, the whole situation. I know exactly how you feel- I feel like that sometimes now- but I just have to be happy- it is miserable and you feel 'worthless' but you just have to know that you are not- even though you want to punch the people in the face that won't give you a job and you want to really kick the people that have great jobs.

Please- all my friends have great jobs and I have some job I had my 1st year out of college- it is degrading- especially since I was the 'smarty pants' of the group- and now I feel like the loser... but the grass is always greener.. I know I have things they hope for too.