New Job, Mandatory Overtime? What Would You Do?

[corallis]

I was recently (December 2018) hired as a full-time software at a fairly large and well-known company. Things were going quite well at first, shortly after I joined we lost two key development resources - one senior developer was fired, and the other gave his 2 week notice just after Christmas, and was let go instead of being given a chance to finish his project. We have monthly deliverables, and losing two key resources in the middle of a release cycle is obviously going to have some negative consequences. After we (obviously) missed our January deliverable goal for 2 of the 5 projects we were realsing, management called a meeting with the entire development team, chewed us out for missing these deadlines, and informed us that we would be required to work 3 hours of mandatory overtime each day until we are "caught up". There is no clear definition of when we will be "caught up", and from our meeting is is clear that the problems started many months before I joined the company. According to the one in charge, we are nine months behind where we should be at this time.

My question is this - if you found yourself in this position, being forced to work 15 hours/week of mandatory overtime seemingly indefinitely - what would you do? I've made my thoughts on the situation well known at work, but there doesn't appear to be any change.

Management doesn't seem to understand that they're going to lose their entire team and moist likely cause the entire department to get shut down. Literally every single developer on the team is currently lining up interviews and getting ready to jump ship. Is this our only option? Has anyone been in this situation before that can offer some insight?

[mosalarynolife]

Start looking for a new job. Never go down with a ship you don't own.

[corallis]

That's the current thinking of... well, basically the entire team. I genuinely like the people I work with, and I kind of don't want the entire department to fail, but management seems incapable of making good decisions. Seriously, our top developer gave two weeks notice, and offered to finish up his project that was due in two weeks before he left. Management got angry at him for "abandoning" the team and told him to just go home and they'd pay him for the two weeks! This is 100000% why this project didn't go out on time, and now we are being forced to work overtime to make up for their blunders. As you can probably tell, I'm very frustrated about this...

[itg]

"I genuinely like the people I work with", if they all plan to leave, there isn't any team left. "I kind of don't want the entire department to fail", that's the responsibility of management and will be on them, not you. Don't try to save an organization with incompetent managers. Like others said, run from this place.

[corallis]

Another question... would you guys just wait until you have another offer in hand and give your 2 weeks notice, or would you let management know that you're planning on leaving if things don't change?

I'm leaning towards just giving my notice when I have a new offer, because I don't really trust management enough to see that I'm trying to be fair and help them out... I imagine I'd get a big "FU, don't let the door hit you on the way out" if I even hinted that I was going to leave if things don't improve.

[kfcm]

TL;DR: My advice to you is to get out fast. As more people leave, the further behind the company will get, and the more pressure and blame will be placed upon those who stay.

This is sounds suspiciously like my last employer (before I started my own business). I had started in November, and just a couple of days before Christmas, management announced all Christmas vacations were cancelled, and we were expected to be at work on Christmas Day. They relented after every single person under the CIO (including Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu faiths--hey, company paid vacations unify world religions!) said the company would have their resignations within minutes unless they reversed their decision. They did.

But within the next couple of months, they started having rounds of layoffs. First, senior management (including CIO). Then down the line. Unbeknownst to everyone, the owner had put the company up for sale, and the Christmas thing was to try to get people to quit in order to avoid unemployment tax hikes.

[corallis]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it. Your advice is in-line with my current thoughts and plans, I'm just trying to figure out if there's any alternative or anything I haven't considered. I'm already well on my way to moving on, but hearing that I'm making the right decision will help push me into taking action sooner.

[cr0sh]

My suggestion - for the future of course - save up an "FU" fund - 6 months of your current salary (gross or net is up to you). Having such a thing available makes these kinds of decisions more bearable (not easier - just bearable) no matter how long you've been at a company. The more you can save, the better.

[chrisbennet]

” They relented after every single person under the CIO (including Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu faiths--hey, company paid vacations unify world religions!) said the company would have their resignations within minutes unless they reversed their decision. They did.”

If he wanted then to quit, why didn’t he accept their resignations? I’m missing something.

[onemoresoop]

Run