End of Holidays

Source of the picture: Bionic

Today is the last day of my mandatory holidays, making tomorrow the first day of work of the year. Normally one does not look forward for the workdays, but I'm particularly bitter about tomorrow. I am angry. Tomorrow I'll probably have a chat with my boss because I'm not satisfied with the fact that I am being paid less than what most of my coworkers are being paid for the exact same job, specially after we went through a whole process aimed - allegedly - to order all job profiles, regardless of time at the company or degree (and I have more years than some of those who have the higher paychecks, and comparable degrees, not to mention the exact same career), and yet I'm being paid significantly less than them.

Well, the issue is not only for me, but also for another coworker... an Afro-descendent man, with equal degrees and more years than any of those paid more than us. And the exact same job description. I still remember the first time I mentioned the discrepancy, and I was asked in return "well, what were you expecting?". I just stared, trying to comprehend that someone was actually asking me that.

From a team of eight, I believe, this coworker and I were the ones paid less. Allegedly there was a "delay" or a "lapse" of sorts due to the previous ways of promoting people (people were promoted basically if they went to the boss and pleaded their cases, asking for a raise. It was dependant on how well you came along with your boss, and your lack of decency in asking for something regardless if your job merited it or not). The new ordering of job profiles was meant to put people in the cathegory they had to be in according to the tasks they actually did. It was through this process that my coworker and I realized that we all did the exact same job... sort of. Him and I did the job noted in the profile, the others may or may not, as I knew there were things I did that they didn't (but either way, you "only" need to surely complete at least 80% of all tasks), and we were assured that we would get a raise, we would all get the same wage. And we didn't.

I mean, sure, him and I got a "raise" of +$34 per month, but the difference between our wages and that of our better paid colleagues is $1000 per month. Him and I are $966 per month cheaper for the company than our other coworkers, and we do the exact same job. The excuse for this? So far I've heard "that's up to HR" and "well, your wages were already so low...".

After many years of this, honestly, I just got to the end of my patience. I am worthy, my capabilities and my skills are valuable. Not for my current company for sure, but they are valuable. And so I hatched a plan: I'll look for a better job.

The Plan

Now, my plan is simple but it will take time. There is a number of things I need to complete before I start doing my move:

1. I need to finish my MSc, so I can add that to my updated resume. Though my current "Lic" title is equal to an MSc, I prefer the MSc because it will have the emphasis in Innovation, and that could open better doors for me. ^-^
2. I'll work on my Excel skills. I'm checking up and taking notes on free, online tutorials aimed to improve and enrich my Excel skills, so I'll be better at using it. I've no experience with pivot tables or macros, and I want to add that to my skill "stock". If asked in an interview, I want to confidently be able to answer "you've got to be kidding me, of course I do know how to do that".
3. I want to learn Python, as well as get back on R and learn to use it fully.
4. I want to start reading a bit more financial papers and get better acquainted with the banking world, as that's one place where I want to go looking for a new position.
5. I want to cancel my loan with the workers' fund of the company, so I can retrieve the totality of my savings there, without anything being deducted from it.
6. I'll have to carefully plan and retrieve my savings, so the liquidation of my funds there won't be held up can caught up in the incompetence of HR when my resignation letter and job liquidation proceedings start.

I know, sounds like a lot and it is a lot. The cancelling of the loan can't be done just yet, as I have a previous project in plan, aimed to cancel my credit card debt. However, if all goes as planned, next year I'll be able to start working on cancelling my loan, and that might take me a tad over a year. That means that I'll probably have about a little over two years still in this company. Too much? Well, no. Aside from the insult of the wage, the job isn't all that horrendous, and we are (still) working from home. However, I will have 2+ years to work on the first four items of my list, and that's not only plenty of time to achieve those goals, but also to become really good and maybe even pick up extra skills.

It was quite sad to me to realize after over 20 years at the company, that this relationship is a toxic one. I relied on my work being noticed for its quality, and thus being recognized the way jobs recognize good work: with a raise. However, aside from one occasion - and even then the raise was less than deserved - all I have gotten fof my effort has been sporadic praise. But "praise" don't pay bills. "Praise" don't pay for school or travels. I'm done with praise. I can praise myself and know that the praise I give to myself is honest. From my job I want money because I no longer trust their words, and above all, I don't trust their praise.