No Idle Hands In Today's Economy

There’s and old proverb that says “The Devil finds work for idle hands to do.” Well, I’m not familiar with the Devil myself, but I do know that my employer certainly has found a way to busy those idle hands.

When I first came aboard at this company over three years ago, I started as an Account Manager, but got moved into Project Management when I showed some adeptness towards streamlining operations and systems. It was a move I appreciated, it was a step up, making me more visible to upper management and giving me the general impression that I had a larger role in the growth of the company. What it also did, and I am grateful for, is it diversified my skill set, exposing me across the board to what the company does.

Yesterday, I was approached by my direct supervisor. He wanted to “talk” and pulled me into a private room. With the down economy in the back of my mind, this never feels good, but I was at least at ease knowing that the Human Resource Manager wasn’t present, which gave me the impression that my job wasn’t at stake. Upon sitting down, the ease was momentarily taken away from me, when my supervisor proceeded to start the conversation with, “You know how things in production have slowed up recently?”

Needless to say, my face must have contorted in some way or another, because he immediately backpedaled a bit, allowing me to relax a bit by saying, “Don’t worry, this isn’t bad.” Basically, he was approaching me to take on some additional responsibilities within my old role as Account Manager, taking on a client that I was already familiar with, having handled them on the project side.

Knowing that some of the processes we had dialed in over the past year or so had in turn made my current position much easier, I immediately accepted the added duties. Let’s face it, given the state of the economy, not to mention the possible directions that conversation could have moved in after that opening sentence, I’m more than happy to take on an additional role as long as I stay employed.

This situation got me thinking though, about the other side of the economic downturn. We hear about the unemployment lines that are growing in record numbers not seen since the Great Depression, but we hear very little about those that are left behind. Today’s events were a perfect example of what those people who are still going into the office or to the plants are going through. Anxiety, fear, and paranoia are running rampant through every place of employment, with every one worried about the reach of death’s hand into every company.

Some, like me, have resigned themselves to the fact that they will take on addition work and do so most likely at the same rate of pay that they currently bring in, or a cut depending upon the option presented before them. There is no power of negotiation on the side of the workers, not when there are people who would happily step into that position in order to put food on the table for their families. There is no hope of a cost of living increase in a world where companies keep raising priced in order to make the books work. Supply versus demand, and supply is grossly tipping the scales.

What does all this mean in the grand scheme of thing? Its simple, those who have jobs will gladly take on the paranoia of possibly being next just as long as there is still a paycheck coming in and a roof over their heads. Its just better to be scared than to it is to be layed off these days.