Staying at home

So here's the thing.

The upper management at my Day Job has decided in their infinite wisdom that, regardless of the fact that the entirety of our team is client facing only through email and phone and NOT physically, we are still considered exempt from Mayor Breed's (and numerous other civic leaders') "shelter in place" announcement from yesterday, and thus still need to go into the office. The Mayor has made it a mandate that if we have the ability to work from home, we should do so. The Day Job powers that be want me in office because...?? Who the fuck knows.

Let's put this into perspective. I work emails all day. That's ALL I do. The occasional phone call and a lot of non-visual Skype chatting, but I do not physically face any other people other than my coworkers and occasionally the snack shop lady downstairs. Added to the fact that before last November, I'd been working from home full-time for several years. So it's not as if I'm unable to do the same damn job I always do at home instead of at the office. My ability to do my job should not enter into it at all.

I should also add that one of my managers stated that "the only reason we're not all working from home is that our systems would crash from the volume."

Really?  Fucking really?

This is Bank of America, one of the biggest banks in the world, and they're too cheapass to have better servers? (Well, they're too cheapass about a lot of things, but that's another post entirely.) But I digress.

As it stands, I called HR last night about this, and at first they were rather surprised that my management would decide this kind of thing, especially considering how much it's expanded to other counties. But ultimately, HR told me this morning that it's all down to my division's marketing manager to make the decision.

Which brings me to yesterday's phone call, in which we were told that said manager said we were exempt. And that it's up to HR to make a decision.

So I'm at an impasse. Everyone wants to make a decision but no one actually wants to take responsibility. Except me.

I'm about to flex my creative writing fingers and write an email to my managers (and their manager, who was on the call yesterday) stating my case. This could cost me a job, but who knows. Maybe they'll crack, maybe they won't. I don't know. We can afford this if I have to leave the job, so don't worry about that. If anything, I'm hoping I can cause a noise that might inspire others.

We shall see.

Staying at Home, Part Two

So.

The bank refused to make any exceptions. I was told that "there are certain business expectations that need to be met", and that I need to come in to the office in order to meet them. I had to follow the bank rules. There were two ways to go: either come in to the office, or resign, as I'd claimed I would if they refused to back down.

So as of this afternoon, I gave my two weeks' notice. I'm finishing up my sentence at home, sheltering in place.

Roughly thirteen years given to this company. I never loved the job, but I didn't hate it. Like nearly all of my other jobs I've ever held, it was a paycheck and I got along with everyone okay. It wasn't my career: that's my writing. And I'd said those words to each of my managers over the years so they would understand that I have a life outside this job, an important one, that I will not give up or sacrifice. When they took away my Work from Home situation (reason: "we've seen the numbers and we feel that associates are more productive in an office atmosphere", which is utter bullshit), that was the breaking point. It was only a matter of time before I jumped ship.

I never thought it would be because the bank would refuse to make any exceptions to their rules, even during a fucking pandemic.

What an absurd and and pathetic way to go.


Again, don't worry about me. We can handle this. This will give me time to think about what I really want to do with my job and/or career from here on in, without the stress of this job hanging over my head. I'll be looking for something closer to home, something at a much smaller company, something where I'm treated with respect instead of as a number. And importantly, something that will let me balance the job with my writing career.