Economic recovery is slowly gaining traction in the U.S. but conditions are improving so slowly that job losses are not expected to recover for some time. Employment figures typically lag other recovery indicators, yet economists say higher employment is the key to full recovery. A circuitous conundrum. The bottom line is that both employers and workers — particularly in the hard-hit aviation industry — can expect understaffing to continue through 2010.
Informing employees that they’ll have to keep working harder with less relief is sure to receive a less than enthusiastic response. The thing about a crisis is that the longer it goes on, the less supportive people are. A crisis goes through three stages:
- We’re all in this together. At the beginning of a crisis, people are energized by shared tragedy and driven to make sacrifices for the common good. People who weren’t laid off were so grateful to have a job, they didn’t complain about performing additional duties.
- When will it end? As time goes on, worker focus shifts from greater good to personal impact. Workers focus on the price they are paying as individuals. Workers become increasingly frustrated with heavier work loads. Physical exhaustion, the emotional toll and financial pressure begin to overwhelm workers who become disgruntled by the slow return to previous norms.
- I deserve better. Eventually, people lose sight of the “big picture” and focus on changes in their personal world. Many U.S. workers are beginning to reach stage 3. They’ve worked harder with less relief and often for less money for months; some for more than a year. They’ve seen their standard of living decline and their families suffer. Especially if they do not feel appreciated at work, they are beginning to wonder what the point is. Things can even turn ugly if workers perceive too great a difference between their level of suffering and that of management.
Next time: Solutions
[...] Stumbling Blocks in the Road to Economic Recovery [...]