At what point would you quit?

[Sgt Beavis]

I haven't made any decisions but after 7 years, I'm thinking it might be time to move on from HP. Meg Whitman has apparently decided that telecommuting is no longer popular and is pushing people to start going into the office. I did the math and figured it will cost me about $3000 a year, in gas and tolls, to go to the office every day and $1200 if I go in just two days a week. That doesn't include wear and tear on my truck.

The thing that really bothers me is that it will cut into my productivity. The lost time in driving and I'm sure as heck not going to work any extra hours after losing that money. I've been extremely productive over the last 7 years and I'm consistently in the top three most billable consultants in our group. I am also consistently at the top in pull through revenue.

So I'm kinda pissed. I regularly work 60 to 80 hours a week but I get to spend a crap load of time with my family because they are right here the whole time. I'm certainly not going to put in those hours if I have to work at the office and lose up to two hours a day in traffic.

I guess I'm just venting. I generally like what the CEO has been doing with the company but this is just dumb. It's like she is trying to follow Yahoo CEO Melissa Meyer's example. It seems to me that Meyer has done nothing but piss off her employees and lose even more money. Meanwhile, HP is actually making money and started to get some traction. Why screw it up..

So, would you leave under those circumstances? It's not like HP or any other corporation is loyal to their employees anyways. Also, I actually turn down jobs all the time so I'm pretty certain I can jump ship at any time. Maybe it's time to give my friends at VMware a call...

[YALE]

Push for a raise that covers more than what you're losing, and roll with it. If bullshit abounds after that, cut bait!

[mustang_revival]

2 days a week isn't bad. At least you don't have to travel.

[bird_dog0347]

The company I work for (large bank) outsourced most of the network IT to Verizon. I worked for them for a long time and their predecessor before that... I now work for (direct employee) of said bank and during their in-sourcing efforts some of the hiring managers are (1.) out of state and (2.) from another portfolio my employer purchased. They have no idea about our culture or environment, but mainly they have no concept of an enterprise. The portfolios my company purchased were about 1500-2000 employees, my company is/was over 40k employees at the time of purchase.

These guys got managerial jobs at my company after they were brought in (not unreasonable, we purchased them for a good reason) but they still seem to think (and cannot understand why we CAN'T) that every network engineer should be able to perform all the Cisco/Checkpoint/F5 work by them self for each project they are assigned to.

That's just one point of contention. Further, they FULLY expect the contractors they hire (90% of which have been here longer than them) to start showing up in the office every day despite the fact that they DO NOT have seats for everyone. That's simply not how it works in our enterprise.

I totally understand where you're coming from, but just remember in IT it's all just cyclical and this will swing a full 180 when the next person takes over. Just ask yourself if you like your job, your boss, and your work. If yes... then just don't go in. Prove that you don't have to.

If that's not working, find another job. Hell... you'll get a raise. That's the only way to get a raise in IT anyways.

[Binky]

Do you get OT at HP like we did at Microsoft? At MS we made bank with just a couple extra hours a day and it was worth it. I put in about 50-60 now, but i'm not making any OT so at lest 10hrs a week is "free" time i'm giving away. 2 hrs a day extra I could be using to do stuff for me (ride my bike, work out, etc).

If i was putting in 60-80 hrs with no financial diff between just 40 no offense man but they are abusing the shit out of you because your work ethic is making it easy for them. You're a talented smart guy and hate to see you get rolled over and taken advantage of like that.

[dcs13]

My brother has been there since it was EDS and he worked on Forest Lane. He's just to the point that he just deals with the crap until he can retire. He said they have hired more people in his group in the last 90 days, so it's a little better.
Personally I have no idea how you guys deal with that shit over there. He's miserable and always worried about layoffs.

[Sgt Beavis]

Push for a raise that covers more than what you're losing, and roll with it. If bullshit abounds after that, cut bait!

Planning to demand a raise.

2 days a week isn't bad. At least you don't have to travel.

I do have to travel. But you're right I won't mind 2 days a week IF they give me something to cover my extra expenses. It would be kinda nice to hang out with some of the guys on my team..

Do you get OT at HP like we did at Microsoft? At MS we made bank with just a couple extra hours a day and it was worth it. I put in about 50-60 now, but i'm not making any OT so at lest 10hrs a week is "free" time i'm giving away. 2 hrs a day extra I could be using to do stuff for me (ride my bike, work out, etc).

If i was putting in 60-80 hrs with no financial diff between just 40 no offense man but they are abusing the shit out of you because your work ethic is making it easy for them. You're a talented smart guy and hate to see you get rolled over and taken advantage of like that.

No overtime but I do make pretty good coin. I'm almost in the DFWM Baller club. I applied last year but was rejected. I'm think I'll reapply after I get another Mustang..

My brother has been there since it was EDS and he worked on Forest Lane. He's just to the point that he just deals with the crap until he can retire. He said they have hired more people in his group in the last 90 days, so it's a little better.
Personally I have no idea how you guys deal with that shit over there. He's miserable and always worried about layoffs.

There is a lot of horse manure flying around but I deal with it. I've done a pretty good job building up the partnership between HP and VMware. I'm doing some product development now and generally kicking tail in consulting. I love to win and hate to lose. Also, my boss and his boss are kick ass guys. They NEVER screw with me and have become good buddies over the years. Frankly, they are the primary reason I haven't left yet. My boss and I are like brothers and our mutual boss is a very good friend.

One other reason I can think for not leaving is that I've got a lot of skins on the wall at HP. I'm fairly well known at the VP level now. I am up for a promotion right now as well.

[talisman]

Demanding a raise and threatening to quit is a surefire way to find out exactly how valuable they think you are. That is a pretty major change. I would not be happy about it and would start looking at available options.

[Ruffdaddy]

can you find another place that will allow you to telecommute, or that is very close to your house which pays the same or more?

[Sgt Beavis]

Demanding a raise and threatening to quit is a surefire way to find out exactly how valuable they think you are. That is a pretty major change. I would not be happy about it and would start looking at available options.

I did that in 2010 and got an extra 25K per year and 20K in retention bonuses.

can you find another place that will allow you to telecommute, or that is very close to your house which pays the same or more?

That is why I mentioned VMware. There are a lot of consulting gigs that do telecommuting. The big wild card is the amount of travel. My job currently has the potential for up to 90% travel. I've never come close to that but the potential is there. I'm usually at less than 20% travel in a year. Mainly I go to a customer site and spend a week building the relationship. Then they trust me to do it all from home. The ones that want me on site usually end up paying a lot more than they would have liked. Oh well, their money..

[Chuck_Finley]

If your boss whom you say is like a brother, and his boss is like a good friend, keep in mind that in any company such as HP, this stuff is always negotiable. Oh, I'm sure at first if you ask to keep doing what you're doing you get the canned answer of "well the new policy is....". Exceptions can be made, it's as simple as that. It just depends on how valuable you are.

[slow99]

Sorry to hear, thought it might catch up to you. Sounds like you had your mind made up though:

Are your working from home days ending anytime soon?

Meg approves this message.

Nope. Our job has too much travel to justify an office. Besides, they don't have nearly enough office space for all of us to go back to work. Haven't they leased out half the old EDS God Pod?

I'd definitely be gone if they killed off telecommuting. I got up at 6:30 this morning and worked for nearly 12 hours. I was so busy that I forgot that I was still in my PJ's. It's been crazy over the last couple of months. I've got this project that has been my personal baby for the last year and is about to bear fruit with a pilot project worth $5million that has the potential to build to $50million...

and I won't get a damn dime of it..

[Kyle]

Everyone can be replaced regardless of what you think. You have two options: 1. put up with the policy change and keep your job or 2. find another one.

In the short 5 years that I have owned my own business, I've come to understand that everyone has their own set of problems. Their problems become my headaches. Some headaches are worse than others, but migraines have to go. So far I have never had to call and beg for someone to come back. Usually the person replacing the fired employee (or the one who quit) works cheaper and better than the person they replaced... for a while anyways.

If I was your boss and you started in one me about the change in policy, I would just show you the door. Be careful if you decide to nut up and start making demands or thinking you are above what they are requiring! You may end up coming back on here saying you are unemployed.

[talisman]

I did that in 2010 and got an extra 25K per year and 20K in retention bonuses.

I thought I remembered that thread. Then definitely go for it again.

[Broncojohnny]

Everyone can be replaced regardless of what you think. You have two options: 1. put up with the policy change and keep your job or 2. find another one.

Everyone can be replaced but the ultimate question is how hard would it be? You can't just pick up the phone book and start dialing for a lot of high powered technical jobs. It is one of the biggest problems in this country right now, not enough skilled workers.