Being at the end of my career life, I can honestly appreciate my retired friends telling me to get out as soon as I can. They tire of my irritability, frustration, and abject helplessness when discussing my workplace scenarios. The biggest mistake they tell me they made, was not leaving the workplace sooner.
I am not alone. Being in the first generation to see how the rise of technology has changed the work landscape, I can say it is looking abysmal. The focus is not on doing your best, contributing to something greater, or utilizing one's natural talents to transform the world. Instead, it is on metrics, documentation, and having the proof in the numbers. Diminishing are the days we receive or have time to give good service. We mere humans are being pushed out of the way in favor of more, more, more, with less, less, less. And technology is only one of the culprits.
How technology has eroded attitudes with management and its workforce is undeniable. Often our techno devices respond to the mounting schism in the workplace with carefully worded emails, terse texts, or the ubiquitous 'this is how it is' memos. Their is no dialogue, no consideration of how eight hours at a terminal or in other confining spaces affect the body and mind. Yes, we are allowed to stretch and take breaks but in reality, how many actually do without being seen as goofing off?
Because I work in a windowless office that some genius painted storm gray, the majority of my coworkers have tested low in vitamin D, it is no surprise our building has high rates of breast and other cancers which correlates positively to low vitamin D levels. The irony is that we are a large public health building whose deluded director recently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting living well. Everyday I see whitewashed happy faces of public health workers in posters around my building touting they are living well. Hate to say it, but that money would have been better spent putting in windows which bring vitamin D through sunshine (and some nicer color paint would help, too). Or maybe, just maybe we should be setting the example for good health in the workplace instead of launching a political campaign designed to promote our director as caring.
The most demoralizing aspect of this workplace is the rise of dysfunctional behavior accepted for normal. Nepotism, cronyism, and ethical violations are rampant. My boss has promoted all of her friends, even though they are totally inept, and she ends up covering for them by doing their work. Those of us that are competent, produce results, and have been lauded for our accomplishments make on average $6-8,000 less. Grieving did not help because higher management had covered up that my boss has been less than forthcoming about having a medical license required for her position. Incredibly, she did not get fired for this. Instead, her boss changed her job description and whited out the need for a license. Both have gone on to a bigger promotion and higher salaries. When these behaviors have been pointed out in numerous workplace surveys by our institution, they not only are ignored but everyone in management gets rewarded. And they wonder why we are so disgruntled.
Forget the internal whistle blower system companies installed to avoid political embarrassment by trying to get the lowdown on any ethical violations before it's leaked to the press. All it does is shore up the company's legal maneuvering when the shit hits the fan. They claim they are neutral but I have never seen anyone come through a whistle blower, even when it's supposedly confidential, without retribution.
I do not know the answer to all of this but I know I am glad I am exiting soon.
