On 2/9/2014 10:19 AM, notbob wrote:
> On 2014-02-09, Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>> but more management jobs opened up in the head office.
>
> I have theory about mdl mgt. See, upr mgt doesn't wanna hafta deal
> with the common worker, cuz when upr mgt comes out to the production
> area and asks a question, like "What's that?", the everyday working
> stiff is likely to reply, "It's a screwdriver, ya' ignorant git!".
> Upr mgt doen't like it when that happens. They wanna paper report
> with charts and graphs and where a simple answer is couched in a lotta
> nonsensical horsepucky, like, "What we have here is a hand driven
> device for applying mechanical force to metal fasteners yada
> yada......". Hence, middle management is needed to provide an
> insulating layer between the upper elite and the poor working slob
> down in the trenches. Simple, eh?
>
> nb
>
And quite plausible! Most of the upper eschalon was clueless about what
each department in IT actually did. They hired middle managers and
supervisors (usually equally clueless) to deal with us.

I recall one time a wanna-be, thought-she-was, upper-management type
freaked out because her email was down. (I was on the early shift, the
only one in my dept. at that time of the morning). I said yes,
everyone's email is down. One of the servers crashed. Well DO
something about it!

What the heck did she expect me to do? Get out a tool-kit and repair
the server?! The department I worked in didn't do *that* kind of tech
support. I didn't even have access to the mail servers. But you don't
*dare* tell a manager it's not your job, even when it isn't. It's
ridiculous.

Shortly after *she* implemented the RIF's in the IT departments she was
in charge of (which was in itself a joke since she was definitely no
techie), she got RIF'd herself. The REAL upper management people
finally realized she'd let all of the most experienced staff go. Gee,
how sad she never got that big corner office! LOL

Jill