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Sad, but true. And has been true for decades.
quote:Originally posted by Pantera 4134:
Sad, but true.
While I agree with the sentiment behind the humor here, that a lot of government agencies have way too much over-head in the form of layers of management, I disagree with using the fellows in this picture to make that point.
You have guys wearing denim pants & coveralls labeled as managers. This is very INACCURATE. If they were managers they'd be wearing slacks and ties. In reality, the managers and engineers show up at the job-site for a few moments, observe the work and pretend they know whats going on, then make an asinine comment how somebody could be doing something better. Then they head back to the main office for a second donut and cup of coffee, and to finish the newspaper before their next meeting.
If they're not managers who are the guys standing around? Well, did you notice the other shovels, the pick and the 90 pound electric jack hammer? Do you think Jose did all that digging himself? Have you ever done the tango with a 90 pound electric jack hammer? After about a half hour you're tuckered out, and someone else has to relieve you.
When they reach whatever it is they are digging to find, the hole will have to be shored up before anyone can enter the hole to fix whatever is broken underground. This is OSHA required. That takes a crew, it can't be done by one or two guys. A couple of those guys waiting for Jose and friends to reach the problem and shore the hole are either pipe fitters or electricians, the guys who actually have the training to fix whatever is broken under ground. There might be a licensed welder waiting around, and a back-hoe operator too. If this is a water main problem, then one of the guys standing around is a licensed water treatment operator, he's the guy who has to disinfect the pipeline after the repair work is completed, before they start serving water to customers again. Each one of those guys standing around is there because there's a probability they will be needed.
You have one very weary looking gray haired man labeled as a supervisor. This is accurate. This guy and others like him are responsible for maintaining your city's infrastructure, they keep your city functional. He probably supervises 50 people, has 5 crews strewn all around the city, has to make sure each crew performs an OSHA required daily tail gate meeting at each job site, document that meeting, make sure each crew is equipped with tools, information and materials required to perform their jobs, listen to the engineer's and manager's BS when they visit the job site, coordinate each crews work with other groups, and drive across town frequently to attend meetings, inform the managers what his crews are doing so the managers can believe they are in control or to justify their jobs. Truth is, if all the managers took a year off to vacation in Tahiti, the work would go on just fine without them, and the employees attitudes would improve. These are the guys that should be laid off, but they aren't in this picture.
If OSHA were to show up at this job site, the gray haired supervisor would be dinged because nobody is wearing a hard hat. Nobody likes wearing a hard hat, they're hot and heavy, so the supervisor cuts the crew some slack and doesn't force them to wear them, after all, in this instance there are no overhead dangers. But OSHA doesn't care about the supervisor's judgment, they're gonna ding him just to prove they have the power. After OSHA does their best to lay a guilt trip on him, the managers are gonna chew the supervisors ass for making them look bad and costing the city a thousand bucks or more.
Could the city get by with fewer managers? Sure. But you need the guys in this picture. If you cut back the guys in this picture, and a water main breaks on your street afterward, that smaller workforce may take 3 weeks before they can get a crew out to fix your water main. Until then you'll just have to live without water. Will you agree to that compromise? Unfortunately, cities and counties across our nation are cutting back crews like that at this very moment.
-G (a supervisor for a city of 4 million people)
One of MY coworkers was in a conundrum where he did not know how to cut back labor. His supervisor told him he had to let somebody go. It was either Jack or Mary. He finally approched Mary and told her he "either had to lay her or Jack off". Mary told him to just jack off because she had a headache any way. C'm on.. you saw that coming? 