Wednesday, August 15, 2007
[Namesless Company] Net Income Rises 33%; Some of TiVo Patent Claims Tossed
From The Wall Street Journal:
A 33% increase in net income? Good lord, you'd think I'd be really happy. The company I work for is doing great financially.
Well, not doing as well numbers wise, but revenue is up and [Nameless Company] is doing better than their satellite TV competitor. Yup, things are moving along quite swimmingly for [Nameless Company]. The company (nameless though it may be) is doing fine, investors are making money, executives are making money, everyone is happy.
Except for the employees.
[Nameless Company] pays shit and treats their employees like the same excrement. There have been two new hires in master control this week. To hire new employees to work at [Nameless Company], management has to pay new employees more than current employees, this while denying raises to current employees.
We have a grade system of 4 tech levels. On my shift, for example, there are three tech 4's, six tech 3's and one tech 2 (which is another fucked up situation which pisses me off to no end). Two of the tech 4's are shift team leaders, the other works (exceptionally well) in the library. Tech 4 is something that is earned, a position in which more is expected of the employee, a leadership position.
An aside, 19 months ago (and I usually only stay places, on average, 18 months) to hire me, [Nameless Company] had to offer me more money than most other operators. I came in on the high end, pay wise, for a tech 3. On the other hand, I had television experience, more specifically, I had DBS satellite experience. I had worked for [Nameless Company]'s competitor in a nearly identical position, had worked with another DBS company before that where I was responsible for much more than a [Nameless Company] or DirecTV operator would ever dream of being responsible for. I benefited from [Nameless Company]'s totally fucked up pay structure. I feel like shit when I think about that.
To hire new people, [Nameless Company] has made the two new hires in master control tech 4's. While I was brought in at a higher pay rate than many other operators, nobody knew that. The new hires were brought at a higher grade. Everybody knows that, it's public knowledge (though my supervisor wondered how I knew that).
I am completely in favor of paying every new hire more money. We work in Cheyenne fucking Wyoming, you have to do something to attract people to come here. Pay them more, hell yes, you have to get them here somehow.
BUT DON'T COMPLETELY FUCK OVER EVERY OTHER EMPLOYEE IN THE DEPARTMENT!!!
This was bitched about all weekend long. Operators from every shift expressed their displeasure. While I can't speak for everyone, everyone I spoke to about this is pissed off, maybe not as much as I am (I piss off kind of easily), but you have a department that is, on the whole, angry.
My supervisor, who is a good supervisor, who is an excellent human being, who I personally like very much, had to listen to me bitch at him for half an hour on Monday. Then everyone else took turns bitching at him. He didn't make this policy, but he's had to suffer the ramifications like the rest of us.
[Nameless Company] isn't doing this to piss off its operators, but you can't tell me that they didn't see this coming. Their pay structure is totally fucked but, rather than fix it for everyone, the fuck up the structure more, they make the whole process meaningless by making new hires among the highest paid in the department. Myself included.
This from a company that had their net income rise 33% last quarter.
BOJ
[Nameless Company]'s second-quarter net income rose 33% as the firm announced the federal patent office tossed some patent-related claims made by TiVo Inc.
The Englewood, Colo., satellite-television company posted net income of $224.2 million, or 50 cents a share, from $168.8 million, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 12% to $2.76 billion.
A 33% increase in net income? Good lord, you'd think I'd be really happy. The company I work for is doing great financially.
[Nameless Company]'s [Nameless Consumer Home Satellite] Network added 170,000 net new subscribers in the second quarter, down from 195,000 a year earlier earlier, ending the quarter with 13.6 million subscribers, up 9%. Average monthly revenue per subscriber increased 5% to $66.06 while the monthly churn, or cancellation, rate dipped to 1.68% from 1.7%.
On Thursday, rival DirecTV Group Inc. reported its net income fell amid a sharp rise in operating costs and a squeeze in subscriber growth. DirecTV added 128,000 net subscribers in the quarter, bringing its total customer base to 16.3 million.
Well, not doing as well numbers wise, but revenue is up and [Nameless Company] is doing better than their satellite TV competitor. Yup, things are moving along quite swimmingly for [Nameless Company]. The company (nameless though it may be) is doing fine, investors are making money, executives are making money, everyone is happy.
Except for the employees.
[Nameless Company] pays shit and treats their employees like the same excrement. There have been two new hires in master control this week. To hire new employees to work at [Nameless Company], management has to pay new employees more than current employees, this while denying raises to current employees.
We have a grade system of 4 tech levels. On my shift, for example, there are three tech 4's, six tech 3's and one tech 2 (which is another fucked up situation which pisses me off to no end). Two of the tech 4's are shift team leaders, the other works (exceptionally well) in the library. Tech 4 is something that is earned, a position in which more is expected of the employee, a leadership position.
An aside, 19 months ago (and I usually only stay places, on average, 18 months) to hire me, [Nameless Company] had to offer me more money than most other operators. I came in on the high end, pay wise, for a tech 3. On the other hand, I had television experience, more specifically, I had DBS satellite experience. I had worked for [Nameless Company]'s competitor in a nearly identical position, had worked with another DBS company before that where I was responsible for much more than a [Nameless Company] or DirecTV operator would ever dream of being responsible for. I benefited from [Nameless Company]'s totally fucked up pay structure. I feel like shit when I think about that.
To hire new people, [Nameless Company] has made the two new hires in master control tech 4's. While I was brought in at a higher pay rate than many other operators, nobody knew that. The new hires were brought at a higher grade. Everybody knows that, it's public knowledge (though my supervisor wondered how I knew that).
I am completely in favor of paying every new hire more money. We work in Cheyenne fucking Wyoming, you have to do something to attract people to come here. Pay them more, hell yes, you have to get them here somehow.
BUT DON'T COMPLETELY FUCK OVER EVERY OTHER EMPLOYEE IN THE DEPARTMENT!!!
This was bitched about all weekend long. Operators from every shift expressed their displeasure. While I can't speak for everyone, everyone I spoke to about this is pissed off, maybe not as much as I am (I piss off kind of easily), but you have a department that is, on the whole, angry.
My supervisor, who is a good supervisor, who is an excellent human being, who I personally like very much, had to listen to me bitch at him for half an hour on Monday. Then everyone else took turns bitching at him. He didn't make this policy, but he's had to suffer the ramifications like the rest of us.
[Nameless Company] isn't doing this to piss off its operators, but you can't tell me that they didn't see this coming. Their pay structure is totally fucked but, rather than fix it for everyone, the fuck up the structure more, they make the whole process meaningless by making new hires among the highest paid in the department. Myself included.
This from a company that had their net income rise 33% last quarter.
BOJ
Labels: [Nameless Company], Mega-Bitch Wednesday
# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 8:52 AM 
