‘More for less’ sends job pride on downward spiral

Written by Joe Pisani
Wednesday, 03 February 2010 11:25

On the torturous train ride home, I ran into a guy I hadn’t seen in months. There’s always a sense of relief when you meet a long-lost fellow commuter and learn you both still have jobs, or the bank hasn’t foreclosed on your homes, or nobody kicked the bucket. These have become the small joys of life.

As we were getting off the train, I noticed that the shopping bag he has holding contained a large baby-blue box.

“Something from Tiffany’s for your wife?” I asked.

“It’s mine,” he said. “The company gave it to me for celebrating 10 years of service.”

It’s been a while since I saw a company reward people for longevity. At my last job, employees got an engraved sterling silver bowl from Tiffany’s after 25 years, but the year I reached that milestone, the bowls were discontinued as a cost-cutting measure, so I had to be happy with getting my name and picture in the company newsletter, which the human resources department published.

Pretty soon, the company newsletter was discontinued, and eventually they got rid of the human resources department, not to mention the Employee of the Month parking space and, yes, the Employee of the Month.

I suspect loyalty started to erode around the time Gen-X hit the workforce. Members of the notorious “Me Generation” were known for putting their personal lives before the company, and Corporate America started treating employees with as much respect as the recycling bin. We became expendable, and out-sourcing became a way of life.

Anyone who stayed in the same job more than a year was labeled a loser because you were expected to show upward mobility on your résumé. Well, there’s a lot of mobility now, but it’s generally out-the-door mobility. Somewhere along the way, our so-called “careers” turned into jobs.

Suddenly, the world changed. Jobs were sent overseas, entire departments were eliminated, and people were rewarded for slashing budgets instead of innovation.

You got a pay check, benefits and a pension, so who deserved a sterling silver bowl for being an old-timer? The bowls disappeared, followed by the pensions and eventually the benefits. Now, people are happy just to get a pay check ... if they get that.

The new credo is “More for less.” And company loyalty is an anachronistic concept from the days of corporate paternalism when people were known to say, “Gee, this is a great place to work.”

No wonder job satisfaction has been on a steady trajectory downward over the past 25 years — even before the Great Recession hit — and that 55 percent of Americans are unhappy with their jobs, according to research by the Conference Board. Most people don’t feel appreciated, and this sad situation has led to office theft, vandalism, chronic anxiety, workplace violence and disloyalty.

I hope my friend put his bowl in a place of honor and that he gets another one, a bigger one, on his 25th anniversary ... if he still has a job ... if there’s still a company.

Joe Pisani can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .