As employers push efficiency, the daily grind wears down workers

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-harsh-work-20130407,0,7162845.story

As employers push efficiency, the daily grind wears down workers


Many businesses no longer want long-term relationships with their employees, who must now work harder without getting financial and psychological rewards that were once routine.


Comments
163

WESTFIELD, Mass. — The envelope factory where Lisa Weber works is hot and noisy. A fan she brought from home helps her keep cool as she maneuvers around whirring equipment to make her quota: 750 envelopes an hour, up from 500 a few years ago.

There's no resting: Between the video cameras and the constant threat of layoffs, Weber knows she must always be on her toes.

The drudgery of work at National Envelope Co. used to be relieved by small perks — an annual picnic, free hams and turkeys over the holidays — but those have long since been eliminated.

“It's harder for me to want to get up and go to work than it used to be,” said Weber, 47, who started at the factory at 19. “It's not something I would wish on anybody. I'm worn out. I get home and I can barely stand up.”

The relentless drive for efficiency at U.S. companies has created a new harshness in the workplace. In their zeal to make sure that not a minute of time is wasted, companies are imposing rigorous performance quotas, forcing many people to put in extra hours, paid or not. Video cameras and software keep tabs on worker performance, tracking their computer keystrokes and the time spent on each customer service call.

Employers once wanted long-term relationships with their workers. At many companies, that's no longer the case. Businesses are asking employees to work harder without providing the kinds of rewards, financial and psychological, that were once routine. Employers figure that if some people quit, there are plenty of others looking for jobs.

[marybourg]

1. This is why unions were invented.

[ellisonz]

2. Eat the rich!

Also, MBA's.

[47of74]

3. Too many businesses are a cancer upon this country

[Brickbat]

4. If it's good for the workers on the line, it should be good for the managers and officers as well.

Office workers should take notes on what they're thinking about when they're not typing. Any checking of personal email or Facebook, or even a google search for something that can't be billed directly to work must be tallied and counted against an employee's performance. Managers can use their time to keep tabs on the rank and file, but any time spent not looking at the monitors watching the video cameras must be spent on work tasks as defined by the employee handbook. Rank and file workers should have the right to check the CEO's phone records to see who he's talking to and whether it has anything to do with his job requirements.

Or, everyone can butt out of everyone else's business and do their own jobs. The bizarre preoccupation with 100 percent efficiency is sick and sad.

[woo me with science]

5. K&R

[FirstLight]

6. ...

and I try to explain to my parents (in their 70s) that the world of job security no longer exists. THIS is why myself and my BF can't seem to hold anything remotely corporate for more than a year, tops. He is about to go back out there again on Monday, we need more income to get into another rental..but we both know it is just a temporary fix.

[YoungDemCA]

7. The things that employers get away with in this country make my blood boil...

And they have the gall to claim that THEY are the "persecuted" ones.

[tabbycat31]

8. It's time for employers to start treating their employees like human beings

Not just a number.

[Mnemosyne]

9. Bastards expect loyalty, yet give none. nt

[lpbk2713]

10. Dickens would love 2013.

He died much too soon.

[Heywood J]

11. "About 25% of the workforce is temporary"

I'd venture to say it's a bit more than that.

This is in a jurisdiction with supposed laws against perma-temping...
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/02/23/half_of_gta_and_hamilton_workers_in_precarious_jobs.html

Barely half of working adults in the GTA and Hamilton have full-time jobs with benefits and expect to be working for their current employer a year from now, according to a groundbreaking report on precarious work and household well-being.

The other half are working either full- or part-time with no benefits or no job security, or in temporary, contract or casual positions, says the report by McMaster University and United Way Toronto being released Saturday.

Low-income workers in unstable jobs are typically employed by temporary agencies that pay minimum wage, with no benefits or security. They can also be found in the fast-food, cleaning and service sector and in manufacturing where they are often “on call,” and uncertain of their work hours or weekly schedule. Lack of job security often makes these workers reluctant to report or refuse work they consider dangerous, the report notes.

Across all income groups, the report found “clear indications” that insecure work is causing increasing household stress and limiting people’s ability to participate in their communities.

Welcome to the 21st century. MBAs have sold out the rest of the population.

[winter is coming]

12. And yet the meme that people are scamming SSI is being pushed.

[question everything]

13. Modern Day slavery

K&R