The Downfall of eBay aka The Real Housewives of Utah County

I'm going to go out on a limb and venture that no one who reads my blog or knows me personally has caught on to my whereabouts or lack thereof for the last four weeks.

Let's go back in time, shall we.

On October 6, eBay publicly announced a layoff of 1500 people. These included mostly non-essential or 'redundant' positions, while merging departments together.

Seller Support used to offer newcomer sellers and existing sellers with marketing programs such as Onramp and Outreach, but effect Oct 1, these departments have been canceled to focus only on top sellers on the site.

Some entire departments were laid off, while other employees were 'exited' without the benefit of a layoff.

For the past several months, I have been applying for various promotions within eBay, without the assistance of my supervisors, who often promise the ability to rehearse internal interviews as well as allowing me to take on the tasks of the position I'm applying for - without delivering.

I had applied for 6 different promotions within the last 4 months, and most of the positions were filled with people even a new employee would say 'him/her? Really?!' or the position went unfilled and locked due to financial restraints.

My motivation had ceased as I'd become yet another victim in Cubicle Hell. Promises of a better career within the company had vanished while the department began tightening the leashes and causing a dangerously uncomfortable work environment.

My department has recently merged with another department causing double the workload, and equal the pay.

See, there's no money in the budget for my department. There is only money for the occasional gift card and emails to cancel the team building exercises we worked so hard with overtime to be able to receive.

Well, I can't say there's no money in 'the' budget. Maybe it's just our department's budget as our Top Seller department just gave 23 people $10,000 a year raises to do the EXACT same job as they did before with the term 'Senior' in front of the title.

23 people runs a little over 30% of the entire department, as it consists of a total of 89 employees.

What does it take to be a Senior Account Manager? I dunno, but almost half of the 23 have been with the company less than a year.

It's your high school letting the freshmen take on the prom, student government, and graduation.

Once again, my department does have one perk. Gift cards. Oh, wait. They get those too.

The gift cards come with notes that say 'thanks for your hard work. Together, we will win.'

Win what exactly? The ability to work harder for no benefit?

We get these cards from our supervisors just before they leave the floor once again for hours on end. If we're lucky, we'll see them at their desk for a good 15 minutes a day to assist the teams they're in charge of.

Their team leads take over as acting supervisors. A job they've done a LOT of lately. By a lot, I mean almost ALL of.

I give them major credit for the hard work they provide. They are the floor managers, they take the escalations from unhappy sellers, and they motivate their teams.

There are many theories as to where the supervisors are hiding. I've speculated there is a secret basement with skee-ball and cosmic bowling.

One thing I know they're not doing. Assisting with the one-call resolution they want us to handle. Refusing escalations from a caller who has called in ten times already shows us they truly are a 'do as I say, not as I do' type of leadership. And sending them to voice mail to be called back within a few days isn't resolving anything but your own lack of leadership.

Those of us who've been on the floor a while are trying to bail out. Sinking our teeth into ANYTHING that doesn't fall in our department. Even jobs that we have no interest in seem more interesting and more desirable than what we're doing.

With this type of 'motivation,' one begins to feel like Peter Gibbons, the protagonist of the Mike Judge comedy, 'Office Space,' indicating one will 'do just enough work to not get fired.'

My lack of motivation placed me in a set of self-destruction. After all, I wasn't getting the promotion anyway. It's just being dangled like a carrot, and you know - I'm not a huge fan of carrots anyway.

When talking to my supervisor about it, he seemed more frustrated that because my production was down, the people around me were carrying my weight.

Basically, the way my supervisors have been using their team leads to do their job, which made it clear that it's acceptable for exempt employees, but unacceptable for non-exempt employees.

As a person, I think my direct supervisor is a nice guy with a good heart. However, he's worked for the company so long, every word uttered from his mouth sounds like a corporate talking point instead of a legitimate thought.

I can't tell him something off script only to expect a scripted answer. So, I didn't tell him why I was feeling the way I was. I mean, why? A fortune cookie could give me a better outlook.

Besides, he's also the supervisor of our department's training. Since he took those reigns on, he really has no time to be a regular supervisor. I don't blame him. If given the choice, I'd handle trainings over seller support any day.

I've been my team's go to guy for everything. After all, no supervisor on the floor means no one to ask when the hard questions come up. In theory, I too have been doing their job for MONTHS.

So, I started looking for another job. One that will appreciate me and more so - one that doesn't confine me to a cube.

I've not worked for eBay since mid-October, and I'm okay with that.

It's funny. Even those I no longer work with instant message me via Skype to ask questions about eBay so they can help their people.

Think about it, eBay. Your employees would rather turn to someone no longer at eBay than someone who is a supervisor at eBay for advice on how to handle a situation.

We'll see how that pans out - but until then, I'll be here at home, handling my duties as a housewife.

If you read this and want a copy of my resume, feel free to email me.

Until then, off to do laundry, make dinner, and maybe get my hair did.