I had a lovely Italian lunch with my fellow Capricorn friend yesterday. It was a belated birthday celebration for both of us. We’ve been friends for 23 years which was another cause for celebration. You'd think that time stood still because we don't look a year older from the first day we met. Actually, that’s our story and we’re sticking to it!
We were long-time associates at the company that broke our hearts. Laid off at the same time, we both experienced tremendous hardship after many years of solid employment. I have moved on from that sad and depressing episode. Unfortunately, my friend seems to have found herself stuck in that bitter time. She feels bad that we lost the monthly retirement pension that we would have been entitled to had we kept our positions in the company. Others with less years of service than us, who didn't quite make the work sacrifices that we did, are enjoying the benefits that were meant to be ours. You see, my friend and I plugged along in that company during its infancy stage, therefore, sharing many of its growing pains. We both contributed valuable time and energy over and beyond what was expected of us.
Certainly, I knew where my friend was coming from. I could understand the bottled up bitterness and resentment. I had to agree that we were both shortchanged by that greedy corporate giant we once called our employer. But it’s quite obvious from what’s been happening lately that Corporate America, in general, has lost its compassion and caring for its hard-working employees. The same people who work long hours to contribute to the glory that the company enjoy have become nothing more than disposable manpower.
At the time of our layoff, my friend and I were not extended the outplacement service that employees getting the boot these days benefit from. We couldn't help but feel that we were pushed to the curb and left to fend for ourselves. My first post-layoff action was to purchase a computer and printer so that I could work on my resume. You see, I held my position in that company for 15 years and never had a reason to find the other pastures greener. I thought it was the company where I would retire from! I never imagined that despite all the hard work and the outside-my-job-description performance, someone with less years of service and less work-related qualities got to keep her position. My layoff was definitely a case that screamed discrimination, but at that time everything to me was a total blur. Besides, I didn't even have the strength to care to make a fuss. I felt that moving on was the best way to go. But, now that I think about it, I might have had a strong reason to file a lawsuit, and chances are, I would have won! I apologize for sounding bitter. For almost nine years, that feeling had laid dormant in my chest and it's time to let it go!
My friend and I had the misfortune of working for a company that lived only for its bottom line. If that was not the case, why was there a need to eliminate entire departments for the sake of quarterly operating budgets? Didn’t management take into consideration the bigger picture... the terminated employees' financial future? Didn't they not visualize what such drastic mass layoffs would create in the economy? The young hires wouldn’t have much difficulty looking for work. But many of the terminated people were in middle age and were looking forward to retirement, not planning to put themselves in the job search market.
I wish that companies like my previous employer would study the Oprah Winfrey Human Resources organization and follow their example. She takes care of the people who take care of her. Oprah Winfrey does. That focus for her staff welfare is undoubtedly the reason that Oprah continues to succeed in everything she does. She is not simply empowered to be #1, but is determined to have her people enjoy the benefits of the success her organization continues to reap. She is the wealthiest African-American in the universe for a reason! She not only gives away generous donations to her charitable causes, she shares her wealth with the people who keep her empire going.
Come to think of it, corporations will not accomplish their noble mission statements and lofty financial goals without the brains and manpower in their companies. Generous bonuses are part and parcel of the executive package. But something is wrong with the picture. Those executives can’t accomplish their jobs without help from the people below. Unfortunately, when downsizing happens it’s typically the little people who make the sacrifice.
That’s where the picture gets terribly distorted. That’s also the reason why America
If you ask me, sharing the wealth is the best way to go. If only Corporate America would return to what it used to be, when people where happy and confident in their jobs, maybe we’ll all enjoy a gentler and kinder economic environment. Profits do measure a company’s success, but when businesses and companies operate on total greed mode, negative energy will certainly prevail. When that happens, the huge mess it creates becomes almost insurmountable. Unfortunately, it is the little people who suffer the consequences.
