Working

 

Susan Littlefield

Working

OMM 612

Managing in Social Change

Week 2 written assignment

January 30, 2012

Abstract

It is interesting to note that when doing research for this assignment I looked for articles on when people worked only one or two jobs throughout their whole career maybe I should narrow my search engine, but I did not find anything. Working for one company is a thing of the past my dad worked for the same company all his life and now he is retired and works part-time as an hourly employee. People today have many jobs over their lives and most of the times people will try many different types of jobs before they settle with one company or career it seems that the evitable is losing a job due to the economy or having to take part-time work in the meantime while seeking full-time employment.

 

Working

Today we have a very different outlook on jobs then our parents and grandparents did and maybe even an older sibling or cousin but things have really changed for those of us who want to work. Some people work to pay their bills and just go through the motions and really do not strive to be the best or learn more we can see the evidence in the classroom as well. Some people show up on Thursday and Monday’s and then does not post anything in between and those are the type of people who are missing out on some great discussions. Everybody has their own goals and mine is to learn and be active in class so I can get a really great job in human resources, because I love to look at information and share it with others so they will either be informed or just advantage of the information I have given them. I found some interesting articles about working in America and each will speak to its own version of what today’s work life is like for people and one even promotes the fact that having an 8 hour day just do not fit our energy levels. Speaking of energy, many women I know have their own business where they cater to helping others through special healing techniques and they are there to support each client, practice member and person to help them achieve their personal goals.

Median Tenure

            The Bureau of Labor Statics reports that, “The median number of years that wage and salary workers had been with their current employer was 4.4 in January 2010”, that is not a very long time in comparison to my dad who has spent 40 some odd years working for the same employer even after going into retirement he works about 3 days a week (US Department of Labor Statistics, 2010). People do not normally stay with a company that long because of the economy and job loss is very high but, “Median employee tenure (the point at which half of all workers had more tenure and half had less tenure) was generally higher among older workers than younger ones” (US Department of Labor Statistics, 2010). For example the people after age 55 tend to stay with their companies for about ten years and the people who are younger between the ages of 25 to 34 tend to stay with the same employer for 3.1 years (US Department of Labor Statistics, 2010). There are so many factors that go into why someone stays with their company and for how long but these are just some basic figures I stumbled along and wanted to share with you.

Day Middle Class Died

            According to Michael Moore who wrote, “30 Years Ago Today: The Day the Middle Class Died”, was when “On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan fired every member of the air traffic controllers union (PATCO) who'd defied his order to return to work and declared their union illegal. They had been on strike for just two days” (Moore, 2011). In his article he noted that, “The rich hated paying better wages and providing benefits. They hated paying taxes even more. And they despised unions. The right-wing Christians hated anything that sounded like socialism or holding out a helping hand to minorities or women” (Moore, 2011). When I was a kid all I knew was that Ronald Reagan was well respected President and that he was a former actor and now reading about his part in the role that changed America’s working class for basically forever is partly due to his decisions. We cannot place blame on just one person but while reading the article Reagan promised to end all that, “When the air traffic controllers went on strike, he seized the moment. In getting rid of every single last one of them and outlawing their union, he sent a clear and strong message: The days of everyone having a comfortable middle class life were over” (Moore, 2011).

I always wondered how our problems came to be when Obama gave his State of The Union Speech, I was very impressed with his forthright proactive approach to making changes that will stick for American Citizens and not just the wealthy. In the article Moore spoke to the fact that, “And that was the beginning of the end. Reagan and the Republicans knew they could get away with anything -- and they did. They slashed taxes on the rich. They made it harder for you to start a union at your workplace. They eliminated safety regulations on the job. They ignored the monopoly laws and allowed thousands of companies to merge or be bought out and closed down. Corporations froze wages and threatened to move overseas if the workers didn't accept lower pay and less benefits. And when the workers agreed to work for less, they moved the jobs overseas anyway” (Moore, 2011). We have to deal with the changes that were made in the past and even though this article spoke about people who worked in the airline industry it played a role in how a shift from what was fair went a little too far south for the middle class worker.

Perspective of 8 Hour Day

I read an interesting article on Pick Your Brain blog and found that the author who

referred as the “editor” wrote, “Why the 9 to 5 Office Worker Will Become a Thing of the Past,” he speaks about how we use our time as workers versus how productive we are. “People are capable of creative tasks like writing and solving complex technical problems. After a couple hours of intense work, energy levels drop and workers downgrade to less demanding tasks like responding to email and tinkering with existing creations. Towards the end of the cycle, the mind is so cluttered and drained that workers resort to “work related activities” that appear productive but don’t contribute to the bottom line. The afternoon cycle is similar but the productivity peak isn’t as high” (Pick Your Brain, 2012). This is so true because when I was working at my last job I got tired of working at my desk for over 8 hours a day, it was not normal and having a 30 minute lunch with no breaks in between left me feeling zapped and anxious about how I would get through the day. During my time there I learned that I did not want to ever have a full-time job again where I was required to sit at my desk all day and to work as a solo agent and fielding finance calls from customers I felt that each of my co-workers worked independently and were basically in our own worlds. I enjoyed getting up and processing banking information for a customer or asking for help on questions that were very complicated and the more time I was away from my phone my productivity would go down. No matter if I was helping someone that did not count and we had a scorecard with grades that needed to be met, I did not so I was let go from my position. It was not for me and now I am so thankful it was the best thing for me and a few month after that I got the call from admissions and there was grant money to be spent, so I told them, “to sign me up”. I will ask questions about how my day is structured during my interviews to make sure I will not be stuck at my desk all day, we all have different energetic needs and mine needs to have more freedom. The author spoke to the fact that we should consider the fact that working remotely is the way to go because people can take breaks and come back energized and that most communication is done by email or instant messaging so how we talk to each other is changing (Pick Your Brain, 2011).

People Who Love Their Work

People who love their jobs that I know work in the health and wellness fields and they feel personal satisfaction when they have helped someone overcome a personal challenge. One of my friends daughters is the owner of her own community acupuncture center and she has a sliding scale fee so that it is more affordable where the first appointment is $25 and after that it is $15 some people may choose to give more but putting this price range is wonderful because more people can have frequent treatments and private practice can be $45 to over a hundred dollars. First we talk about the things that need to be worked on such as anxiety, pain from my injury and then she puts the needles in which do not hurt at all, I get bundled up in blankets and snooze or snuggle in for about 40 minutes and when I am done I ring a bell that only she hears in her office. Some people fall asleep for a long time, they just knock right out and she will allow them to sleep for hours if she is not busy, there are 7 recliners in her acupuncture studio so people share the treatment room together. She could be making more money in private practice and see less people but the network of people who are doing this type of practice are more about giving than receiving. The benefit is for more than less and knowing the range in different types of treatments that is really a blessing to people who cannot afford or are turned off by solutions that are provided by traditional medical practices. People who practice energy work are given a gift and that gift is given through the heart and wisdom is passed on through the energy between practitioner and practice member and then the exciting part is when it is sent out to the universe.

What I learned from This Assignment

Working and doing work that you love are two different things, paying the bills and have a sense of temporary accomplishment is great but that does not equal happiness, and I am unsure I will ever find the perfect job because there are so many factors I face just looking for one job.  I have learned in school and through tons of energy work I am really need to get fussy about what type of job that I am going to take next. I already know I have to ask better questions during the interview process, see what my day will entail and who I will be working with, in my last position I took it because it was the first full-time permanent job that I was offered since my company closed in 2009. I found out that company’s like John Hancock generally keep people around for about 6 months and then if that person is not making their goals then they are out of a job. I need to learn not to be so angry but I have so many fears about looking for a great job I really need to focus on finding the best fit. Obama had a great State of The Union speech and I look forward to him making some big changes that are much needed, my only worry about that is that different parties will obstruct changes because they are greedy and only care about what is good for them. People who are rich have no idea what it is like to be poor or to have to ask for services and get much needed assistance, I never would have applied for Food Stamps if my dad did not insist that I should he was so stressed out about money that I did. What a big help it is I have only been on it a few months and my last installment was a month late, I actually had to send a letter to the office and tell them nobody picked up the phone in the local office. So when jobs get cut people who need help with Food Stamps or other services like unemployment have delays in getting the help we need because of lack of staff. Recorded messages that never take you to a real person or a phone that continually rings but is not picked up is something that is new for me because there have been many layoffs within the state run agencies that simple tasks need to be followed up instead of using the trust system. What will be next?

References

Moore, M. (2011, August 5). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/30-years-ago-today

Web log message]. (2012, January 30). Retrieved from http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/why-

            the-9-to-5-office-worker-will-become-a-thing-of-the-past/

Unites States Department of Labor. (2010, September 14). Employee tenure summary. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.nr0.htm