Companies should think about employees

In a recent Daily Herald story on job stagnation and the unemployment rate, the phrase that caught my attention was employers have “learned to squeeze more work and revenue out of reduced staffs. Productivity and corporate profits have soared.”

Attention CEOs, if you actually read the editorial page. At what cost? Yes, it’s great to have a job, but this theme, this story is thick in our workforce.

Those left behind in the wake of layoffs and the poor economy are working harder and longer hours, to the detriment of their lives. I know many people that work 60-80 a hours a week whose lives have been ruined by the fact that they’ve been “lucky” enough to remain employed.

Yes, your staff has been cut in half, that remaining staff will now be responsible for their own work and the work of those laid off, and we expect the work to be done faster and better than before even though you were understaffed to begin with. Sure, worker productivity is higher than ever, but at what cost?

The ultimate insult is when you get the call from the corporate health program that you need to meet with the health counselor to set up a plan to ensure you are living well. Forget the fact that you don’t eat breakfast or lunch and work 70 hours a week.

It’s time for employers to start thinking about something other than shareholders and the bottom line. If they did, they would be surprised to see the economy turn around if they broke down and hired. Stop oppressing your employees and start hiring, and watch the your business and the economy turn around. Amazing what happens when you dedicate manpower and materials to getting a job done. It’s called good business, for all.

Scott Frillman

Antioch