Just remember, any time the media says “the economy” they mean “rich people”. Workers being exploited and abused is an issue, but clearly the problem is its impact on the economy and not, y’know, people.
Workers can be easily replaced even for technical positions… plenty of unemployed wishing to work for whatever condition. “Everyone is needed but no one is necessary” as my former HR manager used to say (I left that company because it was hell, btw).
Sure, you can get a warm body in a seat, but that’s not the same thing as being as effective at the job as the person they’re replacing. Lots of companies are now reaping the harvest of treating their employees as disposable, interchangeable cogs. That mentality destroys moral amongst workers, and new employees can see that glazed over, dead-eyed look when they come onboard. Even for what’s considered low-skill work, there is some value in institutional knowledge and general proficiency at a job that companies just completely disregard.
They’re currently engaged in a race to the bottom of the barrel, asking themselves why employee engagement is down while they adjust their stance to really put some weight into the next kick in the ribs they give us peasants.
Part of my personal story: I had been working for that company for almost 10 years as a software developer and I thought I would have been hard to replace. They hired a bunch of juniors, split my workload and that’s it, company runs as smooth as ever. Employers just don’t care.
TL;DR of the linked article
Workers are unhappier in their jobs now than at any point since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with job satisfaction declining steadily since 2020. A survey of over 60,000 employees found a sense of resignation and apathy among many. Unfair treatment, lack of control, inflation, layoffs and uncertainty around return-to-office policies are troubling workers. Additionally, remote employees often feel disconnected from their company’s mission. Meaningful work is important for happiness yet many lack a sense of purpose in their roles. Engaged employees boost business performance through higher profits and less turnover. However, disengaged staff costs the global economy an estimated $8.8 trillion annually in lost productivity.
While improving every problem may be difficult, managers can help by making time for understanding conversations with their teams weekly.
Archive.today link to www.cnbc.com
This comment was generated by a bot. Send comments and complaints via private message.
Engaged employees boost business performance through higher profits and less turnover. However, disengaged staff costs the global economy an estimated $8.8 trillion annually in lost productivity.
The fact that this report states unhappy workers are bad for business because they’re not as productive is part of the reason people are unhappy. People being unhappy should be enough of a reason to change things.
Oh no, knowing that being sad makes “the economy” worse makes me even sadder! Baawww, I’m so sorry, “the economy”! For realsies!
