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Whats your Work Attitude

  • 21-03-2017 3:26pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭


    I read the below article yesterday and i have to say it really resonated with me

    http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/millennials-struggling-work-careers-because-their-parents-gave-them-medals-for-coming-last-simon-a7537121.html

    In it leading research Simon Sineck suggests that basically the millennial attitude towards works is all wrong and has been caused by over protective parents sheltering kids . while i agree in some sense with his view on many aspects of modern parenting and the nonsense of participation medals etc... i dint' necessarily think it directly relates to work attitude.

    From my own point of view i work to live and not vice versa , i don't stay late unless there's extra pay in it , however i am efficient and engaged between 8:30 and 4:30. I'm very content with the idea that i just work for money its a simple transaction in my view i am paid x amount for 8 hours. I don't love my job or feel grateful for it, its functional and my employer didn't do me a favor in giving it to me no more than i do him a favor showing up every day, again i view it as a transaction. I'm here while it suits me if i won the lotto in the morning id be sending in my notice without a second thought , My OH is the bigger earner in our house and as kids come on the scene in the next few years i may look at teaching or staying at home to save on child care, at the end of the day if the cost of child care in order to facilitate me working was significantly eating into my salary the motivation simply wouldn't exist any longer.

    My parents were very traditional , there were no participation medals in our house, if you wanted to win something you put the effort in , if you wanted praise you earned it , if you wanted money you worked for it. But it is in my view watching my parent that has shaped my attitude towards work more than my birth year or up bringing. My dad has worked 50-60 hour weeks my entire life, he was rarely home before our bed time when we were kids, he traveled extensively worked between counties and countries missed family holidays , etc.... hes worked for the same company for 40 years and is very senior has a great salary , 2 years ago that loyalty hard work , achievement , awards, years of commitment etc. was repaid by him being shafted into a non role effectively to see out the next few year until early retirement , other then the money he been left question what it was all for.

    MY view to sum up is shaped by the idea that you can spend your life selling your time but a some point the realization will hit that no matter how much salary you have attained , it will never be enough compensation for the time you have had to sacrifice to earn it.

    Id love to get the view of people on here on this , do you work late ? and if so to what end ? , do you feel grateful to your employer or for your job ? do you think the Millennial attitude sucks or is spot on ?

    MODS if you think this is in the wrong forum feel free to move the thread


«13

Comments

  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    I'm in it for the money, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in doing a good job, keeping skilled and making sure we get whatever needs doing done.

    My work conditions are flexitime, good pension and good holidays so i don't take the p1ss while I'm in and on the job.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,882 ✭✭✭WHIP IT!


    Very interesting topic. My attitude to work would be pretty much identical to yours (OP). I went to college to get a half decent job so I could earn a half-decent living which would allow me to live a half-decent life. If I won the lotto tomorrow, I'd never work a day again in my life and would be absolutely content to do so.

    I don't get people whose identity seems to be defined by what they do. Am I unambitious? Maybe. But I'm fine with that. Work to live, definitely.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,003 ✭✭✭EverythingGood


    WHIP IT! wrote: »
    Very interesting topic. My attitude to work would be pretty much identical to yours (OP). I went to college to get a half decent job so I could earn a half-decent living which would allow me to live a half-decent life. If I won the lotto tomorrow, I'd never work a day again in my life and would be absolutely content to do so.

    I don't get people whose identity seems to be defined by what they do. Am I unambitious? Maybe. But I'm fine with that. Work to live, definitely.

    Thats me! Decent job, good salary, good pension, healthcare, share options. Don't love it, don't hate it. Get in on time, leave on time, unless I get paid overtime. I do commute 240 km per day roundtrip there and back, so I've long hours, but that is my choice also.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,435 ✭✭✭pumpkin4life


    I had no illusions about "finding yourself" or "do what you love" or "do what you feel" or "have a big impact on the world" any of that narcissistic crap in relation to work. Work to live, and am currently working on some side projects/mini entrepreneurship I'm hoping blow up in a good way, so I can hand in my notice, fùck off and never see the inside of a 9-5 office ever again.

    Having said that, with real wages dropping and with the economy stagnant, and having to pay a 50% tax rate for public sector cùnts, alongside long arse commutes, I've got the feeling/get the feeling that work is more unnatural/unpleasant than it used to be or should be, compared to my parents generation say. There's a few people in an office space I know on the SSRIs and therapy for example. That's a product of a weird environment in my opinion.

    There's something unnatural about heading to an office, sitting at a desk with flourescent lighting and having to attend another pointless meeting. The Dilbert comics and The Office have it right a lot of the time. I think I've become slightly more depressed/dark as a result lol.

    I'm trying to get out, pipe dream as it may be. But despite all the above, I'm still glad to have a job.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,759 ✭✭✭Winterlong


    I like work. I like the money and the sense of achievement. And my job, despite my complaining, is a very decent job. I do more than 40 hours a week but paid well enough to compensate.

    Having said that - if I won a windfall then I would leave tomorrow. No doubt about it. My job would then be something more altruistic in nature and not 40 hours/week.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,942 ✭✭✭topper75


    I don't like the generalisations across whole generations of people. Though that clever-sounding video in the article 'went viral' on social media. It is just a big flawed generalisation.

    I agree with your philosophy. I found the paragraph on your Dad sad.

    My own philosophy is much like yours OP and is derived from seeing older relatives passing on either before or shortly after retirement.

    The honest labour rights people of yesteryear got us the five-day week, for which I am grateful. But there is still a distortion in labour markets in that the five-day block is such a standard unit and alternatives are hard to find in most industries. There is a long way to go there regarding flexibility with time/labour selling. I would trade some time for less money (I naturally live frugally and am making savings I don't really need with my salary) but such options are rarely on the table for most.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    having to pay a 50% tax rate for public sector cùnts


    Hi there x

    I presume you're a private sector cúnt?

    I wonder, as a public sector cúnt, what I'm paying 50% tax for. Hopefully something somewhere you benefit from.

    Have a lovely working day xxx


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,684 ✭✭✭✭Samuel T. Cogley


    My presence on boards.ie right now sums it up nicely I think...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 27,349 ✭✭✭✭super_furry


    "Many millennials leave work on the dot of 5pm every day and refuse to answer work calls or emails over the weekend. This attitude is one of the reasons we have a reputation for entitlement."

    No problem whatsoever with that. Unless it's an exceptional circumstance or you're going to pay someone to be on call, don't call them at the weekend. Likewise if you pay someone until 5pm, don't be surprised that they don't want to work another couple of hours for you for free.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,882 ✭✭✭WHIP IT!


    "Many millennials leave work on the dot of 5pm every day and refuse to answer work calls or emails over the weekend. This attitude is one of the reasons we have a reputation for entitlement."

    No problem whatsoever with that. Unless it's an exceptional circumstance or you're going to pay someone to be on call, don't call them at the weekend. Likewise if you pay someone until 5pm, don't be surprised that they don't want to work another couple of hours for you for free.

    As an offshoot of that, I think we all probably have worked with someone who bangs on about answering emails and "sorting stuff out" during their downtime as if the kip would fall apart without them... I'm waiting on one such eejit to get back from his break (or, "just a quick sandwich", as he calls it. Take your hour, lad - we're not building rocket launchers here!) as we speak :D


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,843 ✭✭✭SarahMollie


    I work late and put in the extra hours when necessary. I see people all around me who do it as a matter of course, so that they're seen to be doing it. If its just an ordinary day, I leave at 5/5.30. I only take my work home with me when there is a specific reason, and when there is I'm happy to do so.

    I find that this approach shows that I'm hard working without being a martyr to my job. To be fair, my employer is also pretty reasonable, so for example if I have a doctors appointment some morning, I just go to it and don't worry about taking leave. They know I put in the hours when it counts so there is give and take.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,405 ✭✭✭stooge


    Not sure this is particularly relevant or valuable to the OP, but when it comes to work attitude I always remember one piece of advice I received early in my career after being made redundant:

    "The single most valuable asset (from your own point of view) you can bring to your employer is not your work attitude, nor your work skills... it is your own time."

    We have a limited number of days on this earth and giving up a significant portion of those for work has to be worth it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,495 ✭✭✭✭eviltwin


    I get paid peanuts to do a job I love that makes a difference to people's lives. I would love more money but once I have enough to survive I'm happy. It's not a motivating factor for the most part. Having a job that gives me personal satisfaction and plenty of time to spend with my family is.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,231 ✭✭✭Hercule Poirot


    My attitude is very similar to yours OP and I fully endorse it.

    I work with some people who regularly pull 10 to 12 hour days nearly five days a week and it actually saddens me because I know that if, God forbid, they died tomorrow then the company would survive without them and they would be fondly forgotten over time. I refuse point blank to let my personal life suffer for the sake of a job.

    This is what it means to work in the private sector these days; there is no loyalty, in either direction, and I'm totally OK with that.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    The whole modern world of capitalism is a nonsense, a complete waste of time and resources that we all have to go along with. There's nothing fulfilling, or worthy, or noble about it. It could burn to the ground for all I care.

    The only reason to go along with it is because you have to, you need money to buy things.


  • Registered Users Posts: 128 ✭✭carrieb


    I'm in Sales, I used to work for a really nice company. It was small. There was give and take, I'd often work a couple of extra hours in the evening but then if I needed to go to an appointment in the morning I could, no big deal. I could work from home occasionally.

    If I got a call from a customer who forgot to order I'd do an emergency delivery on a Saturday if needs be. My boss would appreciate this and as I said it was give and take. He'd tell me to go home early on a Fri if nothing was doing or we'd come in late in the morning if there was a customer event the night before.

    I was always happy to do it. I felt appreciated. I felt part of the business.

    I left that company and am in another very small company. There is only take. My boss would never let me finish early, never make me feel like its ok to ask to come in late. Watches my every move, doesn't trust anyone. Often rings simply to ask where I am and what I am doing. He often texts or emails at night or on the weekend, he knows full well that I've driven to meetings 2 or 3 hours away in the afternoon and have to drive back again and therefore will be late home but he doesn't acknowledge it. Doesn't tell me to take a couple of hours as he knows I've worked late.

    I have to go to the meetings etc if I want to get business but I don't have to engage without him outside of working hours so I don't.

    I know from my own circle of friends that it's more often then not the company you work for as opposed to your own "rules".


  • Registered Users Posts: 128 ✭✭carrieb


    DP


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 433 ✭✭fg1406


    I've no loyalty to my employer and likewise they have no loyalty to me. I go there for my requisite 39 hours a week and I do my job and I leave at 5:30pm. I take nothing home with me but I gain zero satisfaction from it. That said I do suffer from workplace stress and anxiety due to management issues for which I'm seeing a psychologist.

    I do know of younger colleagues however who wouldn't know a hard days work if it came up and slapped them in the face. I know much younger teens and kids who will grow up to be like those mentioned in the article. They are growing up with nobody saying "no" to them. They are handed everything they want. Expensive iPhones replaced at whims. They don't know how to do basic washing up. They look like they are going to vomit if you ask them to use a sweeping brush. I dread to think of how they'll cope in the real world.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭Walter H Price


    topper75 wrote: »
    I don't like the generalisations across whole generations of people. Though that clever-sounding video in the article 'went viral' on social media. It is just a big flawed generalisation.

    I agree with your philosophy. I found the paragraph on your Dad sad.

    I felt the exact same watching that video , i have no issue in accepting some of the failings of my generation. And i do agree with Schnik that the molly coddling and rewards for nothing are not allowing people develop mentally in a way that prepares them for the "Real" world , i'm a manager and i know all to well how hard it can be to give constructive criticism ect... but i think through his sweeping statements and broad brush approach he added two + two and came up with 5 in my view.

    I feel for my Dad i honestly do , in a way he's had his whole world view shattered and I've allot of respect for how he's handled his situation and how stoic hes been in his reflections. But i think watching him as i grew up shaped my attitude far more then everyone getting a meddle on sports day.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,684 ✭✭✭✭Samuel T. Cogley


    carrieb wrote: »
    DP

    I wouldn't be up for that not, inside OR outside working hours!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,033 ✭✭✭✭Richard Hillman


    I work my allotted hours. Occasionally I may stay 10 mins late, maybe even 20mins if I am helping somebody else.

    I'm terms of work load, it's always good to have a decent work load within your time. The day goes faster and you are better stimulated.

    If you find yourself consistently staying late after work, you are a chump. Youve taken on the workload of somebody else, whether it be a new employee needed or not.

    I honestly do not understand the logic of people who work over their time in Salary jobs. You are basically giving up your free time to ensure Mr Shareholder gets his extra annual dividend. Unless your bonuses are obscene, then you are just a chump saving senior management employing a new person.

    Even if you have great bonuses to get results, what's the point if you cannot enjoy it? Working like a lunatic for the year and having 4-6 weeks holidays a year is not enjoying your life.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,060 ✭✭✭Sue Pa Key Pa


    I have a very strong work ethic, work well and diligently for my employer. I never take a sick day and am happy with the remuneration I've agreed and offer good value in return. I'm more than capable of taking on more responsibilities in exchange for higher rewards, but I'm burnt out and happy to stay as I am


  • Registered Users Posts: 91 ✭✭Johnson_76


    I read the below article yesterday and i have to say it really resonated with me

    http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/millennials-struggling-work-careers-because-their-parents-gave-them-medals-for-coming-last-simon-a7537121.html

    In it leading research Simon Sineck suggests that basically the millennial attitude towards works is all wrong and has been caused by over protective parents sheltering kids . while i agree in some sense with his view on many aspects of modern parenting and the nonsense of participation medals etc... i dint' necessarily think it directly relates to work attitude.

    From my own point of view i work to live and not vice versa , i don't stay late unless there's extra pay in it , however i am efficient and engaged between 8:30 and 4:30. I'm very content with the idea that i just work for money its a simple transaction in my view i am paid x amount for 8 hours. I don't love my job or feel grateful for it, its functional and my employer didn't do me a favor in giving it to me no more than i do him a favor showing up every day, again i view it as a transaction. I'm here while it suits me if i won the lotto in the morning id be sending in my notice without a second thought , My OH is the bigger earner in our house and as kids come on the scene in the next few years i may look at teaching or staying at home to save on child care, at the end of the day if the cost of child care in order to facilitate me working was significantly eating into my salary the motivation simply wouldn't exist any longer.

    My parents were very traditional , there were no participation medals in our house, if you wanted to win something you put the effort in , if you wanted praise you earned it , if you wanted money you worked for it. But it is in my view watching my parent that has shaped my attitude towards work more than my birth year or up bringing. My dad has worked 50-60 hour weeks my entire life, he was rarely home before our bed time when we were kids, he traveled extensively worked between counties and countries missed family holidays , etc.... hes worked for the same company for 40 years and is very senior has a great salary , 2 years ago that loyalty hard work , achievement , awards, years of commitment etc. was repaid by him being shafted into a non role effectively to see out the next few year until early retirement , other then the money he been left question what it was all for.

    MY view to sum up is shaped by the idea that you can spend your life selling your time but a some point the realization will hit that no matter how much salary you have attained , it will never be enough compensation for the time you have had to sacrifice to earn it.

    Id love to get the view of people on here on this , do you work late ? and if so to what end ? , do you feel grateful to your employer or for your job ? do you think the Millennial attitude sucks or is spot on ?

    MODS if you think this is in the wrong forum feel free to move the thread



    Yet you have the time to write a sermon on Boards?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,839 ✭✭✭Walter H Price


    Johnson_76 wrote: »
    Yet you have the time to write a sermon on Boards?

    On a Train at the minute


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,693 ✭✭✭✭osarusan


    I think the word 'millenial' means f**k all.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,704 ✭✭✭Nermal


    My dad has worked 50-60 hour weeks my entire life, he was rarely home before our bed time when we were kids, he traveled extensively worked between counties and countries missed family holidays , etc.... hes worked for the same company for 40 years and is very senior has a great salary , 2 years ago that loyalty hard work , achievement , awards, years of commitment etc. was repaid by him being shafted into a non role effectively to see out the next few year until early retirement , other then the money he been left question what it was all for.

    It was for you! Millennials...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 33,709 ✭✭✭✭Cantona's Collars


    On a Train at the minute

    Feckin train drivers,probably want to get paid extra for typing too.:):)

    I tolerate my job,I'll do what's asked and have helped bring improvements to the place despite the resentment of some of the long timers there.I'm in on time and leave on time,trying to be a hero where I work won't get you a thanks let alone anything else.There's a few of us in our team and there's one if I never worked with them again it'd be too soon.
    My attitude is get the job done and done right even if I hate it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,453 ✭✭✭Shenshen


    I enjoy what I do, and I like what the company I work for does.
    It's flexible - if it's busy, I will stay late to help out. If it's quiet, I get to take the time back. I get paid for the hours I do, but I get satisfaction from getting results. Overall, I think I value job satisfaction higher than salary. I have left a better paying company to work for this one and I honestly do not regret it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,012 ✭✭✭uch


    I Like Getting Paid, that's about where it ends for me

    21/25



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    This millenials -v- previous generations stuff is all nonsense. Been going on since the dawn of time. "The kids of today are too soft, wouldn't know a hard day's work if kicked them up the hole, no real drive to work hard, just want to play games and party".

    I've seen that video and it's largely things like, "Isn't it awful what the youth of today do" and claiming that the technology we use is fundamentally altering our social behaviour and making people "worse", without the slightest shred of evidence that this is so.

    It appeals to a base human tendency to complain about the inadequacies of the youth which is an attempt to mask one's own vulnerability because you are aging and are no longer with "it". Complain about young people. They're not "with it", they don't "get it", my generation is way better. It's always guaranteed to get the bobble heads going.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,742 ✭✭✭Wanderer2010


    I used to work very long hours, overtime each weekend and was always the first to offer help but they say the best way to learn is the hard way when one day, my boss fcuked me out of it for not filling in one tiny part of a form that was easily overlooked. After that I started to do my own thing, came in bang on time left bang on time and I only ever do overtime a few times a year and only if I get paid. A job is a way to get money nothing else. Yes do your work but staying 10-12 hr days regularly just to climb some ladder? NO thanks. If you died tomorrow the company would move on in a heartbeat. Think of yourself.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,711 ✭✭✭keano_afc


    I'm in the mobility side of IT so I have 3 or 4 mobile devices on the go. Its hard to disconnect when all I have to do is open my phone to see a work email staring at me. I do reply out of hours sometimes and have even rang customers to troubleshoot issues out of hours. I get paid well for what I do and I do enjoy my job, so I dont mind that much really.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 7,863 ✭✭✭seachto7


    I used to work very long hours, overtime each weekend and was always the first to offer help but they say the best way to learn is the hard way when one day, my boss fcuked me out of it for not filling in one tiny part of a form that was easily overlooked. After that I started to do my own thing, came in bang on time left bang on time and I only ever do overtime a few times a year and only if I get paid. A job is a way to get money nothing else. Yes do your work but staying 10-12 hr days regularly just to climb some ladder? NO thanks. If you died tomorrow the company would move on in a heartbeat. Think of yourself.

    This


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,843 ✭✭✭SarahMollie


    keano_afc wrote: »
    I'm in the mobility side of IT so I have 3 or 4 mobile devices on the go. Its hard to disconnect when all I have to do is open my phone to see a work email staring at me. I do reply out of hours sometimes and have even rang customers to troubleshoot issues out of hours. I get paid well for what I do and I do enjoy my job, so I dont mind that much really.

    I have a work phone but I also keep my own personal phone for this exact reason. I don't look at my work phone out of hours unless I'm actually expecting something that I deem to be important. Lots of people in my office use their work phone only as they think "great, free phone and no bill!" but for me its worth the expense to keep my work and home life separate. If I only had one phone for both, the new email icon would irk me and I'd end up checking them, or taking work calls.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,035 ✭✭✭✭J Mysterio




  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,316 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    I worked my ass off in a previous job. I was in early every day and late every evening. I was burning myself out. Someone who was higher up than me in another department took me to one side and told me to stop. She said "the company doesn't care. If you burn yourself out they'll just replace you." It took a while for it to sink in. I was working myself to bits to try and get ahead and it was making no difference. No-one cared. My supervisor was even worse. He gave out to me for not getting enough done. I pointed out that I was working 20-30 hours a week extra and he said he had no proof of that since he wasn't there when it happened.
    That was when I realised what I was doing made no difference. So I started doing the regular hours and that's it. I even slowed down a bit in work because I figured what's the point of getting twice the work done in the same time when they didn't care.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭somefeen


    My plan at the moment is to make sure I am in a position where, if I was sacked in the morning I'd be OK. That it wouldn't matter.

    At the moment I have a sideline as a writer which is paying for an online course, and I am saving up 9 months of expenses. Its tough financially to do these things but it will be worth it. I have no debts and I live fairly frugally.

    I started working when I was a child, working for my father who was a builder then when I was 16 I left school and started working fulltime.
    When my boss was being a dick to me in various jobs since then I always wished I could be there on my own terms. My last job I hated my boss and he hated me. I bit my lip and toed the line and hated every minute of it. All because I was afraid of getting sacked and what it would do to my career and how I would survive and pay the rent, not to mention the shame. After I was forced to quit that job I decided I would never be in that position again. That never again would I have to put up with someones crap for the sake of a paycheck. That my future career and my financial security would never again be at the mercy of some asshole.
    When I have my 9 months expenses saved and my online course finished, I will be in an excellent position. If I was sacked I pretty much immediately go writing full time or use the online qualification on its own or in combination with writing to begin another career. I would have 9 months to get an income going again, and it wouldn't need to be huge to sustain me because I am going to stay debt free for as long as I can.
    In my current job I have decided to heed the advice of Jim Rohn; "Work harder on yourself than you do at your job".


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,194 ✭✭✭Corruptedmorals


    I work in the HSE, patient-facing. My work is when the clinics are on and the rest of the staff are in so it's not exactly an overtime type of job. Clocking in for more than your contracted hours is discouraged anyway.

    I work hard, I engage with and help other people. I enjoy my job. But that's moreso down to the people. It's understaffed and can be a tough environement. I certainly would not work extra, wouldn't get me anywhere anyway. I can't stand people who do very little and resent everything asked of them though, but there's a happy medium.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 642 ✭✭✭Lyle Lanley


    I work for myself, often do hard work for no pay. If i worked for somebody else theres not a chance I'd do anything without being paid for it. The fact that it's generally expected in the corporate world is one of the reasons i don't take part in that ****.

    I'm not sure what a millennial is, maybe i am one.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,815 ✭✭✭SimonTemplar


    Pretty much enjoy what I do and I'm good at it. I've a good work ethic and I'll happily work by ass off 9:00 - 17:30 but I also value my free time. When I leave the office, I switch off workwise until the following morning. Any job that requires or expects me to continue working at home into the evening as part of normal routine wouldn't be for me, and to be honest, that would be the sign of bad management.

    Don't mind doing extra hours rarely, but certainly not the norm.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,693 ✭✭✭✭osarusan


    I enjoy it. Working with university students is fairly rewarding, and I have a decent amount of control over what I teach and how I teach it. You can see them improving, which is motivating.

    The beaurocracy side of it can be painful though.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 505 ✭✭✭zanador


    At some point in the last few years I stopped being in the generation being given out about and moved into the generation giving out about the next one.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 21,448 ✭✭✭✭Cupcake_Crisis


    When I first started the job I'm in now I'd do all the over time they asked no problem, I'd come in early, switch shifts, cover for someone without hesitation. Because it used to be a really nice place to work, and honestly I felt appreciated.

    Then there was a management shake up and it all went to ****. They expect you to be available to work at a moments notice, but will cut your shifts just as quick. I could get 100 positive reviews, but if I get 1 negative my hours are cut. A girl I work with has been making it her mission to get me fired, even going as far as saying I've been stealing tips (I haven't been . I told my boss about it and nothing has been done.

    So now I arrive on time, I leave on time, I don't cover for anyone and I don't ask anyone to cover for me and it'll be that way till I leave in may.

    I don't like working like that because I find it stressful but it is what it is.


  • Registered Users Posts: 408 ✭✭strawdog


    zanador wrote: »
    At some point in the last few years I stopped being in the generation being given out about and moved into the generation giving out about the next one.


    "I used to be with it, but then they changed what *it* was. Now what I'm with isn't *it*, and what's *it* seems weird and scary to me. It'll happen to you..."


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,316 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    When I first started the job I'm in now I'd do all the over time they asked no problem, I'd come in early, switch shifts, cover for someone without hesitation. Because it used to be a really nice place to work, and honestly I felt appreciated.

    Then there was a management shake up and it all went to ****. They expect you to be available to work at a moments notice, but will cut your shifts just as quick. I could get 100 positive reviews, but if I get 1 negative my hours are cut. A girl I work with has been making it her mission to get me fired, even going as far as saying I've been stealing tips (I haven't been . I told my boss about it and nothing has been done.

    So now I arrive on time, I leave on time, I don't cover for anyone and I don't ask anyone to cover for me and it'll be that way till I leave in may.

    I don't like working like that because I find it stressful but it is what it is.

    There was a girl I worked with (in a call centre) who used to always swap shifts with people. You needed to start late because of a concert the night before and she'd swap no problem. And normally at a moments notice. Everyone she swapped with would say they'd return the favour.

    When she left the company her last week was a week of lates (finishing at 10pm). She asked everyone who owed her a shift swap if they'd work a late that week. She asked about 2 weeks beforehand. Every single one of the feckers said no. Bastards.


    On a slightly separate note, the CIPD (the UK HR group) did a study about workplace satisfaction. They found the single biggest factor in determining if an employee was happy was if the employee thought they were treated fairly. If an employee thought they were treated fairly they would work extra hours, because they thought it was fair.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,316 ✭✭✭✭Grayson


    keano_afc wrote: »
    I'm in the mobility side of IT so I have 3 or 4 mobile devices on the go. Its hard to disconnect when all I have to do is open my phone to see a work email staring at me. I do reply out of hours sometimes and have even rang customers to troubleshoot issues out of hours. I get paid well for what I do and I do enjoy my job, so I don't mind that much really.

    I used to bring my work laptop home. Then about once a week I'd check mails and reply to anything that my director and direct manager was cc'd in. Just so it looked like I was keeping up to date on evolving issues out of hours.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,274 ✭✭✭Bambi985


    I work for an American company, my boss and a bunch of colleagues are in New York so i tend to reply to emails and the odd occasion do some evening meetings.

    I take great pride in having a good job and being respected for my hard work. But I'm well beyond tying it into my identity, using it as a form of self-validation or a means to determine my own self-worth these days. We are all so incredibly replaceable in the workplace and no amount of thanks or pats on the back can justify sacrificing your life and your happiness for a measly job at the end of the day.

    I sacrificed a lot of my personal and social life in my 20s chasing the dream job and trying to climb up the career ladder and it landed me with a world of work stress and few friends at the end of the day because I blew everyone and everything off for it. It's no way to live. It's not really living, ultimately.

    All the same I'm still ambitious, but less about having some meaningful career that allows me to be some alpha-female badass and more about earning good money and having a nice life for myself. That's what motivates me most these days.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,922 ✭✭✭snowflaker


    I worked in a better paid job in a more stressful environment. Now I work in a less well paid less stressful more enjoyable job.

    Money isn't a motivation any longer


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,394 ✭✭✭Pac1Man


    Bambi985 wrote: »
    and it landed me with a world of work stress and few friends at the end of the day because I blew everyone and everything off for it. It's no way to live. It's not really living, ultimately.

    I'd hire you.


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