Today is my first day back working since the news, and ... - anon

I took the entire weekend in silence and did a lot of thinking, and made some decisions. 

One thing that I know for sure about myself is that this bankruptcy issue is the END for me.  I've felt the end was coming, with the 99.6% requirement, and then even more so with the 99.7% requirement, but working for a company who requires more of ME than it does of ITSELF is a complete deal-breaker.  I won't work for a company that doesn't pay its bills - because that puts us ALL wide open to not being paid ourselves.  It doesn't matter *which* type of bankruptcy they filed - companies that are healthy and viable don't file bankruptcy of either kind.   We all have different levels of tolerance and all of these things combined have made this an intolerable work situation for me.  It should be intolerable for ALL of us.  If this were happening to a dear friend, what would you tell them?  Well right now I'm being my own dear friend.

The other thing I decided is, to leave this field altogether.  I've done transcription my entire career life - I've worked for MM/MQ for 16 years.  It's all I know ... but that's what makes me perfect for the medical field.  So this week will be the first time I step foot on the college up the street to find out about the medical programs they offer and I'm going to start the ball rolling to get out of this insanity.  Staying in transcription would only mean that those who are left will be jumping from company to company only to find out they are all the same - they are all insane and they all pay the same pay.  Jumping ship to ship isn't good enough for me in order to finish out my career life so I'm taking my skills getting out - into something more stable.

Finally, the bankruptcy filing changes another element for me.  In my mind, MM is now on the discount shelf for what it CAN and CAN'T require of my work.  As far as I'm concerned, MM can no longer require 99.7% quality work from me because they won't get it.  A company that can't pay its bills is not going to get Superhuman quality from me and they shouldn't from you, either.  My personal work ethic dictates that I will do my very best work, just like I always have, because that's what I require of myself.  I will continue to take REASONABLE CARE to produce work according to the Client Profile and the standards of transcription, but no longer will I lose sleep over the ridiculous weekly/monthly audits, having my work nitpicked with inconsistent standards, etc.   I will glance over the audits as they come but the days of obsessing are gone.  Until I leave, I will do my best and no more than that. 

I hope the rest of you have had a chance to formulate a plan also.  I'm a single mom and this is my only form of income into the house so I don't take this situation, or my decisions, lightly.  Yes, this is a *seriously* scary move for me because a lot rides on making good choices but one thing I do know about myself is once I'm done, I'm done.  No one ... absolutely NONE of us should tolerate working for a bankrupt company.  NONE of us.  If you haven't already done so, I suggest taking a long look inside yourselves to figure out a next step.  Only YOU know what that looks like for yourself.  But don't just figure out a plan, put it all down on paper and begin taking action on it because the clock is ticking and at some point, this company's house of cards is going to start tumbling and when it does, the fall out will be bad.  Those of you hoping to stay in the industry think the job market is bad now, when (not if) this company goes under, the flood of thousands employees jumping to other companies means there won't be jobs ANYwhere. 

Good luck, everyone.  I hope you see this as the final straw - you all deserve better.  MUCH better.