Something weird is going on …as a black person in the “corporate world”

[CBalla]

nikkas will be the first to go while ai continues to crush the buildings over the next decade

its not too late to flood the trade schools / apprentice before all the 50-65 black guys retire

hurry hurry

 

[Vandelay]

I've bounced back and forth the last 10 years between corporate and supply chain operations. About 8 of them years have been corporate, but I still haven't learned how to play the game. I build the relationships and I'm known as the jack-of-all-trades problem-solver/fixer in my business unit. But I've plateaued in middle management for these 10 years. My peers are in director/VP roles now.

If I can make it to director at my company, they break you off money wise. So I could cruise if i get up to that. I just don't know if I want to ascend that high anymore.

For what it's worth, I'm not in love with what I do and it effects my work quality. I'm at this nexus where I want to take my career. I'm more comfortable running my own operation because I came up off the operations floor and I tend to relate and motivate the people in operations more. In corporate I'm around 75% white people, 10% Asian, 10% Hispanic, and 5% black. I have some good relationships, but in my newest role I don't have "all" the relationships I need to advance. And I'm hitting a glass ceiling where not only do I not have all the relationships, but I'm not in love with the work so I'm not going to work twice as hard like we normally have to.

I will say the president of my company is a brother, and we periodically chat about career growth and it's helpful. My other homie just made VP at a clothing company, so I know a few brothers high up, but it's definitely the exception and not the rule.

I am also noticing black folks at my company having trouble maintaining their roles and they either get let go or they leave. I've seen 4 and possible in the last year alone. My branch office only has 200 people and if we're only 5%...that's crazy.

 

[Ozymandeas]

That’s because like I said. A lot of brehs are simply content where they are. Once they reach a certain level they burrow in, and build a fort. After a while they become OG’s they see people below them rise above them.

Every job I’ve applied to the first thing I do is check the upper management demo and it’s all white people sprinkled in with a few Asians. IT had an Asian or an India looking dude.

Women held exec support, HR or legal counsel roles.

I’ve been at enough companies to know that most of them follow the same pathway. And Linkedn has made it 10000 times worse. Just getting in the door becomes more problematic. That’s why I never signed up on that site and I always put “two or more races” for ethnicity. I would always at least get interviews.

It’s been an issue since the beginning.

I do the same thing. It's always the same. Diverse at the bottom, cacs and a handful of asians at the top.

 

[Ozymandeas]

I was talking to a breh I work with today and flat out told him if you are straight, non c00n, have hair on your face, long hair/braids/locs, have sense of self and your voice doesn’t sound like Elmo then you have a target on you out of the gate.

And you have to accept that there’s a finite distance you can go in the company and it won’t take 5-10 years to realize it. By year 2 or 3 you’ll see mediocre CACs getting unnatural career pushes and promotions.

No way they are giving you a flawless performance review so you can become a manager and maybe hire more brehs/brehettes. They are content with abysmal diversity numbers because they pay it forward to each other as long as they get someone who reminds them of their nephew or is the daughter of their frat buddy from Ohio State.

The objective is to make sure they get the next generation of the middle class/middle America employed and in a position to do the same thing in 20 years. And something tells me a bunch of brehs fit the idea they have in mind for it.

1000% facts. I'm putting out apps and trying to leave my current company because of the bolded. Going forward, every few years, it's gonna be up or out for me until I'm at the level I want

 

[The God Poster]

Is it just me?

I really got fukked over on my performance review this year and it will probably cost me about 30k after tax due to being given a lower bonus.

As a black person I always knew id never fit in with these white/asian folks and that they will always look for the simplest reason to fukk you over or cut you loose. But i am seeing it now more than ever.

The thing is it isnt just me. It seems like a lot of black ppl i know are struggling big time lately with being respected or rewarded at work across different fields

Law
Finance
IT
Tech

How are things on yalls end? Are yall noticing anything similar?

All good on my end. Thankfully my current agency is primarily skin-folk & Hispanics. It helps promos are built in etc

Why do you specifically think you were fukked over? Not saying it’s your fault but I notice people tend to overlook their own mistakes when things don’t go as planned. You part of a union ?

 

[Ohene]

Nah

All good on my end. Thankfully my current agency is primarily skin-folk & Hispanics. It helps promos are built in etc

Why do you specifically think you were fukked over? Not saying it’s your fault but I notice people tend to overlook their own mistakes when things don’t go as planned. You part of a union ?

no union
I wasn’t perfect but i busted my ass last year. I did a lot of good work and worked on the most deals compared to the rest of my team

I shouldn’t be penalized to the bottom tier just cause of some small errors in less important aspects of the job

also accomplished a lot of the goals i set during the year but i guess it’s all for show

 

[Gloxina]

I did that once. But it was for a purpose.. It just took too long. I went from supervisor to assistant manager, to general manager. The pay went from $13 an hour when I started to $55,000 a year to $65,000 a year to $91,000 a year by the time I left. I was able to flip that into an area manager position at a different company for $113,000 a year. But the process took 10 fukking years. And I'm not even in that industry anymore. I left the 2nd gig after 18 months because the work life balance was trash and the company as a whole was poorly run.

Now, I don't really advocate staying at a place for too long (5 or more years) unless it's sector that you can easily find work at. It's all a balancing act. I know people that worked in industries for well over 10 years and in the blink of an eye they get laid off. Trying to find work was hard because they held senior level positions, jobs in their industry either weren't available, or they wouldn't hire them because they were over qualified.

Depending on what industry you in, I would use working their to gain knowledge and eventually leave. Find a better situation at a competitor or start your won business. It's better to leave when you're hot instead of after they've worn you down mentally and physically.

Yes that’s kinda what I’m thinking.

I know I have a place here, but it’s gonna take so long for senior people to retire and leave.
I'm not trying to wait 20yrs to climb if I don’t have to.

One of my girls showed me an old boss of ours who managed a practice where we worked when we were younger and finishing school. She wasn’t that much older than us, but this chick is VP of some healthcare company now and we’re both like “Whoa wtf this broad climbed the ladder fast”.

Feel like I need to try to make that jump to follow ol girl’s trajectory. It’s not even like these ppl are always smarter, just bolder and willing to take chances.

 

[LiveFromLondon]

At 24… I feel like this. I think it’s genuine psychological torture that we all begrudgingly go along with.

Fam I am 31 and in the last 4 years Ive been working my way out such thinking. Cant let yourself be mentally tortured like that, just do what you gotta do with no fear

 

[Iceson Beckford]

Fam I am 31 and in the last 4 years Ive been working my way out such thinking. Cant let yourself be mentally tortured like that, just do what you gotta do with no fear

I hear you bro, short stint I had in corporate spooked me. I think it’s stressful for everyone but the added race element for us is just too much.

Spending hours acting in a weird way for these people, ain’t good for the psyche

 

[MalaKai]

It's been like this since before our time. It takes a special type brotha to make it long term in Corporate. I played the game for about 10 years until I just couldn't anymore.

-Lack of promotions
-Being the young, handsome, intelligent bul in the office can bring positive and negativity to your life in that setting. Eventually like someone said earlier, the luster will wear off and YOU WILL get a target on your back.
-The snake shyt by CACs/Asians/Indians is expected after awhile.....but to deal with it from our sistas fukked my head up something bad.

 

[LiveFromLondon]

I hear you bro, short stint I had in corporate spooked me. I think it’s stressful for everyone but the added race element for us is just too much.

Spending hours acting in a weird way for these people, ain’t good for the psyche

Yeah I know but Ironic enough Ive found working with Upper Middle and Upper Class brits in Corporate more pleasant. Working class brits are cutthroat and will come for your head unashamedly

 

[NZA]

it means the unemployment numbers are about to go way up this year

 

[Charlie Hustle]

Nothing new. Remember, the game is chess not checkers. Be respectful, tactical and ruthless.

 

[Amestafuu (Emeritus)]

My entire department is black and Latino and we get treated like crap by our company. My director is a brotha and I've read emails to him that made me mad for him. Like whoa "That's a grown ass man you talking to."

No matter how low ranking I am or where I work I always attack disrespect head on. I have people above me who tread carefully when they talk to me because I'm respected by their bosses and my own professional reputation shields me.

So when others try to speak ill of me or sabotage my reputation they meet strong resistance... Majority of conflict I've had at my current gig has been regarding respect in communication. Tone, attitude etc etc. I'll call out someone high ranking soon as they cross a line. We don't do that.

 

[Neuromancer]

Yeah I know but Ironic enough Ive found working with Upper Middle and Upper Class brits in Corporate more pleasant. Working class brits are cutthroat and will come for your head unashamedly

How is it for y'all over there? Ya'll country isn't built on capitalism as such so how does it compare? What are the goods and bads?