Career Spotlight: Labor pains
Unemployment rates are low, the number of job openings keeps growing, and the stock market, though volatile, is still up from its recessionary lows. So you'd think that despite the travails of the Americans caught by Hurricane Katrina, most workers would be whistling a happy tune this Labor Day.
Not even close. Two recent surveys–taken before the hurricane–depict plunging worker morale. The Hudson Employment Index for early August, released last week, found worker confidence hit its lowest level in the 18 months the staffing company has been doing the survey. An earlier survey of more than 3,000 workers and bosses by Randstad, another staffing firm, found that morale had dropped significantly in the past year among both employees and employers.
One explanation: burnout. "People have been asked to do more with less. They've raised their productivity. But it is finally taking its toll. People are tired," says Karen Carlisle, spokesperson for Randstad North America.
Another: anxiety about the future. "Wages aren't keeping up with skyrocketing energy, housing, medical, and education costs. What's more, companies are laying off in one division while hiring–mostly contract workers–in others," says Jeff Anderson, executive vice president of Hudson North America. His manufacturing clients, for example, have slashed their permanent hiring in favor of temps in the past year. And the dislocations caused by Katrina will probably worsen workers' uncertainty and anxiety, he says.
Ironically, an improving job market may contribute to worker dissatisfaction–and cause further problems for employers. Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School, notes that the highest level of job satisfaction ever reported was during the Great Depression–when workers were grateful to have any kind of job. During the "jobless recoveries" of the 1980s and early 1990s, surveys found a surprising combination of low morale and high productivity. "People were unhappy, but they couldn't quit" because there were no other jobs out there, Cappelli says.
Now, with jobs plentiful, expectations are higher–making disappointment more common. That's what makes these recent reports worrisome for employers. As long as workers have no alternatives, lousy morale doesn't matter. But if hiring continues to heat up, downbeat companies are likely to see workers dance a jig toward the exits.
advertisement
