Give Me Five #5 - My job

The topic for this week is, "Give Me Five things you like and/or dislike about your job."

This is a hard one for me right now because there is a lot of uncertainty at my job and whether any of us in the department will still be employed after June. Rumors abound and nobody knows yet what will happen. It makes for a very difficult workplace at times.

Given that, here are my 5 likes and/or dislikes about my particular job:

1. I like what I do. It seems like I either end up with a job where I don't enjoy what I'm doing as much but like the people and environment that I'm working in, or just the opposite. Right now I like the actual work, but it's been hard getting to know anyone well or really feeling like I fit into the department. Of course, I'm not employed by the department that I work in, which makes it difficult to begin with.
   
   
2. Having said that I like what I do - I don't like that there's no oversight or central management of GIS where I work. We're all pretty much on our own, which is ok in some ways, but we don't really have the clout or authority to dig up more of our own work to do. The way that GIS services are managed isn't very logical or practical in terms of making things work well overall. A lot of things have been at a standstill for the past couple of years and we're pretty much just maintaining the status quo.
   
   
3. Working for a contractor isn't the most secure of positions. Also, we're immediately set apart from all of the other staff since we have different benefits and policies. There's a lot of resentment at our not being city staff since they have better pay and benefits for doing pretty much the same amount of work. And knowing that we could all lose our jobs in a few months - that doesn't help morale either. I've worked there for 17 months now and I'd say that my company has lost on average about an employee a month since I started. The turnover rate is horrible - mostly because they don't pay very well for the field, and because they don't make any effort to retain quality people.
   
   
4. I do like working with many of the people and departments that I've had the opportunity to do projects for. I enjoy some of these quite a lot, and wish that those departments could be convinced to create (or share) a GIS position. I'd be first in line to apply for it, if they did.
   
   
5. I like my work area and desk space that I have right now. Having a semi-private office with a wall of windows has improved my outlook and I feel much more motivated and comfortable. I do wish that there were more options for flexible work schedules and/or possibilities to work from home. But, my boss is much more flexible and understanding than others that I've had in the past though and I'm very thankful for that. Case in point - I'm home today with a toddler who threw up in the middle of the night and I can 'enjoy' the sick day without feeling incredibly guilty for having called in.
   

So what are your 5 likes and/or dislikes about your job? Head on over to Becca's Buzz to share yours and check out more!