Can we get back to reality here?
I'm a software person in BT - have been for 20 years - COBOL, C, C++, Java, etc, etc, etc. I am a member of Connect (like most IT techs in BT) and voted for industrial action - not something that I did lightly but basically the company has been pissing us about to an ever increasing extent for years and this is the final straw.
Quite amazing to see here how people let their prejudices about BT, management and unions get in the way of the facts! And interesting to see how many people have time to post during the working day - every IT pro that I know in BT is absolutely swamped with work, so few people have time to take a tea break let along peruse the delights of The Reg.
Let's get back to reality:
1. Most of the people we're talking about here (who some have derided as 'managers') are actually just ordinary workers - IT, project management, testing, network design, field engineering. We are in the management pay structure because that's the way the company chooses to organise itself. Being in the management pay structure brings a bonus (typically 7.5% on target) but removes the opportunity for paid overtime. Not a fair exchange in my view given the number of extra hours that are worked.
2. The BT 'management' (which includes 'professional') pay system goes right the way up so we're in the same pay system as the fat cat senior managers. The people who run the pay system have (because the thing is so bloody lax and open to abuse) control over where the money goes. Who do you think runs the pay system - yes, it's the fat cat senior managers who are in the same pay system. So the bastards mark each other with top performance marks and then use this as justification to give themselves the maximum possible pay rises, thus stealing money from the people doing the real work. Bloody scandalous.
3. The BT pay system is wide open to abuse. I have a 'Good' performance rating and am quite near the bottom of my pay scale. So what's my pay rise this year then? Well BT has published a thing (which the union rightly refuses to accept) which says it's "in the range 2% to 8% subject to management discretion". What sort of discretion is that FFS - seems more like a free for all to me. I'm not a blue eyed boy so I'll probably get 2% or slightly above. This happens year after year - a pay cut in real terms for someone who is near the bottom of their pay scale (and the bloody scales hardly ever go up either). People higher up the scales do even worse - pay freeze year after year.
4. There are very few 'bog standard managers' in BT. Why would BT need them and what would they do if they were here? It's a technology company so managers can't survive if they can't grasp the technology. BT is not selling baked beans. Managers in BT are in my experience generally pretty good because (1) they have come up through the ranks so know what the job is like on the grond and (2) they are unionised and so are more likely to have the confidence to stand up for us ordinary punters in response to the shit that comes down from on high.
5. Why don't I leave and go somewhere else? Good question (as I could walk into another job tomorrow) and one that I have pondered on many occasions. Answer is
(a) I don't want to work in a non-unionised company. A lot of what I see elsewhere tells me that IT people in non-unionised companies get treated like shit. Our US colleagues above are a shining example of this but we have examples closer to home as well.
(b) The work is good (even though BT is doing its best to offshore anything vaguely interesting), you won't get working on more challenging projects anywhere else in the industry.
(c) Because the company is SO DAMN BIG I have the ability to move between projects and roles reasonably easily without changing employer. Also lots of overseas opportunities on secondment which is quite attractive if you get fed up listening to all the miseryguts in the UK.
So, let's be clear, BT is hugely profitable but despite this insists on giving derisory pay increases to its ordinary IT and tech workers. But fortunately those people are unionised and have some backbone so are prepared to do something about it. Sounds completely reasonable to me.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
