Opportunity -- or should I just go?

[DaveJ]

Sorry I whine a lot here, but this is my latest dilemma.

My coworker is getting laid off because business is a little slow, but mainly because my boss despises him and he never was very flexible or knowledgeable.

I've been there going on 7 years in July, and my coworker has been there 5 years. I am usually very ethical, but my coworker made reference to his new salary, then how much more it was than his current salary, so then I found out his salary. I verified this info against the records.

Now I'm upset. Obviously I deserve that salary since I taught him everything he does, I've been doing half his job the whole time in addition to my own, and now I'm going to need to do both our jobs at once.

My boss asked me if I could do his job, I said 'yes', without saying "geesh I walked his hand through everything so of course I do."

But he so far he has not mentioned a word of any pay increase. Much less raising my pay to my coworkers' pay -- I'll just say it, $20k more per year!!!! That would be enough for me to save for retirement. I trusted these people for 7 years of my life, my hair has gone grey working there, while thinking they were good decent people only to (possibly) find out they might just continue treating me like I don't matter until I just keel over on the job.

There is a lot more complexity to this. I'm a programmer and believed they could not afford to pay more, and now I know they can. Nobody understand the work I do, they can't talk to me about it, so I have nobody I can talk to anymore now that my coworker is gone. They do not seem to understand that my job is an actual profession. I could stay there if they simply understood I'm a real person with a real job and pay me the same as they pay others who they respect.

But it seems they might just not respect me, maybe they think I'm a naive idiot -- they might be right.

I'm tired of waiting. I'm not sure how to talk to about it. I've tried my boss before and he keeps making empty promises.

[arcane1]

1. The word "opportunity" is the biggest red flag for me

I wish I had some advice, but I am going through much the same thing

[DaveJ]

4. So sorry

Are you also afflicted by the nice guy curse? Let me know if you find a solution to your dilemma.

[jtuck004]

2. He keeps making empty promises because he thinks there is no downside. Do you have other

real options that could teach him otherwise?

You have to decide that you are worth more and if you are willing to do what it might take to get it. Having been there 7 years, and having been disappointed, it may be that you are getting intangibles (flexible schedule, health care, etc) that have kept you around. But it sounds like those may not be worth as much today. Or maybe for another $20k you could buy your own damn intangibles.

The other person may not have been very good at the technical part, but perhaps a better negotiator. I have been in that one a few times, and nearly always my - let me stress "my", (as in not yours) - only solution was to move to something better. Your mileage will vary, I have no doubt. I am the fix-it guy - not a programmer, but if there was a web or mail server down, or someone's visual basic creation that was working, then quit, etc, I was the one they looked to for a solution, because they knew I would find one.

I worked with others who could not fix things, who were sometimes the people that broke it in the first place. But they were better at schmoozing, buying presents, negotiating, etc, and sometimes made more than I did. But once a boss takes advantage of you, I have found it very difficult to trust them. And if one really is worth more, and IF there is a ready market for their skills, why would they work another day for less? When I got restless I would give the company a chance, because I knew I was worth more, but I never did that until I had at least a glimmer of a better offer. Often they would then relent, but most times, if I had to take it that far I never went back - don't much like the games. I won't play them against each other. Like I said, not so good at negotiation .

Read through these and think about it - you are smart, and will find a solution, I bet.

https://www.google.com/search?q=approaching+the+boss+for+a+raise+long+time+employee&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla

[DaveJ]

3. My negotiation skills are nonexitant

I am naive like I said, and when people act nice, I think they are nice. I always thought they were a good people, a family owned business and that being able to actually "know the person who signs my check" was a great advantage over working for a big company. But there are no benefits. This company is weird, it is like a vampire that sucks in naive people like me. I'm not the only one who's life is going down the tubes trusting these people.

There is a slim chance that they might be planning on giving me the salary they gave my coworker, so that is the only reason to stay now, but I'm going to have absolutely no feelings for them from now on.

Thanks for the link. I'm going to dedicate all of my attention to negotiation tactics and interview skills now. No more being "nice" and assuming anyone else around me is nice, I'll just be a douche bag and then I can go through life being pleasantly temporarily surprised whenever I see someone being nice.

Oh yeah the guy who got laid off got a job that paid about $25k more per year on top of his severance check and vacation pay (Edit: his new job is a programmer position that is doing nothing except what I taught him how to do). So yes knowing how to schmooze is important.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

5. The view from my corner

It's a crap shoot. As a regular employee, my loyalty has sometimes been valued and other times not. In most places I've found most employees to be very replaceable in the eyes of management. It has been one of my standards that it's just a bad idea to work anywhere where empty promises seem common. You spent years being underpaid teaching and supporting a slacker who they over paid. It's clear they're ability to determine the value of an employee is seriously flawed.

I've worked places where I had to hound management and HR for a salary review. There are places who will try to change your mind with an offer once you give notice. IMHO, they're the worst. They've just demonstrated that they can pay you but only with a gun to the head. The question then remains, if you agree to stay and they give you enough of a raise to meet the offer you've got, will they start looking to replace you to save money?

It's not worth jumping to the first opportunity to get out but it's time to look around. It's not fair to anyone for you to be under paid. You'll end up retiring to a cheap apartment in a bad neighborhood and when you do, your company will get the shock of a lifetime when they have to pay double to replace you.

Better you get paid now and better they learn sooner rather than later. You may want to consider being a consultant as I have.

I'm around often if you want to talk.

[DaveJ]

6. Ok, thanks , you understand what's happening well.

A few years ago, they did give me one raise but that was only after I said I was taking a day off to look for another job, like you said.

I can't believe it, 7 years. They think they can just contract repairs out whenever they need something done. Custom software runs their entire company, and they think that. One contractor no longer wants to work with them anymore because all they do is give him tiny little bug fixes and no real work. My boss did say they had long term plan for me a couple years ago, but I just don't know if that means that they will place me on the same level as those in the good o'l boy club, or if that means they plan to take advantage of me for the rest of my life. I need to save for retirement, if I could do that everything would be ok.