Out with the old and in with the new seems to be the new theme for corporate America. It’s sad to think that after years of dedicated service, people are being downsized to allow for new and younger workers who are willing to work for less pay and fewer benefits. The state of the economy has put companies in a position of being able to dictate terms that border on being unethical and illegal.
Beware if you have been at a company for many years. Most senior employees were hired at a higher starting salary than what employees are hired at now. Over the years with raises some senior lower pay scale employees make more than a new manager in the same department. This is the area that the ‘human’ resource department is looking hard it when it comes time to replace employees. You may have noticed that your work product is being scrutinized more carefully. Managers may make working conditions more and more difficult for employees that upper management has decided to replace.
Increased workload is another area where employees have no recourse but to grin and bear it. As employees retire, quit or are terminated; their positions are not being filled and the work is being distributed to others in the department. Management looks for resistance from members of the group and any dissention is met with swift consequences. Again, there are so many qualified people looking for work, employers are looking for reasons to replace people that aren’t considered ‘team players.’ Unfortunately, by not replacing exiting employees, the unemployment level is not improving.
Healthcare costs have also caused employers to look at less than ethical practices when replacing employees. Any employee that a company feels is placing a burden on their healthcare plan is being watched with the intent of replacing them at the first possible opportunity. Otherwise unnoticed behavior is being reprimanded with the intention of gathering enough information to terminate these employees.
It is distressing that our government sits idly by and watches more and more Americans become unemployed or underemployed. A vicious cycle has been created. Corporate cutbacks have led to higher unemployment rates. Higher taxes are needed to cover the expense of paid unemployment benefits, paid welfare benefits and paid state healthcare. The higher taxes are forcing business to cutback even more and so it continues.
Sadly, corporate America has found a way around laws that were put in place to help protect people in the work place. If you think that your age, race, sex, experience and health status aren’t being considered when you are interviewed for a job or reviewed yearly to discuss job performance, you are kidding yourself. Until the economy improves, unemployment rates drop and employment laws are enforced; nothing will improve.
