Getting Kicked Around
OK... I had hoped that the problems at work stopped with the layoff of half the IT staff. I was wrong.
Last week, the COO came and talked to me and had a problem that he needed to talk to me about. Basically, my consulting rate (because they didn't want to hire me) was the highest in the organization, and one of the Managing Directors kept bringing up my rate in particular and wanted it lowered. I pointed out the the COO that I'm worth more than the rest, and he agreed 100%. But my rate still had to come down.
One option was hiring me as an employee, but when I mentioned to him that after checking my finances, I couldn't take a 2003 hit of $54,000.00 to become an employee, and maybe we could work out a signing bonus to make things fit. He felt that was being greedy of me. I explained that had I known that the offer would be made this year, I'd have spent last year getting a few things in order so that I could take the $54,000/yr one-time hit.
He seemed to understand, but I still think he believes I'm being greedy.
His latest list of options comes down to this:
- him paying a rate of no more than $90/hr to the consulting company I'm billed out of
- me being hired
- us making an exit strategy
I have to admit, the man has big ones. Really big ones. He doesn't have any way to replace me, nor is it possible given this environment to find someone to replace me on short-notice. Also, he knows that he's not going to hire me... he's never really made anything but vague promises in that regard, and while I've stopped trying to push it, it is something I wished would have happened a while ago.
So my rate is getting cut.
Not my total cost to the business - he doesn't care that I work more than 40 hrs./week - he's more than happy to have me work as many hours as I can. So he's not really interested in the cost I represent to the business as a whole - he's interested in not having that Managing Director hassle him that he has one very good worker that has a rate that's more than the others. Amazing.
I've decided that this place is just too messed up to stay - so in a way I'm glad the employment didn't work out.