Working for this place is miserable

[steelo]

Hi everyone,

 

So, I used to love technology…collecting it, building it and admiring what it can do. I was laid off from a job (of 5 years) around 3 months ago and I’ve recently started a Project coordinator position for this business. At first believed it to be a ‘perfect fit’. I love technology, right? So being around the latest and greatest technology  is a dream come true. Wrong. This place literally sucks any joy like a black hole envelops light. The location where I work is complete chaos…we’ll get dozens of ‘samples’ coming in separate boxes before noon and dozens more after lunch. We have one shipping receiver and are woefully understaffed in virtually every position at this location (engineers, PM’s, A/R). If I were to take a picture of what our office looks like, you would wonder how a business can function in this manner. There literally are boxes stacked everywhere and stacked taller than I stand….and these boxes will sit for weeks until somebody finally opens them to investigate what the contents are. The office is filthy (because I guess they are trying to save a buck by not hiring a cleaning crew) the restrooms have no soap or paper towels and your shoes literally stick to the floor as you walk. We've already had 2 co-workers quarantine from COVID.

 

In the meantime, I waited 3 weeks for a working PC and had to call a third party IT support (In India) to set up MS Office. Apparently, Intertek doesn't even have its own IT department. I'm earning $17.50/hour dealing with management that is pushy, rude and unreasonable (I am managing 70 projects currently with 3 weeks of training - by the end of the week it will be over 80) I get over 600 emails a day, coordinating schedules, reports, meetings and going back and forth with engineers. It’s all about management/sales getting that ‘sweet, sweet’ sales commission and dealing with the consequences of severe understaffing later.

 

Anyways, I apologize if this sounds like a rant. I was so very excited about this prospect and then deeply disheartened after realizing this is not where I want to be. I'd say 75% of the staff here is way overworked and completely miserable, but have learned just to deal with it, I guess. I literally come home with a migraine every single day of the week. I can barely stand to look at my PC, phone or anything that resembles the crap I deal with all day long here. Can anybody provide any suggestions on how to deal with this? Unfortunately, I don't have many options in my area, but I really am concerned for my own mental health.

[Bombastinator]

32 minutes ago, steelo said:

Hi everyone,

 

So, I used to love technology…collecting it, building it and admiring what it can do. I was laid off from a job (of 5 years) around 3 months ago and I’ve recently started a Project coordinator position for Intertek. At first believed it to be a ‘perfect fit’. I love technology, right? So being around the latest and greatest technology  is a dream come true. Wrong. This place literally sucks any joy like a black hole envelops light. The location where I work is complete chaos…we’ll get dozens of ‘samples’ coming in separate boxes before noon and dozens more after lunch. We have one shipping receiver and are woefully understaffed in virtually every position at this location (engineers, PM’s, A/R). If I were to take a picture of what our office looks like, you would wonder how a business can function in this manner. There literally are boxes stacked everywhere and stacked taller than I stand….and these boxes will sit for weeks until somebody finally opens them to investigate what the contents are. The office is filthy (because I guess they are trying to save a buck by not hiring a cleaning crew) the restrooms have no soap or paper towels and your shoes literally stick to the floor as you walk. We've already had 2 co-workers quarantine from COVID.

 

In the meantime, I waited 3 weeks for a working PC and had to call a third party IT support (In India) to set up MS Office. Apparently, Intertek doesn't even have its own IT department. I'm earning $17.50/hour dealing with management that is pushy, rude and unreasonable (I am managing 70 projects currently with 3 weeks of training - by the end of the week it will be over 80) I get over 600 emails a day, coordinating schedules, reports, meetings and going back and forth with engineers. It’s all about management/sales getting that ‘sweet, sweet’ sales commission and dealing with the consequences of severe understaffing later.

 

Anyways, I apologize if this sounds like a rant. I was so very excited about this prospect and then deeply disheartened after realizing this is not where I want to me. I'd say 75% of the staff here is way overworked and completely miserable, but have learned just to deal with it, I guess. I literally come home with a migraine every single day of the week. I can barely stand to look at my PC, phone or anything that resembles the crap I deal with all day long here. Can anybody provide any suggestions on how to deal with this? Unfortunately, I don't have many options in my area, but I really am concerned for my own mental health.

Sounds like stuff that would be fixed by a janitor and a few hires. People are expensive and hard to find though.  Human Resources issue?

[steelo]

1 minute ago, Bombastinator said:

Sounds like stuff that would be fixed by a janitor and a few hires. People are expensive and hard to find though.  Human Resources issue?

HR is nonexistent (at least in this location) 

[Bombastinator]

Just now, steelo said:

HR is nonexistent (at least in this location) 

Well there you go then.

[steelo]

On 8/26/2021 at 2:33 PM, Bombastinator said:

Well there you go then.

Perhaps but I've looked on glassdoor reviews and this seems to be a serious problem across the board with several intertek locations in the US (they are a UK based company).