I realy dont know what to do at this point. I realize only I can make the decision and ultimatly this is mostly just venting but some input would be ok.I am a CNC Machinist. For the last 6 or 7 years I have been a lead/setupman. I have been at my juob my entire adault life(15 years). I have never enjoyed it, not ever but I am the type that wont walk away from an income. I made it threw the recesion because of my skills and avoided layoffs 2 years ago. In the last year or so we have been hiring on new workers as buisnes picks back up. I am a lead and have to train new employees that are gona be in my area. The company is privatly/family owned and the father is handing it off to his oldest boy. The boy has a diferent way of running things. He promptly demoted all of the uper managment that had helped his father build the company over the last 40 years and put all his own people in there places. Now ever sence then(the last 3 or 4 years) things have continuasly gotten worse and worse to the point that even in this week economy we are having problems keeping new employees. people come in for a month or two and realize how mad and upset every single employee is and how much the new managment is expecting out of everyone. All tasks are given a certain time they figure it should take to acomplish and you clock in and out of the "jobs" on a computer as you do them. The plroblem is that a LOT of the standards are WAY off. We are suposed to turn in paperwork when we come accross this problem and they will corect the allowed time on the paperwork for the next time we run that job. The problem is that most of the time they dont change it so next time you come up short again. At the end of every day if you had a perfect day you should be 100% eficiant. We work 10 hour days and theoreticaly you should earn 10 hours of production. They have realy been pushing the "earned hours" lately to the point that they feel it nesasary to come around rite after dinner and tell you how you did that morning and then again at the end of the day. They want you to go home feeling bad if you did not get 100% or better for the day. There are somany problems with that that I cant even begine to explain it but with there system of operation it is all but imposible to hit 100% on any given day. One of the big problems is that they want people to run multiple machines. You cant keep multiple machines running above 100% when you have small jobs of 1 or 2 or 10 pcs. then you are into a diferent job. Now today they decided they want everyone to be 150% efficant every day. We have to fill out paperwork on EVERY Single part we make and that is not taken into acount when doing time standards so you have to get creative to find ways to get it done in your cycle time, now if your running multiple machines it gets much more complicated. Starting last week they also decided that every operator has to do asigned cleaning jobs that have to fit in the day somowhere. We simple dont have time to do all that is being asigned to us and literaly every day they add a new task or two. My job as lead is to go around and fix peoples problems and keep there machines running smothly and do setups for people that cant. When I am not doing that I run a machine like everyone else or fill in if someone is gone. I am always on the go and getting pulled in multiple directions at once to help or run prototypes or ultra hot jobs. They have recently decided to put together a few must do steps that go along with setting up any job on any machine eregardless of your skills or how much of a waste of time it is. I admit that I have forgotten to do those a few times because I have been doing the job so long I (A) dont need the checkoff sheets and (B) they do nothing but wast time for anyone thats been there more than a couple months. I was sent home on a 2 day suspention today for arguing with a lady that has no clue what she is doing and honestly has no buisnes being in the shop but she is one of the new managers pets and is in charge of making sure everyone does the checklists. I am natraly mad but also I understand that on black and white I skipped a step on there checklist a few times. I guess you could call it the straw that broke the camels back. I have a goal to make it 3 more years so that I can quit almost debt free but at this point I dont know if I can make it that long. If I sold my truck I could pay off the rest of my major debt and quit now. There are other jobs opening up around here especaly with my skillset but I am gunshy of changing jobs rite now. I am maxed out on benfits and dont wana give them up but am so stressed out that I dont think I can take much more. I am doing part of my suporvisors job and have been doing it for the last 4 suporvisors before him because they cant do it all either but if i continue to handle there workload as well I am gona fail soon. I schedule 8 machines for them because they are such a high volume area that one person cant sheduale them and the rest of the department. I am seriously thinking of going to my bosses boss(the one who suspended me) and telling him I want rid of that portion of the job so I can consentrate on my own job but i dont see that going well. I realy dont wana sell the truck cause its to close to being paid for then I plan to dive it till if decinagrates, but it would be an instant out of my current job and allow me to take a pay cut to regain some of my sanity. The moral in the shop has never been worse. Everyday all the new people that work with me say they are headed rite back out the dore ASAP. Most have apps in elswhere and I would already to if I could aford the pay cut rite now. They like to blame us leads and suporvisors for peoples bad atitudeds but wont even think for a second that all there new rules and unrealalistic expectations are whats causing it. I was told I am suposed to make them be in a better mood by beeing in a better one myself. I dont know what to do..

 

What about selling off a couple of the toys to get the truck paid off sooner? Being debt free and knowing you don't have to be there can go a long way toward your sanity, and make it easier to cope with them longer. Just keep your eyes open for other positions in the mean time.

 

I have always told myself, when I become miserable at my job, its time to move on. I refuse to work at a job I hate, dreading to get out of bed in the morning.

Ive only had to do it once.


Everything else falls into place.

 

Check into other jobs, see if they will match you benefits or come close. I was in a similar situation, been building houses for 20 years and was very good at it, younger managers said i was not doing it "their" way... Long story short i was laid off and went from a 6 figure salary to less than half what I made and with some cuts here and there, nothing major, still have my toys, I am happier and doing just fine. I thought I could not live on less but happiness makes up for alot. Just my $.02

 

From the sound of your post, you are in a bad situation that is not going to change. If that's true, then your best recourse is to make a change yourself because all the money in the world can't buy happiness. Good luck!

 

Typical nepotism.

I cannot count all the succesful businesses I have known who have handed the reins to some idiot son that has run it into the ground in a short time.

Why they do this is beyond me, it destroys the relationship of the employees to the man who makes it a great place to work, then the son comes along and angers and treats everyone like garbage, reduces pay to increase his own income and expects everyone to "play ball".

I'm sorry, but its all too common anymore.

I'd start looking for a new job.

 

Ya ime definatly goan start looking and see what is out there but I think for the time beeing I am gona try and stick it out and "use" them to acomplish my goal of paying stuff off and then get seriouse abought parting ways with them. I am partaly afraid that if I start putting in apps and some palce gives me a chance I will take it and be out all that I have worked to this point to accomplish. I want my leaving to be under my timing and control not theres because they made me mad. The insurance is the best of anywhere in the area and I want to keep it for a while yet.

 

As others have said, getting the "stuff" paid off or getting rid of it is the way to go. Having that goal in mind can really keep you going esp if you can see a even a little result with each paycheck.

 

Part of my resistance to leaving rite now is that I do not like being in a manufacturing job. I dont like being inside all day every day with some idiout looking over my sholder and now, at times being in a position that I have to be that ideot looking over the sholder of others that dont apreciate it. The pay is decent and the inserance is great and the vacation is good. I realy want out of this feild all together and to get into somthing diferent but I dont know what. I dont realy wana leave this job and go to anouther manufacturing job that has its own set of problems simaler to what I am now mad abought. I want a complete change into somthing I can actualy enjoy but I just dont know exactly what that is. I want a little freedom to have a set of tasks and be left alone to acomplish them without having to wory abought somoeone sitting around looking for a reason to write me up. I just need to figure out what that job is gona be so that when I leave this place its for something I can look forward to doing every day, or at least not dread every morning.

 

I will give in my 02 here.

Dont put your health in a situation where you end up with medical problems. ALL that stress is more than likely doing a number on your health. How you feel, and how you are around yoru family. It plain isnt worth it IMO.

I am not saying to just quit tomorrow, but start looking for another job locally and even with the cuts you will have to take, your attitude will change and you will feel better about yourself and most likely, others around you too will feel better being around you.

What about taking a few days vacation to let them feel the heat and understand more about how much you do at your job? Plus, I bet you could use a small break.

Hope all works out for you

 

worse one I saw was a successful company was handed off to a son who promptly hired someone to do his job for him who promptly done the same thing, cleaned house and run the company in the ground.

Last year, we went from being a machine shop to a turnkey assembly shop. every one of our machinists were slowly, over the year, laid off and every one of them now work for one of our suppliers cutting the same parts they did before. In the case of our CNC programmer, he took a $10/hr pay raise by going to our primary local supplier.
Im a tolerant person as long the people I work with are tolerable.
sounds like its time to put some feelers out. talk to other machine shops around.

its a tough call and change is always scary, but you already see the layout on the wall, just gotta wait for the writing to start. I would atleast get some feelers out and see who looks interested.

 

Talk as many other unsatisfied employees into walking out. Let the new bosses figure out how to set up and operate the machines. Chances are they will grovel and beg to have you back.


I wish you the best of luck whatever you decide to do.

 

Ive been saying for a couple years that the writing is on the wall that we are headed the same direction. We are constantly outsourcing our parts and doing more and more just weld/assembly. Good thing is that I can and do, do most of my own programing. I know several languages(code language not spoken language). The only one ime not real good with is conversational. I know I wouldent have a problem finding a job in a neighboring town as they have several machine shops but as I stated if at all posible when I leave this job I wana get out of the manufacturing all together. If it becomes nesasary I will go to anouther shop for a while but I prefer the out all together option. I keep telling myself 3 more years and I can walk, I just gota figure out how to last that long.

 

Theres already talk of that happening but I seriously dought it will. The leader would defiantly looss there job.

 

NO!

Right now it is bad, but this country HAS to start Manufacturing again, and when they finally get their heads out of their *****, you will be gold.

It is almost impossible to find a decent Machinist around here right now.........

Remember, any idiot can become an Accountant, and most have, it takes talent to create a physical form from a lump.

Besides, what do we do with Accountants when there is no more money to count?