Not sure if I should stick this thread in another forum or not, but for safe keeping.. here it is.

I'm sure a lot of you who read WHT are employed by hosting companies (or have been employed).

Ever feel like you were f'd over?

I've had some personal experiences with this and was wondering if this was a trend in the hosting industy.

Ever not gotten that raise that was promised?

Work for a company who tries to bleed every last minute of work from you and are paid some **** salary?

Etc...

Lets see....
promotion that never happened...
training that was promised, but even though they could send everyone else, was never me....
promised flex that was inflexable...

and don't even get me started with the whoremongerers of the IT world, the agencies. Oh man, that would max out the server. :)

I've certainly felt like it at times. My problem was more of getting in contact with the very people that employed me. :| Anyway, that's over with since about last week. :) There comes a time when too much is just too much (or in my case too little).

I don't think such things are any more prevalent in the webhosting industry than they are in any other, and in particular in the tech sector. It's the state of employment today: neither companies nor employees are feeling any deep loyalty to each other, few people have an expectation to stay with any one employer over the course of their careers. On both sides of the employer/employee relationship the attitude commonly is "get whatever you can get out of them (because it is "us" and "them"), as soon as possible."


your cynical friend,
-JayC

Well, i never worked for anyone else doing any kind of hosting -- BUT, i was screwed over when i worked as a dishwasher, they promised me food, (never got any) and all the waiters got ice cream while i busted my butt washing dishes, and NO ICE CREAM FOR ME

ScrEw ThAt u knOw

Back in '98, I was right out of high school, and I was looking for side work, so I pushed my services on a Design group in Jacksonville, FL (where I moved to after I graduated - from Michigan).

I was doing everything, working on networking projects, putting together servers, design work, e-commerce sites/shopping cart programming, etc....everything...

Anyways,
My first design project was a 70 page e-commerce/shopping cart site (cart programmed by me), and the company that I worked as a employee for, only paid me $50 for it. And they charged the client $600 for it...

Needless to say, I wasn't happy with being employed by them and it didn't last very long....

In '99, I did some freelance work for a design group back home in Michigan. My first meeting with him, "If I have you do, this...this and this... how much would you want..."

I commented about my job in Jacksonville, and he said, "Oh no! I'm going to pay you far more than that, my dear.. I would pay you an easy $400 for a job like that. You'll be able to pay your rent and all your bills working for me...."

Needless to say, I was very happy with working for them... :)

Kinda funny how some companies think that just because you're straight out of high school, you should get paid crap because your young and you don't have a degree in anything (I was working on my Comp Sci degree at the time)... And other's want to help you out as much as they can...

That's my "used by an employer" story...

Tonya

My first design project was a 70 page e-commerce/shopping cart site (cart programmed by me), and the company that I worked as a employee for, only paid me $50 for it. And they charged the client $600 for it...
:eek:
Did you quit that day?

Eassshhh... as an employer I probably shouldn't even post....but I have a big mouth (read: keyboard) so I'll babble anyway :D

I do think it's "tough out there" for sure but as was noted, I highly doubt it's a "Web Hosting" only type of problem. Sticking to the topic of "Web Hosting" however I'm sure a great deal has to do with the industry overall.

Pay -- What were they charging for their services? I see things like $3/month hosting and imagine it takes around 13 thousand accounts to pay a single employee's wages for a year. With 13 thousand accounts you'll obviously need more than one employee blah blah blah... My point being this industry is so cut-throat with prices right now it is TOUGH to pay a staff. A royal catch-22... The host need's a qualified staff to please the clients, and to obtain that you need money but the host also needs cheap prices to please the clients.

The above problem could easily lead into many of the other problems which revolve around STRESS.... for both the employee and the employer.

Add that to the infancy of this industry and you've got yourself a group of people ready to go postal at any given time. So many Internet Companies are run by kids fresh out of high school... or even still in high school for that matter...and though many of these young adults are AWESOME at what they do... they do not usually have the experience required to manage others in the same area successfully (heck half the old people lack the skills in this area too *sigh*).

On the flip side we have huge companies run by the "typical business wo/man" who haven't a clue about the "real work/people" just the bottom line. They really scare me the most...

And as I ramble I realize I'm not only off topic but babbling as well ... I guess I'm just stuck on the question of WHY "employees are getting used" rather then the stories of how they got used because it's something many of us need to try and avoid with our own teams...

Originally posted by Eric_Echter

:eek:
Did you quit that day?


It wasn't long until I left them and decided I was better of doing stuff on my own during my spare time. And I got a fulltime job in the loans department of SouthTrust bank in Jacksonville - doing all the dirty work for them (computer stuff and databases, etc).

It was great while it lasted.. *sniff*

Heh, well I used to sit there looking at my boss not able to understand how such an incompetant has managed to aquire a 'reported' 90 million in personal wealth. The man had no business sense, and didn't know his a** from a hole in the ground.

One day while he was ripping me up for a mistake that wasn't anything to do with me I decided it was time to move on. Gave my notice that afternoon, left 2 weeks later and just made up my own job... pays better than what I was getting, and now I'm the boss :D

I fully recommend people 'chase a dream' once in a while and try to go it alone if they think they can. It makes you feel a whole lot better waking up in the morning..

Greg Moore

I work as IT manager for an agricultural company in the UK, and have been working there for just over 4 years.

I joined the company when I finished college at 19, and was a Technical Support Co-Ordinator.

I started off on £7,500 - now 4 years down the line I am IT Manager and I am on £17,000.
They always say "the industry is bad, sorry can only give you a £500 payrise" etc yet they go and hire more staff and buy smaller businesses.

I have been IT manager a year now, and let me tell you this, the payrise I got only equals that of starting 30mins earlier and the longer drive to work.

Added responsibility = No pay increase.

So now I don't do any overtime (it would be unpaid) and don't put myself out on a limb like I use to.

Why can't I quit my job? Well, the company got me to sign a contract when I joined saying that I have to give 6 months notice if I want to leave. I don't wanna leave unless I have a job to go to, and a job won't wait 6 months for me!

--James

Also,

They sent me on a 5 hour drive to a depot where I had to stay there over night, and I went out and got a meal in the evening - nothing fancy.

They wouldn't even pay for it on expenses.

--James

I had a boss who'd ask me to do work at home in my own spare time. He also made me goto work during the weekends once every so often.

And then he'd pay me nothing, saying that I'm on a salary basis anyways.

So once I got sick and didn't show up for work.

Next thing I know my paycheck was cut for that one day's lack of work.

I got pissed, so I started telling everyone I had a night/weekend job and that my home computer broke for good.

Since then he's never asked me to work on the weekends nor do extra work at home. :)

Hey you can't have it both ways...

cheeky bugger. :)

I've had much the time thing at times though.. it just got to the point that when they'd ring, I'd just say, "Sorry I can't come in" and nothing else. If pressed I'd remind them I wasn't in that day and it's wasn't their concern as to why I couldn't come in.

Oddly, even running my own business now I still can't understand why people would do that. Happy people work better, regardless of the bottom line

Greg Moore

Yeah,

Im a law student busting my ass off, and last year I was offered a job at a law office, but they changed their mind in the last minute. Damn!

I don't really mind cause Im still studying and law school combined with a full time job really wouldn't work out.

But, yes I felt f....., but well, I guess that come with this job. Damn liars! :)

Same shmizzo here as well. I was given all sorts of promises, stories, etc. and eventually started believing them. Just like that though, I come in and they tell me it's my last day. It all rolls with the workflow, once that dries up so doesn't everything else. I really have no idea what shmizzo means, just a random word I made up that seemed fitting. :cartman:

Aloha
well by a company that I did work for yes
spent 2 years developing this big site etc...
and had it %99 done they decided they did not need me anymore hired 2 guys to replace me and they did not give me my $100,000 bonus I was promised
they called me back a few months later beggin me to come back as the people they hired were no that good
heheheheh
anyway yes whne they let me go they had there acountant ICQ me and tell me I had to move to Florida (from Maui) by 3pm that day or I was fired I got the ICQ about noon
not that I would have left anyway
but they are now goin under after they fired me they started falling apart big time and lost tons of there advertisers etc....
anyway I think they are going under within the next few months
a bunch of people have left them as he does this now to everyone

what comes around go's around



Originally posted by abzug
Not sure if I should stick this thread in another forum or not, but for safe keeping.. here it is.

I'm sure a lot of you who read WHT are employed by hosting companies (or have been employed).

Ever feel like you were f'd over?

I've had some personal experiences with this and was wondering if this was a trend in the hosting industy.

Ever not gotten that raise that was promised?

Work for a company who tries to bleed every last minute of work from you and are paid some **** salary?

Etc...

Wow. At least i'm not the only one (sorry).

If an employer lies to YOU, is it ok if you lie to THEM?

Two wrongs doesn't make a right, but, hey, who's counting?
:D