Nope. I haven't really thought about it much over the last two years. Certainly not long or serious enough to take the time to write anything. And my last blog certainly wasn't very constructive now was it?
But I came across an interesting article from Black Swan regarding writing;
http://time.com/3914538/notebook-writing-life-better/
This caused me to think about starting up again and perhaps working at being more functional this time around. So here's a quick update:
I started a new Microsoft contract back in June of 2011. Why bring this up now? (Why call it "new"?) Because I worked that
v- contract for nearly four years. I was laid off on March 27th of 2015. I'd worked that contract for a long enough period that it eroded my goals of getting out of the tech industry and really side tracked me in that regard. It was also one of the first contracts where I was making more than I had been earning working private security. But it honestly ran for too long.
Now I find myself in an interesting circumstance. Microsoft announced in July of 2014 an end to the
a- and
v- classifications. Going forward (and I think they actually used that terminology if memory serves) there will be no such classification. All contingency staffing will be the same. Contingency staff are limited to 18 months of employment at which time they are required to take a 6-month break in service. (This equates to losing 25% of ones wages earning potential over a two year period.)
Their announced intent was to honor existing contracts until December 31st of 2015. Instead the began dropping current contingency staffers at the beginning of March. During our last two weeks of employment we trained our replacements. All replacements were H1B status hires.
Another interesting aspect of this... based on word of mouth... originally the layoffs were NOT going to be announced. Apparently managers became aware not long before the rest of us did. And we employees became aware before our staffing companies were informed. By nearly a week! One rumor was that some FTE's had leaked the information to staffers on their teams. I have reason to believe this as I heard of the plan at least two days before it became staffer gossip. By that point a few staffers had already been notified by their leads. And yet their staffing companies had not yet been informed. I am unaware whether there was push back from managers demanding the two-week window in order to train replacements. But it was clear that the replacement were already in place by the time the announcement was made. This means that they were planning it two weeks to a month before the announcement. This gives some validation to the "leaked" rumor.
There are a few related issues with all of this. I took a nearly $4k per annum pay cut when I left security to return to Microsoft. It took nearly 6 years to work my way back up to exceed the $17 per hour rate. In the last six months of this last contract I managed to move up to $46k per annum. I was earning the equivalent of about 20% of the others staffers. The majority were making less than $40k per year. Given the new 6-month break requirement and the limitation of 18 months on contract it's highly unlikely that I will again see $46k annually working there. AND ultimately that's the purpose of this move by Microsoft. To drive wages down.
Realistically, wages for contingency staff have not moved much at all over the last decade. An annual income of $40k is still considered "average" as it was when I landed my first "official" testing position back around 2000. I was hired by Volt and was making $20 per hour with minimal benefits. Now Volt offers tehe same pay rate for the same STE2 position (with experience) but offers no benefits package to contingency staffers. The most common entry point jobs (based on the last 9 years of contracting) come in between $1 and $19 per hour. Some companies pay more but have fewer positions available. The larger staffing companies tend to pay less and have more available positions. (Interesting yes? They're clearly making more income due to the larger number of spots and yet they're offering less in the way of compensation to their employees.) The list includes (but is not limited to) the usual suspects; Volt and Aditi.
Another issue is that as a general rule the H1B visa candidates are also working for less. On average about 10% to 15% less... and most often without benefits. So there is an immediate and over riding compulsion to hire these personnel. Because they are cheaper. However the majority of the group that were hired as our replacement had little if any previous experience at Microsoft and some of them lacked essential basic skills even working with Outlook and Excel. Of course the availability of these candidates is increasing (thank you Patty Murray) and so there is no shortage of bodies with which to fill head count numbers. And as we all know, if you hire enough bodies there will be sufficient to cover the gaps created by the dead wood.
I didn't mind training my replacements. All three of them. I did not begrudge those people getting those jobs. They applied for a position. That was the extent of their involvement. They aren't responsible for the business practices of Microsoft. They simply wanted a better opportunity that was offered in India or whatever other forsaken, festering 3rd World crap hole it is their desire to escape. And frankly, even earning what they are, and for only 12 to 18 months, if their frugal they can go home while waiting for H1B renewal and live pretty darned well... having made 10x the national average income of their homeland within that year.
But ultimately, when I think about myself, I MUST look upon this as an opportunity and only a temporary set back. Though it is frustrating because as I view the prospect of 6 months of ineligibility to rehire at Microsoft I'm also dealing with the issue of being over and under qualified simultaneously.
Anyone who has spent enough time working a specific job and then had to make some kind of career adjustment or jump knows how your resume` can be your best friend and also your worst enemy. I'm getting now traction currently with warehouse or security companies. But I will not be eligible to work at Microsoft again until October and being honest... I have very little desire to return there. This is part of the price of working so many years on that same contract. One becomes comfortable. Paid just enough to keep you from leaving, it develops complacency among a host of other bad habits including abandoning the budget intended to GET YOU OUT FOR GOOD!
I may have mentioned long ago not really having a vested interest in continuing in testing. At one point... again long, long ago... I thought that this was what I wanted to do. But I believe more strongly than ever that it is honestly not the career for me. This became more evident during my last contract. So many years spent performing the same duties in the same environment was detrimental.
Related to this is how the industry overall treats human beings. The tech industry may be one of the most malevolent and destructive atmospheres for the human psyche. The level of narcissism and incompetence is unlike any I have seen in any other venue.
In July of 2014 Microsoft conducted a major layoff of FTE's (Full Time Employees). The largest in the companies history with an estimated total somewhere around 18,000 employees being given notice. While a significant percentage of these were working in foreign offices, many were from the Redmond campus. Several of these people I considered friends. One of them was my immediate test manager. An individual who had dedicated nearly 20 years ot Microsoft. and one of the "old guard" managers. An individual who understood the necessity of best practices and the need for business justifications behind processes and implementation in development. (I suspect this may be one of the reasons they got rid of him.)
The new management left me suspicious and utterly underwhelmed from the first meeting. The mannerisms, the speech, the predictable, patterned phrases... I had heard it all before any, may times. And from people who were much better ta lying to their employees. I wonder now if such behaviors and tactics are taught at some level to management or if these individuals happen to all be sociopaths and so this explains it.
Some things change. Some things remain the same. Since the class action suit back in 2000, I have sen the treatment of contingency staffers at Microsoft degrade at a steady pace. What began as the omission to product release parties and the denial of previous perks opened to all "employees" now has reached a point where managers openly refer to staffers as "dash trash". I have personally witnessed (and received myself on occasion) e-mail comments and diatribes from FTE's as high as Project Managers containing threats and foul language. Such content directed at a full time employee would have resulted in a law suit against the company and the reprimand or firing of the sender for creating a hostile work environment. But contingency staffers have no such recourse. They will receive no support from their staffing company for fear of losing favored vendor status. And the staffers themselves are fearful of losing their jobs.
Many of these comments were things one would never say to an individual who was standing in front of them. Especially another male employee. There is a distinct and recognizable lack of professionalism. It relates directly ans is inseparable from the atmosphere that has been generated by the sociopaths who occupy positions of power within that company. It's reflected accurately by the attitude of the average
Internet Tough Guy who hurls insults and threats from a position of anonymity... because that individual has never been dragged to from behind their computer and giving the righteous trouncing that they deserve. Some of these people BADLY need to be
walled and possibly
water boarded. I'd settle for seeing them get their teeth kicked in.
But I digress. While still being eligible for another 6 months or so I really have little desire to return. And I think it highly unlikely that I will be hired for a contract at this point. Most openings list as "6 to 18 months". They're looking for personnel who can be available for a full product cycle.
While some companies consider such a long tenure at Microsoft (approximately 9 years) others do not. It could be that some companies do not want anyone who they feel would have that type of methodology embedded. It could also be that there's a question of career development and dedication in someone who has contracted for so long. But some individuals enjoy contracting. It gives some variety in an otherwise stagnant and predictable atmosphere. It also allows one to escape undesirable positions without quitting. Work a contract with idiots for a year, take some time off and find a better fit. When asked why you left... "That contract ended (thank goodness)."
