Revenge of the Underappreciated? Companies That Overwork Employees May Lose Them When Economy Recovers By Amy Joyce Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, September 14, 2003; Page F06
"I'm currently covering my own full-time job, the full-time job of a person who left in May, the full-time job of a person on maternity leave, the half-time job of a person who left in August. I'm also responsible for hiring replacements for the two people who left, as well as for my own position (I'm leaving at the end of the year). Oh, and I have no admin support to speak of." So goes the e-mail -- from an overflowing basket of similar e-mails -- to Life at Work from a put-upon office worker. People are more overworked today than they have been in years. Companies that downsized in recent years never resized and left the existing employees to cover everything. Companies in which employees quit are taking their sweet time to find someone else. After all, with so many great job candidates out there, why rush? Actually, there should be a rush. Employers that overburden their employees now could be in big trouble later. Those same companies that are today taking advantage of employees -- without providing additional incentives, or at least a little wiggle room when it comes to schedules or much-needed vacations -- won't have a reservoir of goodwill needed when competition for new employees heats up again, as it inevitably will. One woman, who writes about federal policy for a D.C. company, has taken on two jobs. A co-worker left five months ago, leaving the woman to cover a second subject in addition to her own. Perhaps she's doing too well in her new position, sans pay or any additional benefits other than a few verbal thank-yous and a lot of hang-in-theres. "I think they're just looking for the perfect fit, and I think I'm doing a good job in the interim. So they're in less of a rush," she said. "I don't mind hard work; I know that I'm getting a lot out of it. But I just feel used." She is trying to get up the gumption to tell her boss she feels overworked and underappreciated and ask that some sort of help come her way, be it monetary or even a temporary intern. People are desperate, and the way companies handle today's economic situation in regard to employees just isn't smart. It will come back to bite many of those employers when the economy turns, according to recent surveys and workplace experts. Nearly half of 509 middle managers polled said they are looking for another job or plan to do so when the economy picks up, according to a survey released by consulting company Accenture last month. In a similar survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management and CareerJournal.com, 83 percent of more than 300 employees polled said it is extremely likely or somewhat likely they will seek new employment once the job market picks up. Watch out, employers. "There has been a shift in the workplace because of the economy and companies needing to downsize, right-size or reorganize," said Betsy Friedlander, a principal at Willmott & Associates Inc., a human resources and consulting firm in the D.C. area. "More people need to be taking on more responsibilities." And the companies that will come out on top after all this craziness will be the ones that, simply put, care. "The companies that have been a little more on the forefront of a balanced work life have programs in place that are more valuable now," she said. Those with gyms, flexible schedules and decent vacation time are coming out on top right now, because those overworked employees are happier, and therefore more productive. They will also come out on top later, when more people can be hired, because the people employed now won't want to run screaming from one office to the more attractive one next door. "When I talk to people where they feel like they are just being worked, and there's no recognition about this cultural shift, they want to leave," Friedlander said. But many are not so lucky as to be able to just hop out of a bad situation and into a good one. That is thanks to what analysts call the "jobless" economic recovery, which has many people, when they have time, scratching their heads. "Companies keep laying off and are not creating any jobs. They give the work to the workforce and say, 'You have to get it done,' " said John A. Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc., a Chicago-based outplacement firm. He pointed out that in every other recession, productivity has decreased. But during the previous quarter of this year, productivity actually jumped 7 percent. That is due in part to technology, he believes. "Technology adds to overworking. We're not just working 9 to 5 anymore. When we're driving home in the expressway, we're not listening to music. We're on the phone doing business," he said. A perfect example is from Challenger himself. He was in Japan on business and awake at 3 a.m. because of jet lag. Five years ago, he would have picked up a book to help lull him to sleep, but he instead went to the work center at the hotel and checked voice mail and e-mail. "I think part of being overworked is there's no defined workday anymore," he said. "We're surrounded by it." So what is it doing to us? How are we dealing with this overworked world of which we're a part? Let Mary Graham, senior policy adviser to the National Mental Health Association, count the ways. "People are more overworked, and they're doing it to themselves because they are worried about job security," said Graham, who admitted that she falls into that category. More people have visited the association's Web site (www.nmha.org) to download documents about anxiety. Some companies (which will be rewarded later) have brought in speakers to talk about stress and have called the association to ask what they can do to help their overburdened employees. With the Sept. 11 anniversary, terrorism warnings, war and the economy all folding into one perfect storm, "it's a scarier time than usual," Graham said. "People are under more stress and are working harder. And we're not getting big raises anymore." Perhaps what is worst of all is knowing that leaving an unpleasant job could mean unemployment for a long time. The Department of Labor reported last week that 93,000 jobs were slashed in August. The chance to get a job as soon as one quits is much rarer today than five years ago. So in some cases, it's true that employers have the upper hand. At least for now. But it does not mean they are going to get the best work out of their remaining employees, as much as the employees may try. "My feeling is, in these times I'm pretty happy to just have a good job, so I'm not sure I want to push it," said the woman who writes about federal policy. "I still have a life outside of work, but I'm just a little more stressed and a little more worn out than I used to be." She is working more hours, somewhere around 60 a week now. "I know in this town that isn't many, but to me it's a lot." Join Amy Joyce on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon at washingtonpost.com for Life at Work Live. You can e-mail her at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
