A reader writes:
The small company where I work offers good pay, generous PTO and other benefits, a fun and friendly environment, and good work-life balance. It also has an excellent product with a lot of growth potential. Generally, it’s considered by employees to be a great place to work.
The problem for me is that apart from the good pay and friendly coworkers, I mostly miss out on the perks that others enjoy. To be clear, there is a spectrum within the company: some of my coworkers are more overworked and stressed than others. But I’m an outlier: I’ve been assigned responsibility for a lot of the most mission-critical and inflexible work that requires my attention every day without fail, so I cannot take any of my PTO. On top of that, I’m relied on for a lot of precise design and problem-solving that requires intersections of expertise no one else has, and it’s difficult to find interruption-free time for that kind of deep work, so that work gets pushed into my weekends. Meanwhile, everyone else gets to take vacations and have some time to chat and take breaks during the workday, while I have to maintain 10 to 12 hours of being on-task, and even that is not enough to keep up.
A pattern has emerged over the years: when I call attention to my workload and how it’s creating key-person risk for the company as well as unsustainable conditions for myself, I get promises of relief and sometimes actual improvements, but my circumstances backslide before long. I might get approval to hire additional staff and things start functioning better, but then something else goes awry: upper management overpromises to a client, a key employee quits, a supplier falters and we have to plug that gap in-house, etc. Because I have a broad skill set and am seen as reliable, I’m usually the person assigned as the rescuer of whatever situation comes up, so it’s only a matter of time.
Thus far, I’ve stuck around for the job security, pay, and potential for early retirement if our stock options pan out. But I’m also being required to bear a much heavier cost than my coworkers for the same upside, and I’m always teetering on the edge of burnout. Furthermore, the company is so heavily depending on me for crucial functions, much of that growth potential could evaporate if I quit or even just reduced my productivity to an average level. Upper management seems to have convinced themselves (despite what I’ve said) that I am so emotionally invested in their mission that I will endlessly sacrifice the rest of my life to keep their gears turning. That’s the story they tell other people, while also telling me that I should take my PTO, while also telling me, “We know you’re super busy but we really need X and Y and Z done ASAP!”
Is there a plausible strategy for breaking this cycle of the company occasionally listening and improving, but then quickly forgetting and singling me out as the fixer for the next crisis? Or does this sound like a lost cause?
You can read my answer to this letter at New York Magazine today. Head over there to read it.
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