In person court was closed down for about one year- all the motions, pleas, and hearings were on MS Teams. I tried working from home but invariably I'd get called about a case and the file would be at the office. I just went in every day even though one or more of the staff worked from home. For the past two years things have pretty much been back to normal, although I let the staff work from home some as they can essentially handle everything online or take a box of files home and work on them there.
Post Covid-World work life; changes for you, or back to the same?
- Thread starter addyguy
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I have a real job, literally nothing changed.
This job market is wild. In the same day I’ve seen job listings for accountant requiring a masters degree paying $16/hr and shelf stocker requiring you can lift 50 pounds for $15/hr.
I feel really similar in the “gave too much of myself” aspect. I put lots of blood and time in as a tech to constantly be reminded I was lucky to have a job. Only getting raises when I found different jobs that they didn’t want me to take or went straight to the owner about it as he really wanted to keep me, where my immediate manager was an everyone is replaceable type.
When I moved to the service desk from being a tech I was always chasing an imaginary brass ring. Turned down for raises due to “well, you’re doing great and service is booming but sales dept profit is non existent so we don’t have the funds”. Pay plan changes so we “had the opportunity to make more money”. Changes to how we had to schedule in order to get more oil changes in during a day, which is a killer when bonus structure is based on hours sold per repair order wrote.
I hope you find something you like and that fits financially. I really enjoyed my manufacturing job, it paid well but not well enough for my wife to reduce her hours. I was also treated exceptionally well there compared to dealership jobs. I hated to leave but that’s what made sense for my family so that’s what I did. Or maybe as another member posted it’s just laziness
So I get to just sit on my butt and relax at home while homeschooling 5 kids.I wish you the best of luck. It’s such a strange market right now.
One thing I’d offer for you to consider is don’t be afraid to take a job you might enjoy even if it’s “beneath” your qualifications. Even if you’ve got a counseling or IT degree if you think you might enjoy stocking tools at Harbor Freight or flooring at Lowe’s. Consider applying, if for no other reason than your mental health. Not a person there will think twice about it if you leave for a better job back in your familiar field.
I hope people have learned to not put the job first and their health second or third. Corporations don’t care about you.
Funny you mention enjoying driving, as I lost that joy after not leaving the house for 2 years. I had a job that required me to put 30-40k miles a year on. That stopped in 2020. I now hate driving more than an hour, maybe 2. It seems more challenging as well, like a lost skill. Plus, people are driving a lot worse now.
I’m a plant manager and have to do my 30minute one way commute. Essential worker, I guess. I was a planner during Covid, but changed roles and no longer can work from home. Many people are still working from home, which I have no problem with, as I felt more productive there.
Not sure I have--I've come to the conclusion that I must have really liked what I did, in order to put in those extra hours. Scaling back to a "normal" workload, not sure what will happen. But I agree, I think the company cares a lot less about me as compared to what I thought of it--or at least that which I was working on, it was easy to get hip deep into a project... recent changes have me not wanting to be nearly as involved.
One of my coworkers, when he leaves for the day... leaves his laptop at his desk? completely turns off work? Very strange to me. My first week of vacation, I went to 3 or 4 meetings (granted I stayed home and conferenced in).
Funny thing is, I grew up driving an hour to get anywhere, so it was natural to fall into an hour commute to work. 2 years off and somehow it became too far? maybe I just got older, not sure. Part of it was, I've become quite aware that an easy way to go from an 8 hour workday to a 10 hour workday is to.... work at home.
On the bright side, I stepped out of management, and got a new boss, one who is much more in tune with the idea of a "sane" workload, and actually taking vacations. I think if I just challenge myself to let things go, say no to a few things, I might have a vastly better balance.
Pandemic took 10 years off my life and cost my company approx 30M dollars.
The worst was -
Employees died.
Employees family members died.
As a leader it was all but impossible to navigate -
Numerous political reversals, knee jerk course corrections that needed instantaneous implementation or the world would explode with the fury of 1000 suns.
Paying hundreds of K in new laptops for most of the stafff and inventing ways to get things done from home that never existed.
Paying peoples electricity bills.
Stuck between those demanding mandatory vaccinations and those threatening to quit if we did that.
Stuck between the maskers and on maskers by the state of californias ever changing position.
1 year of parts on the shelf was always way more than needed - not anymore.
xilinx completely screwing us. When you have a problem you can't fix with money - you have a problem.
Port of LA parts delays .
Suez canal parts delays.
Paying people not to work.
Test to come to work.
Test to stay home.
Test to travel.
Cancelled global events with no refunds (trade shows)
The creation of tremendous displeasure for those required to come in to work and this enjoying working from home.
This is just the stuff that comes to mind in a few seconds.
Im utterly exhausted.
The worst was -
Employees died.
Employees family members died.
As a leader it was all but impossible to navigate -
Numerous political reversals, knee jerk course corrections that needed instantaneous implementation or the world would explode with the fury of 1000 suns.
Paying hundreds of K in new laptops for most of the stafff and inventing ways to get things done from home that never existed.
Paying peoples electricity bills.
Stuck between those demanding mandatory vaccinations and those threatening to quit if we did that.
Stuck between the maskers and on maskers by the state of californias ever changing position.
1 year of parts on the shelf was always way more than needed - not anymore.
xilinx completely screwing us. When you have a problem you can't fix with money - you have a problem.
Port of LA parts delays .
Suez canal parts delays.
Paying people not to work.
Test to come to work.
Test to stay home.
Test to travel.
Cancelled global events with no refunds (trade shows)
The creation of tremendous displeasure for those required to come in to work and this enjoying working from home.
This is just the stuff that comes to mind in a few seconds.
Im utterly exhausted.
I'm with a company that started as a spinoff in late 2019. Despite being budded off another entity, the company essentially emerged and grew during COVID and most of Leadership, myself included, are either geographically dispersed or remote, and it works well at least for where we are now and the near term. That would have been almost unthinkable previously.
I work in a big plant with over 2000 people in it. Everybody hourly came in every scheduled day as did their supervision. People over 50 and those with co-morbidities were offered two weeks paid off time at the start. I didn't take it. I you caught it, you had to be off for 7 days. Exposures got a week off. Guess how that worked out. Again, never took it. Work was shifted for half the crew and hour early, so the lunch room wouldn't be so busy. Most of the salary support jobs got to work from home. Some still are or are hybrid. I'm hourly and probably had it late January 2020 before it all really started, and took 2 vacation days off while sick then coughed for 6 weeks. I fly a lot and it was 2 years before I caught it again. So other than going back to a normal start time and a week off in 2022, and being forced to wear a mask for a week after returning from the second illness, it changed nothing for me.
Pretty much back to the same for me at least, but can work from home occasionally. They did cut the office space in half removing cubicles so most of the designers work from home now.
Most of life is back to normal except:
1. I can’t bring back my lost family members.
2. Construction contractors are still pricing jobs and pretending that a 2x4 will cost them $20.
3. Car dealers are still gouging and pretending that auction prices haven’t dropped in half in the past 12 months.
1. I can’t bring back my lost family members.
2. Construction contractors are still pricing jobs and pretending that a 2x4 will cost them $20.
3. Car dealers are still gouging and pretending that auction prices haven’t dropped in half in the past 12 months.
My work never changed. Some of the office types got to work from home. Got allowances for internet and other odds and ends. The rest of us boots on the ground continued on, working with less and less resources. We got an email from the tin gods thanking us and telling us to use our vacation time to take a day and recharge. Great. Too bad we are so short staffed that you ended up having to work overtime for the next guy to take time off. Then get get your pe%#%! slapped because there are restrictions for paying overtime to cover leave.
Oh and my wife had to close her small business. The hoops to jump through to get our fearless leaders scraps were not worth it. It sucked but an new, greater opportunity presented itself.
I guess what changed was I got very vocal to my bosses and then their bosses. Doubtful I made any friends but realized that I dont care.
Oh and my wife had to close her small business. The hoops to jump through to get our fearless leaders scraps were not worth it. It sucked but an new, greater opportunity presented itself.
I guess what changed was I got very vocal to my bosses and then their bosses. Doubtful I made any friends but realized that I dont care.
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Thank you, and I hope you do as well. Truth be told, I somewhat was thinking if I don't find something IT, maybe try my hand at service advisor? Don't know if I'd even be considered for that type of role.This job market is wild. In the same day I’ve seen job listings for accountant requiring a masters degree paying $16/hr and shelf stocker requiring you can lift 50 pounds for $15/hr.
I feel really similar in the “gave too much of myself” aspect. I put lots of blood and time in as a tech to constantly be reminded I was lucky to have a job. Only getting raises when I found different jobs that they didn’t want me to take or went straight to the owner about it as he really wanted to keep me, where my immediate manager was an everyone is replaceable type.
When I moved to the service desk from being a tech I was always chasing an imaginary brass ring. Turned down for raises due to “well, you’re doing great and service is booming but sales dept profit is non existent so we don’t have the funds”. Pay plan changes so we “had the opportunity to make more money”. Changes to how we had to schedule in order to get more oil changes in during a day, which is a killer when bonus structure is based on hours sold per repair order wrote.
I hope you find something you like and that fits financially. I really enjoyed my manufacturing job, it paid well but not well enough for my wife to reduce her hours. I was also treated exceptionally well there compared to dealership jobs. I hated to leave but that’s what made sense for my family so that’s what I did. Or maybe as another member posted it’s just laziness
Sucks, I have been in it for 12 years and have led some pretty successful projects/initiatives. Also I get thinking (I overthink...), I wonder if WNY being so small, companies talk and there's some sort of IT blacklist... Again me overthinking.
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x10000
I was a logging truck driver when it all began, but was looking at making a huge career change. I was on spring break up in the bush, but had been slowly the past year doing some personal training, training with some fighters, as well as training some fighters. With 7 amateur fights so far, and 7 wins, and 2 more scheduled fights, I was going to take this other driving job only working 36 hours a week, so I would have more time to take on clients, fight more, train more, and then it all shut down.
No more gyms open, no more arena fights, it all ended suddenly. So I stayed at the same job driving logging truck, couldn't spend all my free time in the gym, or fighting.
A guy who had a shop in his back yard cleaned it out, bought some equipment, and let a few of us who were his pals work out there, but it wasn't the same. Did a few underground fights, but there was no career opportunity there. Kept a few clients I did personal training with, but mostly I just went back to being a truck driver.
I was offered so many jobs the last few years its ridiculous, there is a serious shortage of good truck drivers, but I stayed where I was. Gave up my dream of possibly becoming a professional MMA fighter, and personal trainer. Sometimes I still wonder what if, but I have tried to let it go, and move on with my life, but really do miss it some days. Miss that rush of a good fight still, the mental challenge that comes from a good opponent.
No more gyms open, no more arena fights, it all ended suddenly. So I stayed at the same job driving logging truck, couldn't spend all my free time in the gym, or fighting.
A guy who had a shop in his back yard cleaned it out, bought some equipment, and let a few of us who were his pals work out there, but it wasn't the same. Did a few underground fights, but there was no career opportunity there. Kept a few clients I did personal training with, but mostly I just went back to being a truck driver.
I was offered so many jobs the last few years its ridiculous, there is a serious shortage of good truck drivers, but I stayed where I was. Gave up my dream of possibly becoming a professional MMA fighter, and personal trainer. Sometimes I still wonder what if, but I have tried to let it go, and move on with my life, but really do miss it some days. Miss that rush of a good fight still, the mental challenge that comes from a good opponent.
If you’ve got sales and people skills they’d always consider you. Knowledge of vehicles really only matters when dealing with fleet and a few rare customers. Most just want to know how much, when it’ll be fixed and to be kept up to date on the progress.
When deciding if it’s a place you want to work, exact hours and exact pay plan and how frequently the pay plan is changed are what you need to know. If you’re told “we’re like a family here” expect to work 6 day weeks and 60+ hours. If you’re told “we give you the opportunity to make great money” expect that the pay plans will change once you start topping out on the current one. One co worker took a 25% pay decrease due to a pay plan adjustment. It was about a 20% decrease for me due to a change in scheduling procedures right before I left.
All the negatives aside it can be an enjoyable job that pays well. The beginning can be tough but if you get a client base that only wants to deal with you, you’re set. Building trust is key, next most important is identifying problem customers before they even come in. I had customers that would toss me the keys and say “fix it, if it’s under $5k don’t even call me until it’s done”, those are the ones you gotta keep!
Not much changed. While it did look a lot different, I still had to commute in five days a week. Traffic has been back to the old levels for awhile and there are still a bunch of people home most of the week.
What I find funny is all of the new lingo and games that are played. Employers want their staff in the building the most of the staff does whatever they can not to go in. Like I didn't learn about "coffee badging" until a couple of weeks ago. So strange.
What I find funny is all of the new lingo and games that are played. Employers want their staff in the building the most of the staff does whatever they can not to go in. Like I didn't learn about "coffee badging" until a couple of weeks ago. So strange.
Not much has changed in my office.
My three direct reports were on a 3 WFH/2 in office schedule and I took maybe one WFD day each week.
We did weekly PCR tests at work, not voluntary, and more than half of our staff were infected at one time or another with a few ending up in the hospital and one dying. Some had it more than once. I never got it, even though my wife did. How I didn't get it from someone I sleep with I have no idea since this was well before any vaccine availability, so I hadn't had one, nor had she.
Anyway, Covid is now more like a normal seasonal respiratory infection than was the case in early 2020.
Almost everyone in this country has had it, has been vaccinated, or both.
My three direct reports were on a 3 WFH/2 in office schedule and I took maybe one WFD day each week.
We did weekly PCR tests at work, not voluntary, and more than half of our staff were infected at one time or another with a few ending up in the hospital and one dying. Some had it more than once. I never got it, even though my wife did. How I didn't get it from someone I sleep with I have no idea since this was well before any vaccine availability, so I hadn't had one, nor had she.
Anyway, Covid is now more like a normal seasonal respiratory infection than was the case in early 2020.
Almost everyone in this country has had it, has been vaccinated, or both.
