My main complaint isn't that my boss overworks me, it's that he under pays me for what I do. We only have 6 technically inclined people that work for us, there are 10 total. I do the work of at least 3 people and get paid a high-school graduate salary. I knew the pay going into the job, that goes without saying. I also saw potential in the company, which is why I signed the contract in the first place. Recent events made me realize that this company is going to flounder quickly because my bosses are too cheap to pay for real equipment, real software, and more people. He always wonders why people will work for a week and then quit, he's truly dumbfounded that no one wants to work 12-16 hour days for the salary equivalent of $15/hour.
I'd be more than happy to work the hours that I do, and more, if he doubled or tripled my salary. A year ago I thought that would actually happen, after my recent yearly review, I've come to realize that it will never happen. The rest of the employees are feeling the same way. The only accountant we have wants to leave, as do 2 of our other IT guys. If that happens then they'd be truly fucked, and they're too blinded by greed to see it coming. The morale around the office is terrible, yet they think everything is sunshine and fluffy-bunny hugs.
I plan on speaking to my bosses tomorrow about the situation. I just found out that a new hire makes the same as me, has less experience, and doesn't work as much as I do. I'm not going to waste my time looking for a second job when I plan on moving back home when my contract is up. Since my fiance owns a house, I will have no rent (technically speaking), so the bills will be easier to manage. Since I mostly do development work and research, I can work from home. I'm not wanting to do that out of laziness, but because I actually enjoy the work and can do it back home.
If they don't want to pay me what I'm worth then I'm leaving. There have been a few times in the past month or two where I was about to tell them to fuck off and take the rest of my savings and move home. I enjoy my job when I'm not being hovered over by my boss and having him interrupt me with random questions and suggestions that normally lead to me wasting time.
I am going to sit down with him and tell him that if he wants me to work longer hours then I expect more pay, otherwise I'm out of there at 4:30pm, on the dot, every day, since I come in early. The company would fall apart if I were to leave right now. We have two major projects finishing up and they know very little about them (their problem, not mine). My only concern is that they will want me to sign a contract for a raise, which I will not do, unless it involves me working from home.
I don't know how much they are making, but I know what they are charging some of the clients. We have 80 clients, ranging from small offices to multi-offices, prices will vary depending on their size. Let's assume that they charge, on average, $1000/month per client (which, in my opinion, is incredibly low).
That's $80,000/month, or $960,000/year. My guess is that they pay the rest of the employees $200,000/year. That leaves ~$700,000 in profit after misc expenses. Yes, founders of a company make the bulk of the profit, but when an employee is putting in just as much work as a founder, the salary they offer is truly insulting. I didn't have a problem with the pay because my bills weren't that high and I could keep a decent amount in savings. That's all changed now, and my savings will last me about 2 weeks next month.
End of October, I will not be making enough money to cover my expenses by a long shot, and canceling my support here is a drop in the proverbial bucket. Tomorrow will be an interesting day, to say the least.
Holy wall of text...