Posted on 08/01/2010 10:23:28 AM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
The treatment of workers by American corporations has been worse — far more treacherous — than most of the population realizes. There was no need for so many men and women to be forced out of their jobs in the downturn known as the great recession.
Many of those workers were cashiered for no reason other than outright greed by corporate managers. And that cruel, irresponsible, shortsighted policy has resulted in widespread human suffering and is doing great harm to the economy.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Andrew Sum, an economics professor and director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. “Not only did they throw all these people off the payrolls, they also cut back on the hours of the people who stayed on the job.”
As Professor Sum studied the data coming in from the recession, he realized that the carnage that occurred in the workplace was out of proportion to the economic hit that corporations were taking. While no one questions the severity of the downturn — the worst of the entire post-World War II period — the economic data show that workers to a great extent were shamefully exploited.
The recession officially started in December 2007. From the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2009, real aggregate output in the U.S., as measured by the gross domestic product, fell by about 2.5 percent. But employers cut their payrolls by 6 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Companies bear their primary responsibility to their shareholders; their secondary responsibility to their customers and a distant tertiary responsibility to their employees. Companies do not exist as employment wells for the good of the community.
I agree with your basic premise. However, my employer (a household name undergoing a difficult transition) has cut workers to the bone but not managers. The manager/worker bee ratio is at record highs. I am not convinced that this has well served the shareholders. I think the great sage, Yogi Berra, summed it up well:
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.
The treatment of workers by American corporations has been worse — far more treacherous — than most of the population realizes. ... Many of those workers were cashiered for no reason other than outright greed by corporate managers.
Why those evil bast**ds!
How DARE they think of PROFIT and watching out for their shareholder's investments.
The filthy capitalist PIGS!
Down with the Bourgeoisie.
Up with the Proletariat.
Workers of the world, Unite!
Without pain we become spoiled, lazy, expectant.
I also agree with your basic premise. I think the distance runner, Roger Bannister, summarized it nicely:
Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle--when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I work in a large corporation that has had several downsizings. I have survived them by running hard. At least where I work, it looks like those of us who spend most of our days working on project work are running a lot harder and longer than those who spend their time going from meeting to meeting. Quite frankly, we are reaching the point of exhaustion. There certainly seems to be a high ratio of bureaucrats to worker bees. Guess who makes the rules... Guess who pays the price when things go poorly.
Just out of curiosity, I would interested to know how many downsizings you've lived through. I don't intend this as a put down but would be interested whether you have lived through what you are suggesting. The writer to the Hebrews does point out that no discipline is pleasant...
I realize you are being extreme but you still manage to show with your sarcasm how countries end up drifting towards socialism. Given the choie of living off of the scraps of a benevolent employer who provides the job you should be so thankful for or the benevolent government, the government by virtue of its size and ability to print money can usually offer a better deal.
Of course in the long run, as proven by examples in Russia and China, the government runs out of money and millions starve to death. That's basically a wash since it's already been stated that the company owes you nothing so you would starve in either case.
I know you mean well, but please understand that a company--an economy--is like a machine.
In fact, you are a company. You have machines (your muscles and your brain), you have management (your ability to reason). Instead of employees, you may have subcontractors (other service providers to whom you turn for things you can't produce). Instead of customers you have an employer or general contractor or clients to whom you provide a service.
Do you owe me anything? Not if we have not entered into contract for services provided.
Your customers do not owe you anything. They have needs and you compete to meet them.
You do not owe your subcontractors anything (except for services/products provided). But you have needs and are willing to pay them for their services.
When an economy contracts, needs dry up and so does your interaction with others.
Whether we like it or not, life is like a jungle (there are no guarantees). We struggle to stay alive.
If you cannot accept that, maybe you don't like life and would be happier in a zoo.
Cuba has such a zoo and Venezuela. China and Russia used to have such zoos, but they found that the zoo concept doesn't work.
This issue of life being a jungle and having no guarantees is where socialists and communists try to sell their lies (I say "lie" because they cannot change reality...they can only offer empty promises to those so desperate to escape the uncertainties of life they are willing to accept those lies as truth).
Then the primary respondant, the shareholders will sell their stock driving down the value of the enterprise and forcing management to discover how best the maximize shareholder value. This may force them to re-think their decisions. Perhaps not but they cannot prosper with a “Workers First” philosophy. It must be “Owners First”; harsh perhaps but inescapable.
As a retired investment banker, I had the usual clients who were turnaround specialists. My livelihood depended on picking those who were successful. Ergo, I have a "one step removed" model of turnarounds.
Here is a small piece of that model.
The worker bees get cut in direct proportion to operations and production. If the demand for a product declines, production of that product is reduced and that mean workers.
Managers get cut according to their ability to understand the business model and how it must be re-designed to succeed.
Most managers cannot make the transition...and they get the axe but based on a different model.
Managers and workers both take a risk on the future, but it is a different risk.
If you don't like being a worker...become a manager.
Or even better...start your own business. Don't dismiss the idea until you have studied it. It is something everyone can do. Everyone!
Yes.
Or even better...start your own business. Don't dismiss the idea until you have studied it. It is something everyone can do. Everyone!
Thanks for the insight and good counsel. I have been considering this.
If you think I am a complainer perhaps you should read (or reread) Read's I, Pencil and rethink your position as to how the company owes the workers who helped it survive the bad times nothing when the good times return. I'm sure in your long career you've seen the results of a workforce that is obedient but resentful.
You speak of "the company" as if it were a family business. If your family (somehow) gave you the boot after decades of mutual toil, I can see cause for resentment.
Why however would you feel resentment towards a "company"? What would be the cause? You work and receive compensation for that work. If you were employed a long time, there should be gratitude that there was employment to be had for so long.
As others have said, there are no guarantees. In the end your work should reflect your work ethic; you work well because a job worth doing is worth doing well. You work for your self-satisfaction, for income. You don't work so that you feel love and security from "the company".
Just an honest question..
How much of your workforce was outsourced to Mexico??
I understood the layoffs, but the sudden outsourcing to Mexico has me worried. I am not totally against that move but I have my doubts. You should too if you plan to ever fly in a corporate jet, or if you have any family members in the US military that might depend on a missile reaching its target.
And expecting a company to have feelings is like expecting your automobile to be appreciative because you have taken good care of it.
A company is a ultimately a machine--nothing more, nothing less.
The best alternative to putting your life in the hands of a machine is doing what the Jews have done to escape discrimination and hardship in the workplace for thousands of years...become a proprietor or independent contractor.
Starting your own business is not just a matter of investing a lot of capital. I know of many, many people, from all walks of life, who have started their own businesses.
Is it tough? You betcha!
Will you fail? Possibly! Most businesses either fail or come close to failure at one time or another. If and when that happens, pick yourself up and start again.
Will you find it satisfying? Absolutely!
Working for someone else is like living in an illusory zoo. You think you are safe, but you are one downturn from being jobless. You think you can trust your boss, but you don't know if he can trust his (and so on up the ladder).
And in the end, you can't trust anyone because they really have only an illusion of control themselves and are in no position to offer trust.
Becoming self-employed is like heading for the new world. It is dangerous, but exciting.
And in this dangerous, exciting environment, like an animal in the wild, your senses will be heightened, your mind will come alive, and your spirit will leap for joy!
You will at last be free!
A friend of mine who is self employed after many years working for a large company said, "it is better (a man is happier more fulfilled) to be a poor self-employed man than a rich employee!"
Funny thing that, most self-employed folks eventually do quite well financially.
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