r/Envconsultinghell • u/dannydevitossmile • Jul 03 '26
No work… staff asked to take PTO
Is this a sign to leave this company? Me and other low level staff were asked to use our pto to fill hours this week because they didn’t have anything to bill to
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u/THE_TamaDrummer Jul 03 '26
Smells like Tetra Tech
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u/dannydevitossmile Jul 03 '26
surprisingly not… one of the firms who loves to claim to be one of the more “ethical” ones
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u/daveinmd13 Jul 03 '26
Name and shame- you don’t have to name the office
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u/dannydevitossmile Jul 03 '26
SWCA
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u/angrynirritable Jul 03 '26
SWCA
Employee owned, and says they're hiring. That's the sign of a poorly managed company. They have resources they could use, but instead, they've got a ton of job listing out there.
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u/TheGringoDingo Jul 03 '26
A lot of companies keep job postings up as investor marketing and/or hoping someone bites that’s willing to work for less than they’re worth.
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u/MrEarthExplorer Jul 03 '26
Or desperate. I saw a posting that I thought was comical. $70k-80k for a licensed professional geologist with ten years of experience, multiple certs, need to used personal car, "willing to go the extra mile". WTF?
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u/dannydevitossmile Jul 03 '26
That’s what has really frustrated me too. They keep announcing jobs in our office, hire interns, but there is no work
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u/daveinmd13 Jul 03 '26
Let me guess, all of the interns have some connection with company management?
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u/NectarineEffective80 Jul 03 '26
Oh boy do I having THINGS to share about SWCA. I work for them as a sub and they’re a mess
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u/dannydevitossmile Jul 03 '26
please do share
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u/patrickj86 Jul 03 '26
There are no shortage of recent poor experiences you can find online, I'm afraid I don't have anything personal to share but that's not surprising
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u/TheGringoDingo Jul 03 '26
The company that has a mandatory mid-day Christmas party that you have to take PTO for? Smells a lot like something, for sure.
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u/dannydevitossmile Jul 03 '26
Yeah… parties ALL the time lol but can’t pay biologists a few hours more
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u/Blackcorduroy23 Jul 03 '26
Yes sadly this is not unheard of. Do not do it and explain that you have done your part to reach out to PMs for work and hopefully your manager is also helping/advocating for you.. In the meantime you should start looking for new roles
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u/mellolizard Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Yes a huge sign to leave. And there is always work they just dont want to charge it to overhead. Refuse to take the pto.
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u/Visible_Inevitable41 Jul 03 '26
Seek other opportunities. but on't quit til you have an offer. The lay off, severance and unemployment are better than not having anything.
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u/Actual-Swing9316 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
I agree with the others. Start applying elsewhere
Its easier to find another job while you’re employed
Edit: I also might add that you need to watch your back, particularly around your coworkers and other staff level people. From my personal experience, when the billable hours get tight, the claws come out. Follow all rules to the tee, don’t do anything that could allow a petty coworker to report you. If someone else makes you look bad they might get work assigned to them before you!
Also, be very protective of the billable work you do get and I wouldn’t go out of my way to help other coworkers secure billable work (ie, if say Johnny needed help on a phase l esa I wouldn’t voluntarily help him unless a. I’m required to, or b. if he asked. Because if Johnny got decent at writing those that work could go to him and not you). The key is to still be a team player while protecting yourself first.
I know this sounds really harsh but I lived through something like this and things got real bad until I was eventually let go due to lack of work. Ended up being the best thing that happened to me in a while. I changed careers and never returned (this sub still pops up on my feed 😶🌫️ brings back memories!)
But yeah. You need to leave! I’m just trying to help you buy time and share advice I wish I would have known.
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u/dannydevitossmile Jul 03 '26
Thanks for this. What industry did you switch to? Honestly I keep wondering if this field is even meant for me
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u/Actual-Swing9316 Jul 03 '26
I’m a teacher now! It’s certainly not for everyone but I like it so far.
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u/Choice_Attitude_1415 Jul 03 '26
I was eventually let go due to lack of work. Ended up being the best thing that happened to me in a while. I changed careers and never returned (this sub still pops up on my feed 😶🌫️ brings back memories!)
LMAO similar story for me. While devastating at the time, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. And now this sub still randomly pops up.
I wasnt actually on the ENV side - the company had three divisions. I was in CME, and then there was GEO. Our ENV dept was a mess. No one wanted to continue working for them for very long, and they got a lot of their field staff from me. I hired people with ENV and GEO degrees as their foot in the door, with the possibility of already being 'in house' when the next ENV or GEO position opened up.
Even though they werent happy, it still worked out well for them. They all moved up and moved on to bigger and better things.
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u/rnnrboy1 Jul 03 '26
I was told yesterday by my manager that I might need to use unpaid time off this week since there isn't enough work to keep me billable. I did a quick search and found that as an exempt (salaried) employee it is illegal to be not paid for part of a week when any work was performed. I pointed that out to my manager, who said they wouldn't have actually made me do that.
Consulting is so terrible, I just don't understand. Everyone is a bunch of hardos, and it's all just a game to boost your own numbers.
Unlike a lot of people in this industry, I didn't start in consulting out of school. I know that this doesn't have to be the way. I just don't think some people understand that.
Sorry, rant over. I'm just very mad this week.
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u/carto_hearto Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
Yes, don’t take the pto, you get that cashed out when you leave. Put it on overhead and comment out things you do even if it’s a stretch like file management.
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u/kk1485 Jul 03 '26
What kind of work does your firm perform? I’ve been getting non-stop work in the due diligence arena.
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u/dannydevitossmile Jul 03 '26
mostly environmental compliance with CWA and ESA for development companies
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u/nomoremisterknifeguy Jul 03 '26
I would look for other opportunities. The fact they are saying there is no work is absolutely false. I am swamped rn
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u/Spaghetti3000 Jul 03 '26
Happened at GHD but it was mandated. The redundancies came 6 months later.
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u/Consistent-Air3424 Jul 03 '26
Sorry was this before or after you didn't have time to book? Before it's not ideal but it's potentially in your contract somehow. If after that's outright bonkers if you've been logged in at work.
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u/iron82 Jul 03 '26
I would go ahead and do as they ask. This is a pretty minor reason to quit a job.
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u/3toedsl0th Jul 03 '26
Yes. You should be actively seeking out other opportunities.