New Roles being blocked?

Pat201

Hello
I work in the the technology sector as a customer support engineer. Majority of my department are very experienced with time of service ranging from 10 -25 years, department size is 40 people. Our company is expanding based off customer expansion and a new department (70+ people) was announced 2 years ago and we were informed by European management that we would be expected to progress from our current first line (shift) roles to more advanced roles in new department such as management/2nd line roles (day shift).

My company hired a lot of new people , mostly college students as training curve for them would be 18 months and for an experienced team member would be 6 months. As of today the company has only moved over 4 people from my department to new department and they applied for a 1st line role at the time.
We have trained 4 new member to replace them. I have been very enthusiastic about a 2nd line or management role as I would like to come off shifts for next position and also have a chance to grow in company. This is a common trend for a few people in my department so we did not apply for the 1st line shift roles as we were told 2nd line roles/management would become available ( our assumption was the newer hires would take majority of 1st line roles).

Our customer has requested that we prepare for the new business while not impacting previous business. Since this message has gone out it seems hard to get information about possibly moving to new team to take up a more senior role. There are rumours that they will be given to the newer people who were hired within the last 2 years. I have spoken to manager of new department and while we have a great relationship he is acting vague on making move for not just me but others as well. He has mentioned a few times that he cannot hinder my current department by taking too much experience. I find this explanation hard to take as current manager has known for 2 years about expansion and not preparing on his side will hinder my progress in company.

I guess my fears at moment is that new department will have all there senior positions filled by people with less than 2 years experience while employees with 10 years experience are passed over so that there is no business impact on our side.

What are peoples thoughts?

Pat

bucketybuck

Don't ignore the possibility that you all may be too expensive for the management of the new department. People with 25 years behind them looking for a bump up in pay? The figures might not work. If you are a manager with a budget you may have looked at the salaries and decided to go a different route.

It is also possible that they don't want a brain drain from the existing department, but one or two moving up isn't a brain drain. If nobody at all has been made an offer you would to imagine there is a reason behind it.

Pat201

bucketybuck wrote: »

Don't ignore the possibility that you all may be too expensive for the management of the new department. People with 25 years behind them looking for a bump up in pay? The figures might not work. If you are a manager with a budget you may have looked at the salaries and decided to go a different route.

It is also possible that they don't want a brain drain from the existing department, but one or two moving up isn't a brain drain. If nobody at all has been made an offer you would to imagine there is a reason behind it.

Actually if you moved role you would not get a bump in pay as salary for roles are not defined. it is based off reviews and years of service. If i moved for instance my base salary would not change in new department but i would lose shift allowance so would in fact cost the company less than currently. Now my base salry would be higher than someone just entering the company but that is down to years of service and previous good reviews.

The point about the brain drain is a valid point but should this stop myself and others progressing when we got 2 years advance notice of roles? it would seem unfair that you cannot progress as you are good at your job.

Pat

bucketybuck

Pat201 wrote: »

Actually if you moved role you would not get a bump in pay as salary for roles are not defined. it is based off reviews and years of service. If i moved for instance my base salary would not change in new department but i would lose shift allowance so would in fact cost the company less than currently. Now my base salry would be higher than someone just entering the company but that is down to years of service and previous good reviews.

The point about the brain drain is a valid point but should this stop myself and others progressing when we got 2 years advance notice of roles? it would seem unfair that you cannot progress as you are good at your job.

"Should" has nothing to do with it, the company is going to do what is right for itself. I don't say that in a bitter way, its just about priorities.

I wouldn't dismiss the pay scales so quickly though. As you admit, your base salaries are higher than new entrants, and while you say there would not be a bump in pay it would certainly be a first for somebody stepping up to a higher level not to request a raise. If I was the manager I would be expecting that request and be taking it into account.

Pat201

bucketybuck wrote: »

"Should" has nothing to do with it, the company is going to do what is right for itself. I don't say that in a bitter way, its just about priorities.

I wouldn't dismiss the pay scales so quickly though. As you admit, your base salaries are higher than new entrants, and while you say there would not be a bump in pay it would certainly be a first for somebody stepping up to a higher level not to request a raise. If I was the manager I would be expecting that request and be taking it into account.

You make a fair point, I guess that's why people often leave jobs just to progress. Its a pity as I would have likes to think that positions should be chosen on best person for job and not other factors. Loyalty to company in this scenario turns out to be a bad thing.