A while ago I was talking to a friend who was having trouble at his job. His company had gone through a merger with another company and was in the middle of a major consolidation/reorganization. As part of this consolidation/reorganization, some higher-up got on a video call (this happened during COVID) to announce that they were instigating major layoffs, then immediately signed off and declined to comment because he was too cowardly to face the repercussions of what the company was doing.
Man, what a douchebag!
Anyway, my friend was fortunate enough not to be affected by said layoffs, but when the smoke cleared he found that his department was badly understaffed and everyone was overworked. As a result, he started working a lot of (thankfully paid) overtime and having an overall rough time at work. My friend had also been promised a raise several months previous, but said raise kept getting pushed back for various reasons—lack of funding, his supervisor didn’t have the proper permission, etc. He stayed at the job, but had a pretty rough time and a lot of problems with stress and overwork.
After hearing my friend tell his story, a different friend who works in a completely different industry mentioned something similar. This time his company hadn’t laid anyone off, but they had gotten a sudden rush of business that made everyone’s workload skyrocket. Instead of hiring more people, the company decided to keep the same number of people but have them do more work during their regular work weeks—essentially having their employees do more work for the same money, within the same amount of time.
Now fast forward to last week, when I was talking to another friend back in the States who just started a new job. One of his coworkers had been with the company a long time and had a lot of experience, and because of this he asked for more money and benefits but was turned down. So, he found a new job and took his twenty-plus years of experience with him, leaving the rest of his (very small) office in disarray.
Once again, instead of hiring more people, the company decided to have the remaining employees take care of this person’s workload themselves. By having fewer employees do the same amount of work, the company was spending less money and getting the same benefit, despite the remaining employees being overworked, more stressed, and experiencing a lower quality of life.
But the company was making more money, so that must have been the smarter business decision, right??
Companies Often Make Business Decisions That Maximize Profits in the Short Term While Ignoring the Human Repercussions
In all three of these stories, a company took the route that would make them the most money while ignoring the problems their employees were having. The technical name for this is shareholder theory, an idea that economist Milton Friedman advanced in the 1960s and ’70s where a company’s sole responsibility is to make money for its shareholders and literally nothing else it does matters.
Let’s look at the above examples again:
- In the first instance, the company let people go and left those that remained to handle the workload (Less Money Paid for Employee Salaries + Same Amount of Business = Higher Company Profit + Worse Work Environment)
- In the second instance, the company decided not to hire new people to deal with an increased workload (Same Money Paid for Employee Salaries + More Business = Higher Company Profit + Worse Work Environment)
- In the third, the company decided not to replace an employee who left, leaving those who remained to deal with the work (Less Money Paid for Employee Salaries + Same Amount of Business = Higher Company Profit + Worse Work Environment)
I hear these stories over and over again when I talk to my friends in the States, and I often experienced them myself at previous jobs. Ignoring employee working conditions and stress in favor of company profits has become an accepted part of business culture as companies see other companies doing it and then decide to do the same thing. Some employees (like the one in instance number three) will quit as a result of these bad conditions, but a lot will stay and suffer the consequences.
Maybe those employees have a choice to leave, and maybe they don’t—but either way, their staying allows the company to get what it wants and make more money while making peoples lives’ worse.
Support a Culture Where Employees Stand Up For Themselves and Take Action
In the past, the US had more labor unions where workers could band together and fight for better working conditions instead of just complaining to their friends over beers (which basically does nothing to fix the problem). I had some experience with this kind of bargaining when I pointed out to the crooked boss at my old job the various ways he was breaking the law and got him to eventually do something about them. In my case, standing up to company higher-ups and continuing to have these conversations was stressful, but it ultimately made things better for everyone.
I also heartily endorse workers who, when their jobs are shitty, quit and find new and better jobs. This takes courage, a lot of searching (which you might have to do after a long day at work), and might involve some time without a steady paycheck, but finding a better job will not only benefit you, it’ll send a clear message to employers: if you treat your workers like shit, they’ll leave and put the company in a worse position.
Sites like Glassdoor that allow employees to honestly (and anonymously!) share their stories about their employers without fear of repercussion are also an AWESOME idea, since a lot of companies try to do shitty things in secret, then put on a positive image for people outside the company. If companies know that their shitty business practices will be made public, they’ll be less likely to do shitty things.
(Quick Plug: If you’re curious about Glassdoor I really suggest you check them out for honest employee reviews—and if your company isn’t on there, you can add it in pretty easily. Here’s a good example of Glassdoor reviews for a company in New Hampshire where the employees had a lot of well-thought out and consistent criticisms about the management and company culture. Of course, I definitely found this company at random because I needed an example for this blog post, so it’s not like I used to work there or anything ;-)
Good Working Conditions Are Important For All Workers
I’ve written a lot on this blog in support of workers’ rights and how to stay informed about labor laws your company might be breaking, since this is really important to me. Educating yourself is the first step, but the second step is taking some sort of action that you feel comfortable with, rather than accepting conditions as they are and just complaining about them.
Because when workers stand up for themselves we can make actual, real changes to company work culture, one workplace at a time.
Finally, if you have a bad working environment story to share, post it in the comments (you don’t have to use your real name!) to let people know they’re not alone—because I guarantee you that you’re not the only one who’s had that bad experience.
Suggestion: when faced with terrible working conditions, search for jobs in other companies for yourself AND your co-workers. Offer to write recommendation letters for co-workers. When you all apply for jobs elsewhere, coordinate your resignations. If four people walk out of a department at the same time, believe me, heads will roll. I used to organize these things at one terrible company I worked at. We made sure that large numbers of people offered their resignations at the same time, after helping each other with job leads, referrals and recommendations. NOTHING changes until you hit a company in the bank account and embarrass them in front of their peers.