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Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

david.newgas.net

241–250 of 457 posts

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#241
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want through the same processen three times already. I work in civil service but in a very specific job that needs certain degrees by law. I've heard they were going to outsource my job (because civil servant are expensive) and registered a company that delivers the requested services. I entered a public procurement and upped my price a little because I knew there aren't many people with the right certifications. I…

I love this, reminds me of a automation engineer, i got to see on quite a few projects, who always came in wearing the company t-shirt or jacket of the sending company. Its so funny, when its always the same guy coming in for different companies.

[deleted]

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#243
post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want through the same processen three times already. I work in civil service but in a very specific job that needs certain degrees by law. I've heard they were going to outsource my job (because civil servant are expensive) and registered a company that delivers the requested services. I entered a public procurement and upped my price a little because I knew there aren't many people with the right certifications. I…

That's actual genius. You should write this up in detail!

It's hardly complicated!

OP is simply describing what is common throughout government in the UK. This is known as the Revolving Door.

Private Eye magazine wrote a special report on it some years back as, frankly, it is scandalous https://www.private-eye.co.uk/pictures/special_reports/revol... [PDF]

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#244
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Past that I don't see a way for C suite to wake up. Didn't you mean to temporarily realign? I mean give it 2 years and another manager to show up, ready to get their bonus for the next attempt at it. That's our reality and how we've structured our markets

I honestly don’t get why anyone would give up their mental health like that and work for such places. In my reality there are plenty of honest and decent places to work at. I’m seen dark places yes but only as visitor - why would I want to be in hell for more than a day or two.

[deleted]

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#245
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Past that I don't see a way for C suite to wake up. Didn't you mean to temporarily realign? I mean give it 2 years and another manager to show up, ready to get their bonus for the next attempt at it. That's our reality and how we've structured our markets

I honestly don’t get why anyone would give up their mental health like that and work for such places. In my reality there are plenty of honest and decent places to work at. I’m seen dark places yes but only as visitor - why would I want to be in hell for more than a day or two.

Because companies tend to enshittify over time. Especially if they get acquired. Doubly so if the buying company is PE.

Really small “lifestyle” companies might be fairly immune, but it doesn’t take much for them to fail, there’s a different risk profile.

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#246
post #6

One of the many reasons to never actually care about the work you are doing if it is a for-profit endeavor, and you are not the owner. You are there to collect a paycheck so you can survive. If you want a job that you should care about then work in public service, at a non-profit, or for yourself.

However: work is more fun if you care about it.

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#247

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Managers love the idea that contractors can be fired more easily than employees. Except that this flexibility comes at a cost; people insist on being paid more to have an insecure job. The uncertainty never goes away. You can pay someone else to suffer it, but it will always cost more than dealing with it yourself. And that can be ok. Just don't fool yourself into thinking you're getting a bargain.

I've seen this happen because of accounting/corporate finance policy. Payroll is an ongoing commitment. Consultancy is a temporary service. Moving people from payroll to consultancy means they can reduce overhead in financial projections. Even though consultancy costs more, and employs the same people, it makes sense to do if it means you can convince shareholders and analysts that Opex will shrink in the future, and…

At a glance, maybe. But we also see this in government. The US has outsourced 10s of thousands of “permanent” jobs over the decades. The entire DC metro economy is based on this.

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#248

I worked for Advanced Network and Services, which operated the NSFNET and was later acquired by America Online. Then one day the company was acquired by WorldCom. A few years later the CEO was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a ~$10 billion fraud. As a systems administrator I knew nothing about any of that, but I could tell that the new management included a lot of players and empire builders. That's the signal th…

> Employees were invited to invest their retirement savings in a mutual fund that contained only WorldCom stock.

Investing in your own employer is an idiotic risk..... If the company goes titsup, then you lose your job and your savings. This happened to many people during the dotcom crash.

Re: Did my old job only exist because of fraud?

#250
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Past that I don't see a way for C suite to wake up. Didn't you mean to temporarily realign? I mean give it 2 years and another manager to show up, ready to get their bonus for the next attempt at it. That's our reality and how we've structured our markets

I honestly don’t get why anyone would give up their mental health like that and work for such places. In my reality there are plenty of honest and decent places to work at. I’m seen dark places yes but only as visitor - why would I want to be in hell for more than a day or two.

Many times places change because a manager changed and then you have the boiling frog thing where it doesn't become awful all at once.
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