Why I Hate my Job

Every day I wake up in the morning and ask myself "where the hell are you going?” It's such a drag but I still drag my butt to work anyways. My colleagues are not bad; sure we have our ups and downs but my problem with the job itself is that I don't always get paid on time. It makes my life really difficult because I'm in constant fear of being blacklisted and not being able to afford my own basic necessities. If I didn't have parents to bail me out, I'd be utterly screwed.

I suppose it would make things a little easier to bear if management was upfront and honest and let us know beforehand how things were going. Amongst other things, I hate my job because I no longer find it challenging. I'm not picking up any new skills and it brings me no personal satisfaction. There are no opportunities for advancement nor do we get sent for any kind of training or attend any workshops or seminars that will help us to gain new skills or even improve on existing skills. I'm not saying that we can't do these things for ourselves but I mean it's nice to work for a company that actually invests in and values you as an employee. The company should have some sort of retention strategy in place (in my opinion).

I like to think that I'm a person with a good work ethic but it becomes a challenge for me to wake up and perform not knowing whether or not I will receive my salary at the end of the month. There are never any repercussions in the office when people either do not perform up to standard or don't perform at all. There aren't even repercussions for not showing up at all. I could literally sit here and do nothing all day and management would not do or say anything to me directly about it. I feel like this has left a gap for staff to get away with doing the bare minimum which is counterproductive for the company as a whole and has led to only a select few actually doing the work and others coasting through.

I am a human resources management student and studying while working has opened my eyes to a lot of injustices that go on in the workplace that employees don't do anything about for fear of losing their jobs, even though they are entitled to do or say something and express their grievances without fear of persecution. It makes me wonder just how many companies are actually ripping people off. A colleague of mine tried to ask the manager that deals with payments what was going on and apparently he threatened to close down the office. I was so stressed! 

It's sad how unaware of labour laws some workers are and how companies take advantage especially when it comes to overtime. My lord! People do not get their overtime money and when they do it is not calculated according to the labour laws on overtime which is 1.5 times your normal working rate and 2 times your normal working rate on Sundays. The last time I had to come in on a weekend all we got was a free lunch. I want my cold hard cash!!!

Our company doesn't do salary or performance reviews but we get a bonus at the end of the year (if we are lucky). This is nice but pay increases are even better. I think I'm the only person that has gotten an increase in the past 4 years and even I got an increase only once and if you ask me my salary is still a rip off. It's easy for people to ask me questions like "why don't you just quit?" Believe me I want to but I have bills to pay and this is better than nothing. There are thousands of young South Africans out there that have it worse than me. I'm grateful that I actually have a job to complain about. Our country has such a high unemployment rate. There are people sitting with Master's Degrees that are unemployed and all I have is a National Senior Certificate. If it wasn't for the fact that I work for my uncle; I'd be a statistic too.

Anyways in case you were wondering, I have looked into other avenues to get cash but my best bet at the moment seems like it would be to find alternative employment so that I can finish my studies. My current job is slowing my whole life down. I feel like I take 1 step forward and 2 steps back. As we speak, 1 of my modules for the semester has been cancelled due to non-payment because I did not get paid on time last month. It's the 7th of September and I am still waiting for August's salary. Management has yet to address that. I am now getting calls from the bank because my loan payments are behind and they are threatening to take me to the credit bureau!!! 

As a result if the outstanding salary payment my school has now financially suspended me on top of the fact that the other module was cancelled due to non-payment of the initial payment. I will not receive my results until the payment has been made. I am so frustrated right now... What's a girl to do?

It's actually gotten to a point that I only attend work these days to do my job applications and all my other personal things that require internet because I have very little motivation to do what I was actually hired for. I know it's not right but that's just where I'm at right now. My work attendance is also dwindling, I go to work as and when I please. It costs me money I don't have to get there and get back home everyday. I feel like I'm just sinking deeper and deeper into debt.

I am hopeful that things will improve for me by the end of this year in the form of new employment. As daunting as job hunting is, I refuse to give up. That is not an option.