Job cuts and hiring within the family

[Tayl405]

Just kind of ranting...

My boyfriend and I work for the same company (in totally different departments). His pay was just cut 25%, as were many others, and a number of employees are being laid off.

This morning I just found out our brand new VP of Operations just hired his son. Convenient, huh? :rolleyes:

[Empressallie]

That is so irritating!!! A few years ago I lost out on a job in the final interview round - turns out the former CEO's son got the job, out of nowhere.

I left soon after (this was back when getting a new job wasn't an issue) and told them flat out that the blantant nepotism was completely unethical. I received a written and verbal apology from them, but what good did that do me?

grrrrr. I doubt this new guy will be well received at your company...:mad:

[winneythepooh7]

There are a bunch of people in pretty high positions in my company that are all related. Fortunately, I don't really have to interact with them but I have heard some pretty interesting stories to say the least of what goes on.

I also find it interesting because our department recently was talked to about "dress code" (basically no jeans, no sneakers which I never wear anyways), but the secretary to the CEO who I swear is related to someone wears jean shorts and flip flops most of the week long. :rolleyes:

I want to point that out if anyone ever says anything to me. :p

[pisces2473]

The owners of my company are all related, and one of the sales guys is a cousin of theirs. But they make him do the crappy jobs--literally, like cleaning the overflowing toilet.

[PenforPrez]

My aunt in Pennsylvania does HR and admin work for a company that owns several restaurant franchises. She's "placed" a couple of my cousins in the restaurant the company owns in her hometown as waiters and the like.

The owner of my company bought the company from its previous owner and had his daughter run it. That was the original plan. She knew what she was doing. Problem is, since she left, the owner has hired Koreans for almost every position that has come up, since he prefers to put his fellow Korean natives to work. Which wouldn't be so bad, except most of them don't know what they're doing! :googly:

They tried to put a Korean into a "temporary" customer service position because they thought his English was sufficient. I talked to him for about five minutes, and I knew better. They asked me what I thought (horror of horrors!) and I flat out told them, "No. He can't do it." Surprisingly, they backed off. :rolleyes:

Paul

[Screen Name]

Just kind of ranting...

My boyfriend and I work for the same company (in totally different departments). His pay was just cut 25%, as were many others, and a number of employees are being laid off.

This morning I just found out our brand new VP of Operations just hired his son. Convenient, huh? :rolleyes:

I wasted so much anger and energy in my old field with seeing so much nepotism. In situations like that, no matter how talented you are the simple fact is you aren't part of the family and will need to work for everything twice as hard and even still will probably never achieve the same heights. Skills didn't seem to matter in my old field for those making big pay, primarily if you were related or close to the right people then raises were easy and generous, pay varied greatly between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' despite the responsibilities being the same, usually more challenging in the lower paying spots actually because the positions were less cushy although the job was all the same. While I am away from that type of thing now, and that makes me feel wonderful, I had to scrap my old career entirely and start in something new.

Looking back I think the best feeling of my career change is that I was able to escape that element of disadvantage. My parents were never 'working class' people and a few times not only did that come into play but it actually put me at a disadvantage to many peers, people all around me were getting their interviews because of their 'fathers golf buddy' and all types of crap. For me it was frustrating to see so many people leverage these types of family connections because it was not an option for me, but all that animosity I stacked up was just a waste of energy as we cannot change the situation it's best to find a more level playing field somewhere else, tyring to compete and outperform was always a waste because the rewards were not based on the quality of the work. The good thing is that although it might still come into play in my new field as I climb higher, yet to be seen, at least it's less of a factor right now though, my current issue is that my employer is unorganized or cheap but still better than watching them play favorites. Seems the more traditional and longstanding the line of work that the worse the nepotism is, younger industries seem to have a risk of fizzling out or outsourcing staff but there are less examples of family legacies...

[Tayl405]

I don't really mind hiring within the family, but this situation gets under my skin because the person who hired his son is brand new. He's only worked here for 3 months. In that 3 months he's managed to lay off a bunch of people and cut others' pay. I wonder how he justifies hiring his kid when we're in the middle of "cutbacks".

Seriously, maybe try to make a good impression first, rather than enemies... :rolleyes:

[Tayl405]

His kid just started today. He's 19.

[Empressallie]

19? What kind of position is he in? I can't imagine he's qualified for much at only 19...

[Tayl405]

I'm not totally sure. He works in our warehouse. Crazy...

[DaneCA]

You can always hope your boss is harder on his son in an attempt to dispel the theory that he was only hired only because he's related to the VP! My sister works for my dad and they both want to prove that she's there because she deserves to be, not because she's the boss' daughter. In fact, she says my dad expects more from her, not only because he knows her abilities, but also because he doesn't want to be accused of nepotism.

[Screen Name]

You can always hope your boss is harder on his son in an attempt to dispel the theory that he was only hired only because he's related to the VP! My sister works for my dad and they both want to prove that she's there because she deserves to be, not because she's the boss' daughter. In fact, she says my dad expects more from her, not only because he knows her abilities, but also because he doesn't want to be accused of nepotism.

lol... yeah I have a buddy who works for his parents as well as his brother, VERY longstanding successful company. The brother, who is probably almost 40 years old now, was so lazy and so terrible at his job that they finally got "tough" on him and cleaned out his desk! He came to work and they actually sent him home, this was the only job he knew, everyone thought he was screwed but I knew that they'd hire him back. After a week of sitting home they let him come back to work, nothing has changed except the fact he got a bigger BMW and a newer boat. Make no mistake, no matter what they say or how tough they pretend they are there's this element that is called a bloodline and you really can't get into it after birth other than marriage, this is the fabric of the working world to some degree just people on the recieving end hate to admit it's a factor, you will be labeled as "bitter" the second you call it out. I know your dad and sister have a pact to play tough but the bottom line is she is on a totally different playing field than a stranger would ever be. I can't imagine she'd really be the strongest candidate if he posted her job for applicants in this market, I mean afterall the average posting gets 200 qualified applications right now, chances the daughter of the boss would coincidentally be the top candidate based on skills and experience are the same odds as winning Powerball. My opinion based on what I have seen through countless examples in my life, that's all this statement is.

[FloridaGirl25]

You have to be aware of the workplace dynamics of any company you work for. If a company is predominately owned and/or operated by family members, you have to know if you enjoy or loathe this fact, and seek out jobs accordingly.

For example, in my most recent position, I worked with a business in which half of the employees were family members. It was a historical business owned by conservative Southerners, and that's the way they did things. The owner and my employer wanted to create a family-like environment within the business, plus, the owner personally wanted to be surrounded by her loved ones. I actually appreciated this because it meant I didn't have to recruit "outsiders" to complete work tasks as the family members had "been there, done that" and were automatically available and experienced.

However, I do understand how frustrating experiencing nepotism can be, but you just have to know yourself and carefully choose who you work for.

[roulettefanatic]

it's definitely nothing new and nothing surprises me anymore, even in this economy.....maybe the son will prove himself but that's besides the point since other people's jobs were cut....sometimes the culture of a workplace is difficult to handle....i work in a small firm where the owner doesn't happen to have any children but i can honestly say if he did, i'm pretty sure they would rule the roost.....however having family members working for you in good times is one thing, being unfair and cutting jobs to make sure your son has a job is another thing altogether.....

[Tayl405]

it's definitely nothing new and nothing surprises me anymore, even in this economy.....maybe the son will prove himself but that's besides the point since other people's jobs were cut....sometimes the culture of a workplace is difficult to handle....i work in a small firm where the owner doesn't happen to have any children but i can honestly say if he did, i'm pretty sure they would rule the roost.....however having family members working for you in good times is one thing, being unfair and cutting jobs to make sure your son has a job is another thing altogether.....

That was exactly my point. And that the VP - his father - has only worked for the company for a few months. I don't think he's earned the right to hire within the family yet. We don't really have any other nepotism in the company.