Waah! I know I should be happy to have a job, but for 8 years I got spoiled on having my own office. And now they moved me & my coworkers into a "NOC/SOC" room, aka Network Operations Center / Security Operations Center, which for the last couple of decades has been all the rage for upper management to show off I.T. stuff, especially now that the mainframe computers don't have rows & rows of pretty flashing lights and fast-spinning tape drives.
I had a 10x10 office with a door, bookcase, big desk with a return, a 2-drawer file cabinet plus another drawer cabinet of similar size, and a table on which I put a mini-fridge and my coffee maker. I kept a plant. On the walls I had posters, calendar, and an ever-growing collection of notes, memos, bulletins, and certificates.
Now I have a 4-1/2 foot shelf, with 3 drawers. Not even a place for a wall calendar. We have been told we can't have food & drink in here. There is a small break room outside however.
These seats are never filled at the same time. Until 3 pm, my day shift coworker will be the only other person in here with me. Second shift has 2 people plus a 7pm to 3am guy, and there is 1 third shift guy. We have no privacy from each other. So far, nobody has farted, but that will surely change.
The screens on the wall are of no concern to me. I do all my work on my desktop. Maybe some day they intend to put other duties on me, but at 60 years old, I will be reluctant to learn something new.
After 40 years in this career, this is a giant step backwards for me. I'm depressed. Forgive me for whining... like I said, I should be glad to have a job.
Give it some time and it will go back to the way it was once they see productivity drop and error rate increase.
For a while it was the rage to give tech managers a desk and bookcase in the shop instead of an office. EVERYBODY was doing it mostly because so-and-so had done it.
Once they realized we couldnt get sheet done, not even a phone call, due to background noise and interuptions it went back to private office space.
I'm curious what kind of work you do that would necessitate a watch floor. I know that's the rage now... but most places really just need one guy watching a set of monitors 24/7 (shifts) to ensure everything is operating within parameters. A watch floor, as you know, is specifically designed to help facilitate quick collaboration during critical moments of network operation... like during a massive attack, an incident response, or something. For most non-Defense / non-ICS and SCADA... no organization really needs that. If you're there by yourself most times, then there's really no point of even having a watch floor anyway. Especially if the line of work your company does, is just produce widgets.
Granted, its easy for sysadmins to see people's browsing history and time spent, but when everyone's monitors are facing the boss (when he can walk in from behind)... well... hahah...
It could be worse... the National Counter-Terrorism Center in Virginia at ODNI was developed by Disney... imagine having to work in that open space... how distracting it would be.
Mostly my job is to monitor a specific list of jobs that run on a schedule, and we check them off (yeah, on actual paper) when they complete. Also, we often get requests to add jobs to run, or keep some from running. When something goes wrong, there are some things we can do, and then if we can't fix it, we tell the programmers about it. That's pretty much it.
When things are running well, we have long periods of boredom, during which we need something to do like read a book or do something on the Internet. If they want 100% watchfulness, they gotta pay more, and even then we would still go nuts if we couldn't do something else once in a while.
If Florida ever starts the $15 minimum wage, I would get a small raise. I made almost twice this salary in Houston.
After the "new" of this room wears off, I hope to resume using my laptop for extra-curricular activities. Social media, Youtube, Dropbox, and some other things are blocked on my work pc.
Your job means nothing and having an office or even a big cube is now too many Square Feet to justify for Space Management people. You immediate supervisors may not even have a say. Many moves like this are steps to covert to be a contractor or farm out to contractor co's that hire only H1B.
If you post a whine from or about work... Worse... You posted pictures w/ Exif data and Location... Very easy to "trace" the phone that took them w/o searching the office just using google maps or earth. Then add Mouse pad is on you desk??? Be prepare for discipline by bosses/HR, bad reviews, even getting fired often "with cause" for violation of company policies. Termination "with cause" in many states disallows you to collect State's Unemployment Insurance.
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
12 workstations for, what, four people at any given time? You're lucky to have your own desk! I'm surprised they didn't fit it all into your old office.
Shoot, I hope they don't read this, it'll give them ideas.
Mostly my job is to monitor a specific list of jobs that run on a schedule, and we check them off (yeah, on actual paper) when they complete. Also, we often get requests to add jobs to run, or keep some from running. When something goes wrong, there are some things we can do, and then if we can't fix it, we tell the programmers about it. That's pretty much it.
When things are running well, we have long periods of boredom, during which we need something to do like read a book or do something on the Internet. If they want 100% watchfulness, they gotta pay more, and even then we would still go nuts if we couldn't do something else once in a while.
If Florida ever starts the $15 minimum wage, I would get a small raise. I made almost twice this salary in Houston.
After the "new" of this room wears off, I hope to resume using my laptop for extra-curricular activities. Social media, Youtube, Dropbox, and some other things are blocked on my work pc.
I mean this with utmost respect, but just want to get an understanding here. You're making under $15 an hour, and you're manning a "SOC?" I don't blame your company, I blame you. You live in Florida. Florida is one of the fastest growing states in the nation. It is considered a major technical epicenter. They now have a larger population in Florida than in NY. There are more businesses moving there than anywhere else.
You've been there now for almost 9 years, and you're making ~$14 an hour?
I don't understand it.
Again, I'm not trying to be mean, but the problem with a lot of people not having a decent salary, is the fact that they don't bother to ask for it. It's a risk you have to be willing to take... but you've been there for 9 years, and you're barely making more than I made when I was 19 doing tech support back in 1997. Again, not trying to be a prick, but the economy in and around where you live more than supports a larger pay for what you're doing.
The company you work for is under absolutely no obligation to pay more for you unless you ask for it.
Think of it like an insurance company. Many years ago, I had GEICO insurance for almost 10 years. I was paying an asinine amount of insurance for two cars. I finally took the initiative and searched for a better price, and the very first company I got a quote from offered me less than HALF what I was paying, with better options. When I called to cancel, only then did GEICO say... "We can match that price..." so I asked them why they didn't offer me a lower price years ago. Of course, they didn't have a logical answer... but the reality is... they were getting HUGE value out of me. No accidents, no tickets, and paying almost 3 times what I should.
Same with your company. You've been working there for 8 years, and you're making ~$14. That's your fault.
Unless you've got a criminal record, or you're waiting out possible retirement benefits, there's no reason why you can't get another job somewhere else at like twice the pay. Again, not trying to be mean, I promise... just trying to put things into perspective in hopes it helps you in the long run.
You've been there now for almost 9 years, and you're making ~$14 an hour?
Yeah, all signs point to your management very shortly bringing in the H1B retards for you to sit next to you and train, then firing all the Americans. Get out while you can, before everyone is competing for the same jobs in that area simultaneously.
The place I used to work the head of our department wanted to put another desk and person in my office with me. My supervisor went to them and told them that it wouldn't work out :-) I have been 10 years in that office had the same desk for 14 of those years. Three months after they moved me to a new office and gave me a new desk I turned in notice happy coincidence
Originally posted by Cheever3000: Maybe some day they intend to put other duties on me, but at 60 years old, I will be reluctant to learn something new.
At 60 years old it sounds like an excellent opportunity to retire!
I also work in a "floor" environment. Been that way for twelve years. We monitor pretty much all of the company infrastructure for the entire Southeast.
One desk monitors the "Transport". Fiber optics, microwave, Muxes, channel banks, etc. Various Layer 1 devices. One desk monitors the Network. Routers and switches, etc. One desk monitors the servers. One desk (1 or 2 people) monitors PAS (production applications) and mainframe. These desks are all manned 24x7, in 12 hour rotating shifts. There is also a "shift lead" desk, that is manned for two 8 hour shifts. He kind of checks on all the other desks' issues, and picks up the slack where needed.
There are two remaining ~7AM - 3PM desks. One desk monitors our in-house LTE system that is currently being installed. Transport and Network pick up the slack after ~3PM One desk (mine) monitors the SCADA and AMI (automated metering) communications. Transport and Network also pick up the slack after ~3PM. The SCADA/AMI and the LTE desks back each other up during the day, as a great deal of the technology is overlapping.
The only people with offices are supervisors, and the people who support the behind-the-scenes operations of the center, maintaining the various tools, etc.
The open environment really works out well. Helps us to correlate problems that may have a "trickle-down" effect. Although I don't have an office, I am generally the only person who uses my desk.
Our SOC / Security folks are in a separate area.
This is a picture of our room before it was remodeled. It's the same now, only different.
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