So this morning we had our monthly department meeting where the VP talks about all the great business our company has done for the quarter. It makes me sick. $400,000 for one brand of handbag, $1.3 million for one brand of jeans, $60,000 for one brand of sunglasses, $4 million in men’s suits, all in less than a few months. This is discouraging when I think of my meager salary, and the fact that my raise -- not my bonus, but my raise for the year -- was one thousand bucks. Not exactly motivating. Makes me think of that line in Office Space: "It's a problem of motivation, all right? Now if I work my ass off and Initech ships a few extra units, I don't see another dime, so where's the motivation?"

Also, we helped raise money for a charity recently. Doesn't sound terrible, does it? The company raised $3 million, which is a nice sum... until you realize that that sum equals the money they pulled in selling two different brands of jeans! Two brands, out of who knows how many! The total sales for those two brands of denim pants equaled the amount the company raised – actually, the amount THE EMPLOYEES RAISED ON THEIR OWN BY DONATING MONEY AND GOODS AND HAVING BAKE SALES. Two brands in one department in a giant company that sells clothing, shoes and accessories for men, women and children, home items, wedding registry items, bedding, furniture, rugs, and mattresses. And they only gave $3 million, which their employees raised. Very generous.

Okay, so much for my monetary nausea. How about my disdain for our upper management? In a previous blog entry, I mentioned that the copy department has been decimated. We now have 2 people in the entire company to write copy for our advertisements, catalogs, direct mail pieces, and whatever else we produce. There used to be a department of 9. Now we’re down to 2. And the VP congratulates the director for stepping up to help because, and I quote him now, “There has been a little turn-over in the copy department. They’re a little short-handed.” We’re working at 20% capacity here, buddy. 80% of the department is gone. That’s “a little short-handed”?!?

And hey, since this is a department meeting, how about an update on what’s going on WITHIN the department? Any word on whether there WILL BE some new copywriters coming in the future? Any word on getting the air quality and bug situation fixed? Any word on getting new equipment that actually works? (We have 15 printers and at least 6 copy machines on this floor, and NONE of them were working last week. None.)

But no, there’s no news about the department in the department meeting. Just news on how great the company is doing selling over-priced designer shit to spoiled consumers.

And HR wonders why people are leaving in droves? Actually, no, I don’t think they are wondering. If they were, they would be doing something about it, or at least hiring some new people.

I hate it here.