It has gotten steadily worse over the past couple of years. Cost of living adjustments are rare, raises even more so. Training is out unless you are new, underpaid and extremely green. Forget about peer training as most work exists in silos, even on a team there is almost no overlap of skills.
Benefits have decreased steadily, the pension plan got axed, the 403b matching is a joke and medical gets worse by leaps and bounds each year. The past three years we have been forced to burn/lose banked vacation time and getting time off is often a problem. Because of a lack of coverage, there is often the expectation you will continue working to some degree while on vacation.
Lately the problems have escalated. New development has been largely frozen, paperwork and progress meetings have taken over most of the week. We spend a great deal of time defending against the one person no one should not have to justify work to... our direct manager.
Work has taken a strange, incident-based approach. Run-the-business work that keeps the lights on and the systems running smoothly is now frowned upon. Instead, work is done only when something breaks and an incident is created. This type of reactionary workplace is eventually going to lead to all sorts of problems and potentially lawsuits.
In order to cover work with a reduced workforce, a concept of flexing is in place. Instead of doing what they are best at, highly trained professionals are out installing PC's and operating systems, doing data entry and installing software.
