I’ve been mulling over which of my many stories to tell and I think this one really takes the cake. Given the department I was in was still developing, there was an immense amount of mandatory overtime. Whenever I told someone outside of work about the additional 10-12 hours per week everyone was putting in they would look at me in horror and/or bewilderment.
A holiday was coming up on a Tuesday and the entire building got that Monday off except the department I was in. Just us workers, our shift lead and manager. After that and months, March-mid August, of mandatory overtime it was difficult to picture a stable and fulfilling career at Shutterfly.
After being angrily questioned about when the overtime would end and how much everyone was exhausted and burnt out, my manager only had to say, “Well, what are you doing at home? Sitting on your couch? I’d rather you be here” which only sent morale further into the depths.
Funny thing is, a short while later I had an operation and physically couldn’t sit for long periods of time. When I got back I had instructions to stand when possible, so I decided to take a quick break and package products we had made for 30 minutes. When the manager came in they aggressively stated to the lead, “Why isn’t she on the line? What’s going on is there a hold up why isn’t she at her machine?” Which only solidified my decision to send in my two weeks notice the next day. So when I got home from my last shift, I shed tears of joy and finally sat down to play video games with my family which, you know, I hadn’t done in weeks.
