Your company is not your family. Your co-workers are mostly temporary “friends” until one of you ... [+]
How businesses have mishandled layoffs shows that companies are not your family and everyone is disposable at the whim of management. It's a stark reminder that organizations and their executives prioritize shareholders. It sounds cold, but the investors are the ones who own a piece of the company. Without workers, the company folds too, but during tough economic straits with thousands of talented people looking for jobs simultaneously, it lessens the value of the individual job seeker.
When one of the most well-regarded companies in the world fires people via email, immediately cuts off all communications and time passes without any apologies from the CEO, it signals that the individual worker isn’t valued. After all the rhetoric and frills offered to workers, the reality is that when times are tough and people are most vulnerable, they’re left out in the cold.
Hard Lessons
Your company is not your family. Your co-workers are mostly temporary “friends” until one of you moves on. You say you’ll keep in touch, but you will most likely go your separate ways. Throughout your lifetime, you’ll probably have only one or two solid relationships from each firm that will last for a long time.
Your boss only cares about themself, for the most part. You already know how it will play out if it's a choice between you or them getting riffed. If companies cared about their workers, they would step up and ensure that terminations are made face-to-face—or at least via a video. There’s no reason why a company the size of Google and with its capabilities should handle layoffs without grace, respect and dignity.
According to reports, Google employees were unaware of their downsizing until their credentials were revoked. In the future, if you have essential information on your work phone, laptop or other devices, make sure you have a copy at home.
Even if you are happy at work, always be on the lookout for a new job. Build a relationship with a handful of top recruiters specializing in your specific niche. If you’re not interested in a pitch, introduce the headhunter to someone right for the role. It's good for maintaining the relationship.
Additionally, keep building and growing your network. You never know who will come through with an excellent lead for the perfect job. Be friendly, respectful and courteous to everyone you come in contact with. Word will get around that you’re a pleasant person to deal with, and they’d gladly recommend you for job openings or important assignments at the company.
Don’t live beyond your means. Good times come and go. If you spend way more than you are earning and you’re hit with a layoff, your life can fall apart quickly.
Your Company Is More Like A Sports Team
The workplace is more like a sports organization. The franchise owner seeks out the best players and offers them substantial compensation packages. The big payouts are designed to motivate the players to win. Winning games brings in attendance at the stadium, lucrative television and online contracts, selling more merchandising and other revenue flows.
The owner and managers love their star athletes. However, once their talent starts fading, the owner will trade a beloved player to another team for a better, younger rising star. It's the same at companies. If you do well, you’ll be rewarded. When you don't produce, you’re gone.
It’s Called ‘Work’ And Not ‘Play’ For A Reason
This year, companies will return to the way work was prior to the pandemic. A job was offered at a fair wage, and the person was expected to do their best. If a worker exceeded expectations, they’d earn a raise or promotion.
Perhaps employees have been looking at work the wrong way. The truth is that work isn’t pleasant for most people. From the Industrial Age until the pandemic, no one gave much thought to happiness in the workplace. It was a business transaction and nothing personal.
What makes people miserable is that they’ve been led to believe that workers can be happy at work. The problem is that happiness is illusory. It's a fleeting feeling—a dopamine hit that quickly dissipates, making you fall to earth and desperately seek another fix. Job happiness, which has been sold to workers over the last three years, hasn’t worked. Despite employers implementing employee-centric initiatives, like flexibility and more paid time off, workers are still experiencing high rates of disengagement and job unhappiness. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 report, 60% of people reported being emotionally detached at work and 19% as being miserable. Half of U.S. workers surveyed reported feeling stressed at work daily, 41% as being worried, 22% as despondent and 18% as indignant.
The old cliché holds true. They call it work because it is work—not play. People schlep through a long, two-way commute to sit in a cubicle under fluorescent lights for more than eight hours a day because they need money to live and support themselves and their families. It's not because they love attending meetings. They love their family and want a roof over their heads and food on the table. The upside is that some people do find meaning and purpose in their work.
The Shift In Power
Sensing the vibe shift, workers will wake up to the fact that businesses won’t kowtow to their employees. Workers will be expected to do all that is expected of them. Acting your wage will be seen as a sign of defiance and will not be tolerated. Bosses will take more decisive actions against those who don’t pull their weight.
With greater control, corporate leaders will push for people to come back into the office. Bosses were never completely sold on remote work. When everyone is under one roof, managers can watch when you enter the office, see when you disappear for two hours during lunch and notice when you sneak out early for your kid’s school events.
Supervisors will feel emboldened to call people out who are disengaged and give their undivided attention to their responsibilities. There will be a growing pool of people in between jobs to draw from.
