I have been working at the same position for some time now. While my boss is a big proponent of having a life outside of work, it feels like lately, I have been having to work after-hours and on the weekends on a semi-normal basis. I want my work-life balance back.
The chaos all started when our department received word that a major grocery chain in the United States selected our company to be one of their food suppliers. This major grocery chain demanded that our product needed to be in their stores as soon as possible. There needed to be an establishment of the foundation of a supplier-customer relationship in a matter of weeks, rather than months. Because of this quick turnaround, the setting up of the items in our system resulted in mistakes and cut corners, which came to haunt us later. It also did not help that this major grocery chain was a high-maintenance customer that consistently tried to finger our company for mistakes for every opportunity for a lower cost of our items.
Our warehouse in the USA was not prepared for the tidal wave of new product that had to come into the building, as well as having to ship out the orders on time. The managers and employees in the warehouse struggled with trying to fulfill the numerous orders of this customer, and that is with the warehouse working 7 days a week and implementing multiple shifts a day. As a member of our company's IT department, I have to be available 24/7 in order to assist with any issues that may arise.
The constant need to be available is negatively affecting my mental health and is negatively affecting my social life. I had to miss Thanksgiving lunch with my family because I had to help with testing the transmission of purchase orders for this customer. There was also another instance on a Friday night where I went to Canada's Wonderland and received a panicked e-mail from my boss asking to help with a critical issue with the warehouse. I did not have my laptop with me, so I could not help him. In addition, my other co-worker who could also fix this issue was also out for the night, and so my boss had to call my other co-worker while she was on her way to dinner for her to talk him through fixing this issue.
Because of my poor mental health because of trying to satisfy this customer, I am having difficulty sleeping because I keep thinking about issues that will present itself. I find myself compulsively checking my phone for any work emails. I am also becoming increasingly bitter toward my co-workers because it feels like I have to shoulder most of the workload for after-hours and weekend support. I am starting to get migraine headaches because I am being overworked with very little to show for it from the company. I am going to go the doctor and take some time off from work so I can try to recuperate as much as possible.
From being with this company, I know that they do not invest in their hard-working employees, so it seems like there is only one option for me...
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