Another day at the circus

Just when I think I can’t be surprised by the ridiculousness of this job, they do something that throws me for another loop.

Back in June or July my coworker, Emily, put in a proposal to Rhonda to work part-time rather than full time so that she could spend more time with her young children. The proposal wasn’t extremely well received, but all parties involved said they would think on it and that until the decision was made she could telecommute 3 days a week and come to the office the other 2.

For clarity purposes I want to point out that at no point in time did Emily say that she was quitting if they didn’t accept this proposal. Also, Emily has worked here for over 3 years, is probably the most efficient worker in our department, and is always pleasant to be around. And, I personally like her because she is young and normal, unlike the majority of the office.

Anyways, the company sat on this decision for months and months without any real decision. Finally just before our annual meeting they inform her that they will have a decision by the end of November.

During the Annual Meeting one of our fairly influential members gets wind of the situation and decides to get himself involved by discussing the matter with the VP of HR – telling him how great Emily is and essential to their program (he worked closely with her on membership). So, the HR director takes note and diligently works on a new compromise that he thinks will win everyone’s approval.

And, it did win everyone’s approval. Well, everyone except Paul, the Executive President. Now you may be wondering why the president needs to be involved in this sort of decision anyway, and I suppose the answer is for the same reason that he has final say on our telecommuting days. In short, he is a micro manager.

Rhonda called Emily on Friday afternoon at 4:30 to tell her that Wednesday will be her last day because we have a hiring freeze. A hiring freeze? But she is already working here? Putting that aside, Rhonda didn’t bother to tell the rest of us, and she took the whole week off. And, the head HR took the whole week off. Nice.

Now, putting all of that aside, here is the email that was sent out last night:

I'm glad that hiring freeze managed to last a whole day.

This is one of those things that pisses me off to the point where I have a hard time keeping my mouth closed. But, I will in case they decide that my job too is expendable.