the pursuit of happyness...

everytime i meet my frend and colleaque Nadia, our main topic of discussion is always the same..

1. how much we hated our work

2. how we wish we could resign tomorrow

3. what are we going to do with all that free time *hihi*


working in a an international oil and gas company is really not as glamorous as everyone thinks. unfortunately this is the mindset of most people, especially the older generation folks. just say only my company name, you can actually see the way their faces lit, their respect grew while they nodded knowingly, thinking or saying out loud "wah, pay must be good aa, bonus sure 8 months" while winking conspirationally.


but u know what, all that money, its really not worth it. im too lazy to even list down all the shit that we go through working here, but suffice to say, there's no money enough in the world that can compensate to literary vomitting because you have too much work and your head feels like exploding, or finding yourself suddenly sobbing your hearts out because you're too tired and exhausted or having sleepless nights and your dreams are filled with work stuff, that you get up feeling more dead than alive.


seriously not worth it.

early this month, the global heads for our department came down for a quick visit. msia's team has always been the one to be the first to get hit if the global wants to implement something or try something new or get something done, and us, being asians, no matter how much we complained and grieved and whined, at the end of the day, the asian prides and ego still prevails and in effort to show the mat salleh that we are made of stronger stuff, we would be successfully in completing whatever they throw at us, even if we have to die trying.

such a lousy way to work isnt it? but there you go.

so anyway, they came and one the of the thing that cropped up during the get together is work life balance. so lemme, tell you, work life balance is a HUGE thing in this company, am not sure about other oil n gas cos, but here, its an issue people are most concerned about. and every march, right after the bonuses are announced (see how "clever" it all is), there will be a global survey for everyone, on what they think of the company, job security, salary and all HR related and people related issues, and of course, work life balance.

and every year, the score on work life balance, especially on the asia side, is pitiful.

and every year, we would ask the global company, what are they doing to help us get this balance.

so this year, they came and we asked the question, straight to the global head.

and her answer?
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is simply "we (the company) are not responsible for your work life balance, if you have an inbalance, then it is due to your time management, not the company"

you can almost hear the collective drop of hearts and brains and all other organs into the floor as the whole team grasp in amazement of the true meaning of her words..

if that's the case;

1. what the hell is the yearly people survey is bloody for? for fun? like seeing the result and thinking "oh lookie, work is 99% and life is 1%, ok, now maybe i will consider giving this 20mil usd cost savings initiatives for them to deliver in 3 months, or then again, maybe i will, who needs a life anyway"

2. it totally gives the company the freedom to throw anything at us even though we are already heavily ladened and burdened with so many deliverables that we are putting in 16 hrs per day, and they just get away with "hey, its not our problem, its you who does not how to manage your time"

utter crap right?


both of us are workaholic. we have no issues working hard. we love challenges and getting the numbers right.


but like what both of our other half said, you guys work like crazy but in the end, the company gets the profit, while we're lucky if we even get a thank you or a pat on the back. bonuses depends on the group performance, so even if you do perform like crazy, in 2009 due to the recession, its barely mentionable the bonus we get, so really what the point? pay rise depends on the performance yes, but because we work in a crazy competetive dog eat dog world, if you put in 100% there will always be someone who will put in 200%, and that person will compete with someone who puts in 300% and so its a never ending race.



so, just so you know im not simply complaining here (although yes, i do complain and whine about this a lot in my blog but hello, that's the whole purpose of my blog, so that i can vent out and whine as much as like hahaha) i am doing something about it..


its a bit slow at the moment but there are some options im working on.


wish me luck and doa for me k!