Am I Good or Evil

[Stunt]

My company manufactures products with litte differentiation relative to our competitor, therefore our margins are razor thin, cost minimization is paramount and as a result the company is fairly cut-throat.

As the process engineer and maintenance manager at one of the facilities, most of my cost cutting comes as a result of pushing our employees harder, reducing labour activities, and combining job duties in a strong union environment.

Most of my improvements and cost savings result in layoffs for people with few applicable skills and who have been with the company for 15+ years. I have done very well in driving these costs as low as possible; every decision financially motivated.

Of course I am compensated well as a result.
Am I profiting from the misery of others or am I helping to improve efficiencies such that the facility remains open and our economy continues to thrive.

Thoughts/Opinions/Questions?

 

[Howard]

Business is business. Don't let dmcowen tell you otherwise.

 

[Goosemaster]

If you are well-compensated, you are considered an efficient and model employee that gets the job done.

If not, you are a fragin asshole

 

[bctbct]

You are young, have a lot to learn and will be despised by the people that have to work for you.

Eventually you will need something from one or more of these people and you will find yourself...without the support of those that you look down on.

Yo will be better at your job 5-6 years from now when you develop the experience that trains you more about the work place.

 

[Sqube]

Yeah, you're evil... but that's a good thing in most business environments. Business is all about maximizing profits by any means necessary. You can look at it as being a cog in the machine, or consider yourself the harbinger of misery for everyone who has the misfortune to work for you.

How you feel about that is your own business. If you don't think you're evil, all the people in the world telling you otherwise really isn't going to change your mind. Just remember that when you've been around for a good 15 years, they're going to hire someone to get rid of you.

 

[Chiropteran]

You are neither good nor evil. Your acts are justified.

 

[Stunt]

I have tons of support from the people I work with, I treat them with respect and they understand deep down it's an expectation of my position. That being said, most of my policies don't come from my mouth but from the black hole of the corporation. Managers would never admit to encouraging layoffs and cost cutting. You lose the support of your people.

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: Sqube
Yeah, you're evil... but that's a good thing in most business environments. Business is all about maximizing profits by any means necessary. You can look at it as being a cog in the machine, or consider yourself the harbinger of misery for everyone who has the misfortune to work for you.

How you feel about that is your own business. If you don't think you're evil, all the people in the world telling you otherwise really isn't going to change your mind. Just remember that when you've been around for a good 15 years, they're going to hire someone to get rid of you.

Haha.
In 15 years I will likely be well above my position

 

[SlitheryDee]

You know what they do with engineers when they turn forty?

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
You know what they do with engineers when they turn forty?

That's their fault for being an engineer for that long.
Move up the ladder

 

[Greenman]

What a miserable way to make a living. It?s like being the guy who has to decompress the cats and dogs at the pound, it might be necessary, but it?s nothing you can ever feel good about.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
You know what they do with engineers when they turn forty?

That's their fault for being an engineer for that long.
Move up the ladder

You're supposed to say "What?".

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: Greenman
What a miserable way to make a living. It?s like being the guy who has to decompress the cats and dogs at the pound, it might be necessary, but it?s nothing you can ever feel good about.

$$$...

Is that wrong?

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
You know what they do with engineers when they turn forty?

That's their fault for being an engineer for that long.
Move up the ladder

You're supposed to say "What?".

Ok.

What do they do with engineers when they turn 40?

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
You know what they do with engineers when they turn forty?

That's their fault for being an engineer for that long.
Move up the ladder

You're supposed to say "What?".

Ok.

What do they do with engineers when they turn 40?

They take them out and shoot them.

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
You know what they do with engineers when they turn forty?

That's their fault for being an engineer for that long.
Move up the ladder

You're supposed to say "What?".

Ok.

What do they do with engineers when they turn 40?

They take them out and shoot them.

Good thing I don't plan to stay as an engineer later than 30.
You don't shoot a guy saving you hundreds of thousands of dollars

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: Stunt

What do they do with engineers when they turn 40?

They take them out and shoot them.[/quote]
Good thing I don't plan to stay as an engineer later than 30.
You don't shoot a guy saving you hundreds of thousands of dollars [/quote]

Extra points for identifying the movie that came from.

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: Stunt

What do they do with engineers when they turn 40?

They take them out and shoot them.

Good thing I don't plan to stay as an engineer later than 30.
You don't shoot a guy saving you hundreds of thousands of dollars [/quote]

Extra points for identifying the movie that came from.[/quote]
Google says Primer. I didn't see that movie...

 

[Stunt]

Wait I did!
Time machine to make money on the stock market.

Good movie!

 

[Sqube]

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: Sqube
Yeah, you're evil... but that's a good thing in most business environments. Business is all about maximizing profits by any means necessary. You can look at it as being a cog in the machine, or consider yourself the harbinger of misery for everyone who has the misfortune to work for you.

How you feel about that is your own business. If you don't think you're evil, all the people in the world telling you otherwise really isn't going to change your mind. Just remember that when you've been around for a good 15 years, they're going to hire someone to get rid of you.

Haha.
In 15 years I will likely be well above my position

So once you get past a certain point in management, you can't be fired?

 

[Stunt]

Originally posted by: Sqube

Originally posted by: Stunt

Originally posted by: Sqube
Yeah, you're evil... but that's a good thing in most business environments. Business is all about maximizing profits by any means necessary. You can look at it as being a cog in the machine, or consider yourself the harbinger of misery for everyone who has the misfortune to work for you.

How you feel about that is your own business. If you don't think you're evil, all the people in the world telling you otherwise really isn't going to change your mind. Just remember that when you've been around for a good 15 years, they're going to hire someone to get rid of you.

Haha.
In 15 years I will likely be well above my position

So once you get past a certain point in management, you can't be fired?

Not if you keep performing.

 

[sixone]

There's nothing inherently wrong with what you do. There are no guarantees that once you have a job, you get to keep it until you want to quit.

But there's nothing especially good about it, either. You have to decide whether that's good enough for you. No one else's opinion matters - you're gonna do what you want to do, and live with it.

 

[MrChad]

It's the nature of business. How many people does your company employee? Think of it this way ... if you didn't cut costs by letting a handful of people go, how many people would be out of work if your company went belly-up?

 

[Accipiter22]

Originally posted by: Stunt
My company manufactures products with litte differentiation relative to our competitor, therefore our margins are razor thin, cost minimization is paramount and as a result the company is fairly cut-throat.

As the process engineer and maintenance manager at one of the facilities, most of my cost cutting comes as a result of pushing our employees harder, reducing labour activities, and combining job duties in a strong union environment.

Most of my improvements and cost savings result in layoffs for people with few applicable skills and who have been with the company for 15+ years. I have done very well in driving these costs as low as possible; every decision financially motivated.

Of course I am compensated well as a result.
Am I profiting from the misery of others or am I helping to improve efficiencies such that the facility remains open and our economy continues to thrive.

Thoughts/Opinions/Questions?

The fact that you make this thread shows that you have some mixed feelings about your job, so you're not a bad person.

 

[Rastus]

It doesn't really matter. The way you describe your company shows it is doomed anyway. The law of diminishing returns will get it eventually anyway. They need to always have new products come out or they won't make it.