Mail Box - Letter to the Editor

Software Magazine, Nov, 1997

What Job Security?

MailBoxI think your "It's About People" column (September issue, pg. 14) misses the main reason for the decline in company loyalty among employees -- namely, the nonexistence of company loyalty to their employees.

I worked in a major IS shop. We were ranked highly by IS publications and won several awards. When I joined the company in 1982, IS was growing along with the company and there was a commitment to employees.

It went beyond stock options and salary to include training, job rotation, and career ladders. When I left the company in 1994, I had lived through several downsizings but was caught in the wholesale transfer of the IS department to a remote area of the country. The purpose of the transfer was to save money. The mechanism for saving money was to replace long-time, highly paid employees, like myself, with low paid, recent college graduates.

Why in the world would I, should I, could I have any loyalty to this company? I have since turned down more money to take a job where, I think, I can work until retirement -- about 15-20 years in my case. Without that job security, my loyalty would be measured in two week increments. If you don't look at it that way you're a fool, because that's the way your employer looks at you.

Money Isn't Everything

The September "It's About People" column was very interesting. I switched jobs in June after working for a company for 8 1/2 years. I started as a programmer and rose to manager in an IS shop of about 130. I accepted a position with this new company as an IS

trainer and am working on a project to identify key "soft skills" to move this company's IS staff into the future. This IS department has about 700 people.

I found truth in your reference to managers thinking they can buy IS people. My previous company's IS General Manager and CIO had that philosophy and there was evidence to prove it wasn't working. What a difference to come to a company that does not see money as the only solution to retaining IS staff.

Dilbert Disciples

I hope that somewhere in his "It's About People" series, Josh Greenbaum will talk about the benefits of loyalty. In a small IS department of nine, I have watched six of my co-workers leave during the last year for 15% increases in pay. Our HR policies prevent the company from counter-offering with anything higher than 10%. I have turned down three offers because I have invested a significant part of myself in a major project that I'm not willing to drop, and because I don't want to put my boss in yet another bind.

My vision for the future is becoming clouded. I see myself a year from now, working with my supervisor to train yet another new employee on how to maintain the system I developed from scratch. I try to fix Year 2000 problems on older legacy systems and wish there was a new development challenge instead. As I accept a meager 2.5% annual increase, I wonder if it wouldn't be better for my family of six if I boost my salary seven years into the future with another firm.

I'm not sure if head hunters are vultures or saviors. It's a vicious cycle. One of our employees has been enticed by a head hunter to leave for more money. That puts us in a bind, so we call on a head hunter to yank an employee out from under someone else.

My wife is constantly telling me about college graduates with no experience grabbing starting salaries equal to or better than mine. My degree and 12 years of experience should be worth something. Is it really going to pay off for me to stay put? Should I ask for a 10% raise or play the Dilbert game to get one?

Euro Trashes Y2K

I enjoyed your column on "The Euro Virus" (October issue, pg. 16). It's amazing how we become so focused on one problem -- in this case, Y2K -- and miss other issues looming large on the horizon.