Saturday, 19 September 2009
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I Don't Think My Coworkers Take Me Seriously...
I don't think my coworkers at work take me seriously. I'm a young woman, the youngest worker here, and so far I've pretty much reached the top of the ladder. I started off at the bottom working as a regular production worker and then got promoted to an inspector. From there, I got promoted to a lead inspector which is pretty much like an inspector supervisor. Now, I'm currently working as the Quality Assistant in the office.
My workplace generally consists mainly of women. Mostly immigrant women who don't speak English. They are uneducated not because they choose to be but because they never really had time or opportunity to go school. They have families to support. Some of them have worked here for nearly a decade and remain in the same position when they first started here. Their raises might have increased a bit but they're stuck doing the same thing.
I've only been working here for not even 2 years and I've already had all these promotions. Sometimes I feel as if I'm the talk of most of their conversations because of where I am at today. For a short period of time, I worked with these women and we had somewhat formed friendships despite the fact I was much younger. They called me their daughter. However, as soon as I got my first promotion, I could feel the resentment kick in. They started to treat me differently and sometimes would ignore me. At first I couldn't understand why they weren't happy for me. Why they couldn't they be happy for their "daughter". Things pretty much went downhill from there as I received my next two promotions. It was pretty much a bittersweet feeling for me. I got this great promotion which I worked so hard for, yet I lost a lot of great friends because of jealousy. I couldn't blame them though. I understood their frustration.
My mother-in-law has worked at her company for over 10 years now. She started off making a measly $5.50 an hr. and now the starting rate at her company when you are hired is $14.00 an hr. She was telling me the other day how unfair it was that some of these "young" kids who have only worked here for a year or two are making more than what she's making today.
I understand why she and my coworkers might be a little upset...or perhaps REALLY upset but this is something we have no control over. I'm sorry to say but the first generation is taking over now. We're a lot more educated and I guess the biggest issue for them is...we speak English! It sounds rude to say that but it's the truth. Companies want educated workers whether you're 50 or 18. They want your knowledge, and speaking and writing English helps.
I never asked for any of these promotions. Sure coming to work everyday and doing what I was told helped but I got chosen because I could speak English and I was able to communicate with English speaking workers there. Also, I graduated high school, received my diploma and am currently attending college.
It may not always seem fair but if you want to make it anywhere in this world, you need to have an education and being able to communicate helps as well.
I want to know what's your view on this and do you think it's fair?
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About the Author
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- From: babixk1umzy@xanga
- Name: Nancy
- Location: Massachusetts
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Comments (8)
Sorry but your page says explicit. =/ I do agree with you. This is one of the rules of running an effective company. There has to be a chain of command, hierarchy, and usually the people that work the best in whatever level usually stays there. Max Weber came up with this concept. But workers should get raises and incentives to keep them happy and more motivated.
I understand what you're saying. These days you can't get a job without a high school diploma and sometimes a college degree. Women of my mom's generation dropped out of high school and had kids b/c it wasn't really that important to have a diploma. Women have moved up a lot in the working world since then.
That sucks -- even if the system is unfair, your coworkers should know to resent the people in charge, not you.
One day, our generation will think it's unfair that the kids in the future will get virtual reality games and travel in time machines.
It's not ridiculous to pick people for middle management because they speak the same language as the higher ups. After all, they do need to tell them what needs to get done every once in a while...
I too am in this situation. I work in office where I am half everyone else's age and far more educated then my peers. Just because we are educated does not mean I did not make sacrifices, work two jobs and attend college to get where I am. My peers don't seem to care how hard I work, or if I truly earned any of my achievements through merit, all they see is my age and it seems to bother them. I went from being treated as a "daughter" to being treated like an outcast. It has been a rude awakening for me and I too do not know how to deal with this. I've heard stories of discrimination based on race and gender but never did I imagine that you could be discriminated based on your age. Please pass on advice...Thanks!
Being in quality is not easy. I for one was laid off and the official reason was my job was terminated. I think the real reason was I am an inspector with 16 years of experience and should have stayed as one and becoming appointed by top management to be the quality management representative, a member of management and acting quality manager was to much for almost everybody from workers to managers. I worked under ISO standards and requirements which focuses on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. I did get the company ISO registered and compliant, but when my work affected them in some way, most of them did not want the improvement or change in process or procedure. Heck, they thought they had been doing this work for so long why change it and I think they thought it'll make them look bad and they didn't like that, that I would find an improvement to this process or that procedure, or because they are in charge of this or that department that is affected by my work. Its my job for heavens sake. I did not want them to think or feel this way its a continuous improvement.
Been out of work since Feb having only gotten 18 months experience cut short.
spitfire467@hotmail.com
fyi: if they were calling you "mija" (short for mi hija, pronounced "mee-ha"), that translates as "daughter" but people really use it more like the english "giiiiirl."