Our textbook identifies four
trends in the relationship between organizations and individuals. According to
the new social contract theory and contingent worker theory, our relationship with
our workplace has become more and more contingent. Workers are more and more
disposable, because there always are cheaper workers somewhere on the planet.
Our job becomes more and more alienated labor (how about emotional labor). “We are all temps now,” as one corporate CEO
lamented. Jobs have been the body tissue
of the society where our collective identity, passion, dream, and character
grow. Not any more! What’s the problem with today’s organizations?
I was surprised to read about Emotional Labor. I did not realize there was an official term for that kind of manipulation. Of course, most, if not all of us have been subjected to this expectation in the workplace. I worked for 10 years in the Human Resources department for a large non-profit. In the state of Oregon, stress is considered inherent in the workplace and stress related workers' compensation claims are typically denied. From an organizational stand point, yes, stress is inherent. From a personal perspective, it does not need to be. Why are we required to work 40 hours a week, commute approximately another 15 hours a week, not to mention all the time and energy we contribute to preparing for, worrying about and reliving our work? In chapter 11 we read, “Some argue that because they control vast economic resources, huge transnational corporations have become even more powerful than governments, and thus heavily influence government personnel and policy, educational content and practices, and internal relations” (p. 285). As the money makers frenetically seek every available resource on our planet, we have become as much a commodity as the products they sell.
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