Adele Horin, writing in the SMH, very often covers issues in the workplace. Her op-ed piece this week deals with the effects on those employees left when the employer undertakes a fairly radical retrenchment of staff - in this case, the latest reduncies at Qantas.
As Horin writes:
"The survivors of mass retrenchments are not necessarily the lucky ones any more. At Qantas, the staff left behind once the broom sweeps out 1000 managers and support workers over coming months deserve commiseration, not congratulation. If they are not already fully paid-up members of the overworked, overstressed and time-poor brigade, they soon will be.
The latest decision by Qantas to slash labour costs was prompted not by falling demand, or lazy and unproductive managers, but by rising fuel costs and their effect on the bottom line. (All airlines have been hit by the fuel price rise so you have to wonder why Qantas believes it is at some unique competitive disadvantage.) There is not less work to do - but there will be fewer people to do it. And the surviving managers, predictably, will pay a huge personal toll trying to get it all done."
Read the complete insightful Horin piece here. As Horin says, amongst other things:
"But the trend to intensify and increase workloads on existing staff seems unstoppable in a highly competitive economy, especially now the Federal Government's ironically titled WorkChoices law shifts more power to employers. The case for family-friendly hours, especially for men, and fair flexibility seems a lost cause for all but the privileged. The Government refuses even to legislate to give mothers the same rights afforded in Britain - a right to request to return to work part-time after maternity leave and for employers to give that request serious consideration."
As Horin writes:
"The survivors of mass retrenchments are not necessarily the lucky ones any more. At Qantas, the staff left behind once the broom sweeps out 1000 managers and support workers over coming months deserve commiseration, not congratulation. If they are not already fully paid-up members of the overworked, overstressed and time-poor brigade, they soon will be.
The latest decision by Qantas to slash labour costs was prompted not by falling demand, or lazy and unproductive managers, but by rising fuel costs and their effect on the bottom line. (All airlines have been hit by the fuel price rise so you have to wonder why Qantas believes it is at some unique competitive disadvantage.) There is not less work to do - but there will be fewer people to do it. And the surviving managers, predictably, will pay a huge personal toll trying to get it all done."
Read the complete insightful Horin piece here. As Horin says, amongst other things:
"But the trend to intensify and increase workloads on existing staff seems unstoppable in a highly competitive economy, especially now the Federal Government's ironically titled WorkChoices law shifts more power to employers. The case for family-friendly hours, especially for men, and fair flexibility seems a lost cause for all but the privileged. The Government refuses even to legislate to give mothers the same rights afforded in Britain - a right to request to return to work part-time after maternity leave and for employers to give that request serious consideration."
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