Us and Them?

[LadyJaneinMD]

I never thought I'd be writing for advice, but we all need it sometime.....

I'm a contractor.  I work for the government.  When I started here, we were told that we 'were hired to clean up a mess', and boy what a mess it was.  We worked our buns off and got a lot of it cleaned up and organized.  For the record, there are two gov't employeed and two contractors on our 'team'.  In the bigger team, there is a mix also, of gov't people and contractors.  Obviously the head honcho is a gov't person.

Over the last 2 years, the whole department has been changing.  It appears to me that they are slowly working to turn us into an 'us and them' situation.  Contractors are slowly losing privileges, and gov't folks are becoming more and more powerful.  We no longer work together as a cohesive team, because contractors have to ask permission from the gov't people to do anything of importance. Some days it's a never-ending struggle just to get the normal work done.  I just found out that yet another meeting has been 'closed' to contractors.  I don't feel like part of the solution anymore, even though I *know* I am.  Does that make sense?  (For what it's worth, even my boss (the gov't guy) thinks it's ridiculous and counter-productive)

But, before you think it's all bad, it isn't.  Yet.  There are some customers who LOVE LOVE LOVE me and would hate to see me go, mostly because I'm one of the very few folks who actually takes care of them competently.  (like us, their departments are a mix of gov't and contractor, but not as 'strict' as our dept).   As for the contract company I work for, it's LOVELY.  The pay is good, and the benefits and perks are awesome. On top of that, my shift is excellent and my commute is a dream.   I'd hate to leave this company.  Problem is, there isn't another job available in my field where I could stay with this company and just move to another contract, so if I'm going to get out of this environment, I'd have to change companies.  I've been working in this particular field for 28 years, for many many companies, and the only other company that was this good is long gone.  *sigh*

So that's my question:  Excellent company, bad working environment.  What do I do?  I've been entertaining offers, but so far none of them are worth my while.  My resume is out there. 

[FoxPaws]

I'm sorry I can't give you any helpful advice. It sounds as though you're doing everything you can to help yourself and the situation. I'm guessing you've already thought of the following as well:

How close are you to retirement?

Would you consider switching fields if it meant you could stay with your current company?

Are the decision making powers aware of how the negative environment is affecting production? Are there even small things that could be done to ease the tension (e.g. blanket permission given to perform certain tasks, scheduling regular govt/contract meetings for the sole purpose of keeping everybody on the same track)?

Good luck and keep us posted on how it's going.

[LadyJaneinMD]

I'm sorry I can't give you any helpful advice. It sounds as though you're doing everything you can to help yourself and the situation. I'm guessing you've already thought of the following as well:

How close are you to retirement?

Would you consider switching fields if it meant you could stay with your current company?

Are the decision making powers aware of how the negative environment is affecting production? Are there even small things that could be done to ease the tension (e.g. blanket permission given to perform certain tasks, scheduling regular govt/contract meetings for the sole purpose of keeping everybody on the same track)?

Good luck and keep us posted on how it's going.

I am nowhere near retirement. Contractors don't retire, they just stop accepting jobs.  I have NOTHING to retire with, so I'll probably just keep on working until I drop.

I have thought about changing careers, but there's really very few options for me. I'd have to go back and start at the beginning again, and I can't afford the pay change.
The decision-making powers don't CARE, as long as it's obvious that THEY ARE THE POWERS THAT BE.  They are GOVERNMENT WORKERS and we should all bow to their powerfulness.  (grumble grumble)  Mind you, these are the big guys, not the little bosses like my boss.  My boss gets frustrated with them too.  He knows that I'm disgruntled.

[FoxPaws]

Ah well, I'm afraid all I can offer at this point are my sympathies. We spend so much of our lives at work, it really sucks when we don't enjoy it.

And I can totally relate to this:

I have NOTHING to retire with, so I'll probably just keep on working until I drop.

Every year when I get the statement from the Social Security Administration showing what I'll be getting one day, I send up a quick prayer that Wal*Mart will still need greeters when I reach my senior years.