[HokeyReligions]

A few months ago we brought in a temporary admin. She is in her late 40's. Nice woman, but we had some problems with her in that she was talking about getting a raise and going to benefits meetings for permanent employees. She had an interview with the same boss I have and was told that when she fulfilled her hours she would be hired direct and thats why she got a raise from the temporary agency--she was doing more than what she was originally hired to do. She just should not have been talking about it or going to meetings meant for permanent employees. She wasn't very computer saavy (I'm not either--strictly an end-user here! But I at least knew what "Close" and "Save" meant!)

Anyway, I moved on to a new project a month ago. A couple of weeks ago they brought her over to my department again as an admin. I was not her supervisor on this project. (I was one of her supervisors on the last one)

She was not supposed to do anything but help wherever she could--mainly filing. She was fine with that but anxious to get to her new project in March (that's when they had an opening slated for her & "our" manager was trying to keep her on by letting her work in our department. She was doing OK, ready and willing to lend a hand and do whatever it took. I didn't notice that she had a bad attitude, but I didn't really interact with her that much on this project.


I didn't notice that her attitude was bad or anything like that and having got to know her a bit on the other project I knew that her delivery of her opinions or thoughts was somewhat 'down-in-the-mouth' sounding. Sometimes she sounded like she thought she was better than the job with comments about her higher-level positions before. I was at a higher-level position before also, but hey--gotta go with the flow and just do the best I can at the job I have.

I came in today and noticed that her light was not on. I asked where she was and was told that she was terminated this morning and the manager sent out an email to tell us and said "you know why" and that she (the manager) was tired of bad attitudes and half-hearted efforts.

I got an email from the woman this afternoon. She was devastated and doesn't know why she was let go. She said she had been crying all day. I really feel bad for her. She is recently divorced and forced to move back into her parents house. She has a 17 year old daughter and is struggling financially and emotionally. Imagine moving back into your parents house when you are in your late 40's and have had homes of your own.

This is the 3rd project I've been on since I went back to work for this company in July. All the other projects were upstream. Now I'm working in downstream and its very different. One of the document controllers quit yesterday too and two engineers were let go and one Project Manager. They can't keep people over here and its not like any of the upstream projects where if you don't like it or want to work here they find you another project to go to--they just let you go.

The email I got from her today said "Watch your back even more closely". Yep.

[Outcast]

Sounds very much like the company I worked for. Lousy HR and people management. I'm SO glad to be out of there, even though it'll be a while before I make that kind of money again. It just was not worth it.

[RoxStar]

Hi Hokey,

It sounds like you work for a company that doesnt have the most fair work ethics. I am just speculating but if you personally worked with this woman and thought she did a good job and it seems like others are being fired (the document controller you mentioned) maybe you should consider seeing what else is in the market place currently.

I hope you are well and may the force be with you!

[HokeyReligions]

I really could enjoy this job and I'm giving it some time especially since I was without a permanent job for so long. However, I got a call tonight from someone who may have a job for me---I'm going to call her tomorrow and check it out.

It is very stressful because of all the 'terminations' and I don't want to leave because the company is overall pretty good. It's a great location for me and there are some other perks that I like and are hard to find other places. I'm still hopeful.

I'm going to start training a new person tomorrow. She's older and a bit intimidated by the software we have to use, but I hope that she learns it and wants to do the job and will do well. My 'reputation' will also be judged on how well I train her. I have some projects to work on tomorrow and I will have her sit with me as I go through the software working with this stuff and let her take notes and then we'll go to her office while I walk her through doing it herself and we'll see how well she takes notes and follows them.

[EnigmaXOXO]

Would I be wrong in guessing that the manager who fired her was also female ???

Given the unprofessional nature of the inner-office email, it just seems that whoever sent it is making decisions based on emotions rather than logic and/or business savvy.

Just a guess, but given my past experience, this is commonly a female trait.

[blind_otter]

Originally Posted by EnigmaXOXO

Would I be wrong in guessing that the manager who fired her was also female ???

Given the unprofessional nature of the inner-office email, it just seems that whoever sent it is making decisions based on emotions rather than logic and/or business savvy.

Just a guess, but given my past experience, this is commonly a female trait.

Word. Toxic Managers. It's pretty common, people regularly do research on how *****ty managers make *****ty workplaces and otherwise happy and efficient workers get dragged down by nasty inter-office politics.

And yes, that was an extremely unprofessional email, I must agree.