Applying for My Own Job

[HawaiianShirts]

I've been doing the same job for nearly three years now, but the responsibilities associated with it have changed as co-workers have left. I now do the work of three people (minus a few minor details), one of whom had a salary 50% higher than mine is now. I had to learn new skills to cover for these two departing co-workers, including becoming a self-taught user of some rather complicated software.

And if I may be so bold, I'm good at what I do. My customers praise me for it regularly.

So last week, HR decided to cut my position. They're dropping me back to the level at which I was originally hired, which amounts to a 40% pay cut. With three weeks' notice.

As you might guess, I was mad when I found out. So was my manager, to some degree. He has conversed with upper management. Since HR is unwilling to make any concessions to help me out (they're not even giving anybody an explanation as to why they made this choice in the first place), my manager got approval to create a new position within our team. It's exactly the same work that I'm doing now; it's just a different title and salary scale.

HR is inexplicably cool with this.

Tomorrow, I get to submit an application for the job I already have. Then I get to interview for the job I already have. Assuming there are no other suitable candidates (which there won't be; nobody knows my product as well as I do except the original vendor, and they're on the opposite end of the country), I then get to try to negotiate a salary similar to what I have now.

This has got to be one of the all-time stupidest things I have ever had to do. And I spent four years in retail and one working for the DMV, so that's saying a lot!

[Tama]

If I were you I'd be looking around for a new job if possible.

[EricKei]

Tama has a point. It could be random Corporate stupidity/cost-saving at the expense of competence (which tends to COST more in the long run), or it could be something more.

Maybe you could negotiate a change in some of those responsibilities (or heck, even a raise!) -- especially when it comes to that +50% salary guy whose work you have been absorbing. Talk to this boss who's apparently got your back, informally. Make it "his idea," it may be more likely that he'd consider this.

What *really* scares me is that, while it's rare, this has been a thing since at least the 1990's -- not so much the position elimination/re-creation, but making people interview for their own jobs. In some cases, it has not gone well for the worker x.x In this case, however, I'm thinking have an excellent chance to beat out that HawaiianShirts guy for the position -- having your boss on your side here is likely gonna be your most powerful weapon. (Gotta watch out for those dark horse candidates, tho -- I hear one with the initials "HS" might be trying out for the job, too!)

[Trixie]

They did something similar where I work. All they did was change the job title, all the responsiblities were the same and yet, the lady still had to go through an interview process. Stupid.

[EricKei]

Keep in mind that this process has been used to successfully demote/terminate people before. It's a rather passive-aggressive way to do so, though, *in theory*, it has a certain degree of logic behind it -- trying to avoid having people who only have their position due to the Peter Principle ("People tend to get promoted until they reach a level just above their level of actual competence"). Problem is, the people it really needs to be used on -- upper management -- never get tested this way. Still a dick move 8p

[taxguykarl]

I agree with Tama, start looking elsewhere. I have yet to hear of this going well for employees.

[cindybubbles]

Sounds too much like Dilbert to be true. I'm so sorry for the stupidity that you have to endure.

[EricKei]

cb: Dilbert addressed this issue in the past, actually -- after all, a huge amount of the stories in that strip come from anecdotes sent in by readers (as well as Adams' time in Corporate hell).

I was this close to referring to the Dilbert Principle ("Management is nature's way of removing morons from the productive flow"), above, but it doesn't really apply

[Android Kaeli]

Something similar happened at Random Craft Store a couple of years ago when the big wigs decided to do some restructuring within the stores. However instead of one position being redesigned, it was the WHOLE a store that had to apply for their jobs. I think the only to positions that were safe was the SM and ASM positions.

Yea, that wasn't fun because not only were every hourly person applying for their jobs, the head honchos were also looking at OUTSIDE applications as well. I was one of the few lucky ones that had enough time put in that I got to keep my job without any hassle, a few people weren't so lucky.

[Teysa]

Many years ago my stepdad worked in the theater department of a major university. He had worked in this position for a good five years or so and was much loved by both students and fellow staff. Fast forward to a new administration and everyone had to reapply for their jobs. Stepdad was told he wasn't qualified to do the job and was promptly shown the door. To pour salt in the wound, they blacklisted him, making it impossible to get work in that field where he lived.

[HawaiianShirts]

Tama has a point. It could be random Corporate stupidity/cost-saving at the expense of competence (which tends to COST more in the long run), or it could be something more.

...having your boss on your side here is likely gonna be your most powerful weapon.

Fortunately, I don't just have my boss on my side. I have his boss and the division director on my side. My boss was actively advocating for me with HR when he first found out about their decision. Other Boss and Director didn't go that far, but they did give my boss some tips and rushed the posting of my position through the usual channels so it didn't take months to get posted--months during which I'd be stuck at a 40% discounted salary.

It's all an HR mess. Something about me being in a position that I wasn't supposed to be in due to rules nobody noticed for nearly three years. There's also something in this about me being overpaid due to another HR mistake, and they're trying to cover that up by pulling the job out from under me instead of forcing me to pay back the supposed overpayment.

In any case, I'm pretty sure this particular situation is not somebody actively trying to get rid of me. There is literally no one else who can do this job without going through training that would take longer than the project will last.

Application submitted yesterday. Position (which was only posted internally) closes over the weekend. I've demanded an explanation and justification from HR, but they haven't responded yet.


Teysa & Android Kaeli: Wow! My condolences for both situations. That sucks! Praying I don't have a similar end to my story when this is all said and done.

[mhkohne]

It's all an HR mess. Something about me being in a position that I wasn't supposed to be in due to rules nobody noticed for nearly three years. There's also something in this about me being overpaid due to another HR mistake, and they're trying to cover that up by pulling the job out from under me instead of forcing me to pay back the supposed overpayment.

Sounds like someone (as in a higher-up) needs to go over to HR and ask them what they hell they think they are doing. I'm suspecting that they've got an idiot in a high position in HR, and that's not good for the company long term.

[minchazo]

I vote for asking for a raise. Since you already know you've replaced someone who had 50% more salary than yourself (in addition to 2 other jobs), ask for their salary at a minimum!

Though also let it be known that you're willing to negotiate.

The only defense I can think of for HR is that (at least here) they pay people based on job classification. If they screwed up and increased your pay without changing your job classification, it causes everyone within that job classification to get higher pay. If that's not it... I've got nuthin'

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

I highly suspect corporate did this to see if you would just either a) accept the pay cut and demoted position or b) quit the company.

I doubt they expected your managers to go to bat for you as hard as they did.

[Sapphire Silk]

Keep in mind that this process has been used to successfully demote/terminate people before. It's a rather passive-aggressive way to do so, though, *in theory*, it has a certain degree of logic behind it -- trying to avoid having people who only have their position due to the Peter Principle ("People tend to get promoted until they reach a level just above their level of actual competence"). Problem is, the people it really needs to be used on -- upper management -- never get tested this way. Still a dick move 8p

Yup. I've seen this in action. They did it at my local hospital a few years ago when the changed the name of Staff Education to something high sounding but the same thing.

All the staff ed people had to re-interview for their positions. If they were not rehired, they could go back to their old departments (nursing, respiratory therapy, etc) but they had to take what ever position (floor, shift) was available.

Most were not rehired, except one lady. The hospital then hired a bunch of people who had NO back ground in health care, but were much cheaper. Most of the old staff ed folks quit or retired, which was the whole point.

Staff ed turned into a total joke. We're reaping the consequences now; there is no staff training other than for the new grads.