In the old days, in various royal courts, there were a huge number of different kinds of honorary court positions, which were formally considered prestigious, their holders received a salary, but in fact did not really do anything. Something like 'senior guardian of the royal ceremonial hat...'
Today's companies cannot afford such extravagance - otherwise everything will end in elementary bankruptcy - but if the staff is unhappy with the lack of growth prospects, and they cannot create this prospect... well, in this case, some managers resort to 'time-tested methods' of creating pseudo-positions. For example, as it happened in the story from the user u/KoaPlyr615, which we bring to your attention today.
The author of the post had been working in their current company for around 5 years
Image credits: Tim Gouw (not the actual photo)
Most of the employees weren't happy with the workflow and salary, but the higher-ups in fact did nothing to fix the problems
Image credits: KoaPlyr615
The author was on the verge of looking for a new job but he got information that the board was preparing the long-awaited restructuring of their department
Image credits: Sora Shimazaki (not the actual photo)
Image credits: KoaPlyr615
However, after checking the new positions' job descriptions, the employees found out they were actually their own old jobs
So, the Original Poster (OP) has been working in their department of a fairly large company for more than five years, and both they and other colleagues have repeatedly complained to managers about the lack of career prospects and opportunities for salary growth. Everything is as it often is: overworked, underpaid, no possibilities for advancement.
Management invariably 'took note' of employee complaints, organized countless meetings, group and personal, to optimize the work process, implemented minimal salary increases... but in general everything remained at the same level. If you've ever worked in a large, bureaucratic corporation, you understand very well what we're talking about.
At some point, the original poster, in their own words, already despaired that they would never achieve any career advancement, and began to think about looking for other jobs. But at this time the author received some kind of insider information that higher-ups had finally started a large-scale restructuring of their department, and soon employees would receive a long-awaited opportunity for career growth.
The author temporarily stopped looking for a new job - in the end, as they honestly admit, they liked this company, but then the solemn moment came - and new positions were presented, which formally represented a kind of career upgrade. Moreover, according to the job descriptions, employees could not automatically move to a new position - it was necessary to apply for them.
Imagine the surprise and disappointment of the OP and their colleagues when, after reading the job description thoroughly, they realized that in fact this was the same thing that they had all been doing for the last five years! That is, employees were literally faced with the need to reapply for their own positions. And, as icing on the cake, the new position did not imply a significant increase in salary. In other words, the usual ‘change of sign’ without any fundamental changes.
Image credits: Jo Szczepanska (not the actual photo)
“Unfortunately, this is a fairly common practice among many employers,” says Olga Kopylova, Ph.D., associate professor of economics at Odessa National Maritime University, to whom Bored Panda reached out for a comment on this case. “If the company as a whole is doing quite well, then management often uses the principle of ‘don’t change what already works.’ However, pressure ‘from within’ also matters - that’s why such pseudo-restructurings are often used.”
“The saddest thing is that it seems that everything will be limited to this. Someone from the department’s employees will apply for a semi-managerial position, get the long-desired upgrade and a small increase in salary - and the monolithic opinion of the team will be broken. The ancient Romans were genius - otherwise they would not came up with the phrase 'divide and conquer,'" Olga says.
Commentators on the original post largely agree with this. At least, many stories appeared in the comments, the descriptions of which coincide with what we told. And in many cases, employees simply had no choice but to quit en masse or individually and look for a new job.
In addition, according to some people in the comments, the situation described by the author is a clear red flag, and the management showed their complete disregard for the staff. “This is either quiet or loud firing. Get your resume and preparation ready,” one of the commenters summarized. By the way, what advice would you give to the original poster, or what would you do if you were in their place? Please feel free to share your opinions and ideas in the comments below.
People in the comments, alas, also brought lots of similar stories from their work, but strongly recommended that the author search for a new job
Image credits: Magnet.me (not the actual photo)
