I'm Over Christmas: Part II

[bjarvis]

From yesterday's experiences, I know better now than to venture anywhere outside of the narrow corridor from home to office: anything resembling retail activity is to be discontinued for about a week to avoid the seething hoards of shopping zombies. By not bothering with lunches or outside activities of any sort, I should be able to get more work done at the office, right?



It's a freakin' ghost town in here. I have a ward of auditors generating Sarbox evidence & compliance requests at the speed of light because they want to wrap up this phase of work by the end of the year to meet their annual bonus requirements. Meanwhile, my dear employer is furloughing the contractors I need to complete these requests for the same period of time to save money so our directors can meet their annual bonus requirements. Great. The part that is really bothering me is... where are all my non-contract employees, colleagues and managers?

I can't get any of them on the telephone, there's no evidence they've been in their cubes or offices today, they're not answering their pagers and there are no "on vacation" notices in our group calendars. Half of my staff have simply buggered off for extended holiday lunches, misc shopping expeditions or other such nonsense. WTF?!

When did chronic absenteeism and failure to perform one's work become acceptable practice during the Christmas season? My managers are usually very good about ensuring that not too many people go on training or off on vacation simultaneously so that we have sufficient staff to run our basic business ops. That rule goes out the window at Christmas.

Try this kind of behavior across, say, the Memorial Day weekend or the July 4 weekend and management comes down hard. As deege pointed out yesterday, taking time out for a non-Christian holiday likewise draws the not-so-subtle ire of managers. But if you're celebrating the birth of Jesus, it's OK to take unannounced vacation or simply be unavailable for as long as you like...

I'm trying to get work done here... why does it have to be this bloody hard?

Comments

[bootedintexas.livejournal.com]

My supervisor is working really hard and running around like a chicken with her head cut off..why? oh she's on vacation for the rest of the year. Does she know we are running out of work, and our work load is almost down to a trickle. Could she run more reports before she disapears for a week and a day. probably not.

Ironically the same person who refused to participate in secret santa cause "Christmas isnt about presents"..oh thats right i forgot..its about taking vacation without ensuring that work can be accomplished at a good volume while you are gone