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I'm supposed to just be glad I have a job
So we got a memo near the end of the work day yesterday outlining what my health system is doing to keep their heads above water in these "challenging economic times". I'm not happy, not happy at all. Here's the plan:
1) no raises this year (I was expecting this, not surprised, no big deal, can live without a raise)
2) Selective layoffs (probably not too many, probably an excuse to get rid of some people who are slackers anyway but tough to fire, I'm not worried about my position)
3) Hiring freeze (Could very definitely affect me because my partner/co-worker in computer support is leaving in May and they may not be able to replace her which is going to double my work if that happens, but I'm not going to freak out until it's for sure, our management could possibly justify the new hire)
4) Revocation of our two "floating holidays".. two days that they gave us to make up for taking away the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve holidays. They are days off that we can take any time during the year. Ok, take two days off, that's ok, but I used mine already this year! Since I used mine this year, they are going to take 16 hours from my Time Off bank. I accrue my time off at a rate of 9.23 hours per pay period all year round. Are they just going to reduce how much I accrue? No. They are going to take the 16 hours in a lump sum out of what is already accrued. I only have 35 hours accrued right now due to two illnesses that made me use 3 days each time in the last two months. That will leave me 19 hours in my bank and I don't know if I'll have enough for the vacations I already have planned this summer, which sucks totally. If they just had me accrue at a slower rate for the rest of the year, this impact would not be felt, really. However, doing it this way, it's going to hurt. I guess the logic is that they want to make sure they don't have to pay people for those days if they are the ones being laid off (see #2). They didn't tell us when those hours will be taken from our bank or what will happen if you don't have 16 hours in your bank right now. My manager is trying to find out.
5) The one that really ticks me off: They are reducing the matching retirement from 2 1/2% to .25%. So, if they put in $50 per pay now, they will now put in $5. The way the retirement plan was set up, we contribute 2% and they contributed 2.5%.We had to choose to opt in or opt out ON HIRE. Saturday is my 15 year anniversary with this health system. I opted in on hire, 15 years ago. I cannot opt out yet, the way the funds are going, with them only contributing .25% I will be losing money way faster than I'm putting it in and I have no way to get out of it. It seems to me that if we can't opt out, they shouldn't be able to change the terms so drastically. If they have to change the terms so drastically, then we should get a one time chance to opt out. I might as well take my money and flush it down the toilet. Nobody said, when we had to choose whether to opt in or not, that the terms could change. This just isn't sitting right with me. I understand having to cut the contribution, but give us the frickin' option to get out of the plan! On top of it all, they changed which funds are available to us back in September so we had to move all of our stuff to new funds right when things started to tank. The new funds are doing MUCH worse than the old ones. We are able to change which funds we invest in and I did move all of mine to a bond fund, which is losing money less quickly than the "retirement age" funds (like 2030 fund, if you're planning on retiring around 2030). I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to retire. I don't think social security will be around and my retirement fund is dwindling daily, although not as fast as if I'd left it in the 2030 fund! I'm feeling so screwed. I want my money back and I want to put it in an FDIC money market. <sigh> I'm not as furious about this as I was yesterday, but yesterday, before I worked out, I was ready to bite someone's head off.
Yet, everybody says "Be happy you have a job" and I am happy that I have a job. It's a decent job and my immediate management has been incredibly good to me. However, I'm mourning my summer plans and my retirement fund. I think grad school has now become a necessity rather than a choice I was trying to make. It's the only way I'm ever going to get ahead and be able to put more into retirement.
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