Exploiting Young Workers (Was Re: The Telecommuting Myth)

["Steven J. Owens" <puff -at- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

GALVIN, KATHLEEN writes:
> I'd like to recommend an article in this month's Utne Reader magazine on the
> ways in which some high-tech companies exploit (mostly young) people. One of
> the most effective ways is to keep you working by keeping you on site. This
> is accomplished by providing everything you want - games, beer, food,
> personalized office space complete with sleeping arrangements, a
> pseudo-social life with other captive singles, etc.

     Exploit me!  Exploit me!  Whip me, beat me, make me write bad checks! :-)

     Seriously, I think you have to balance things a bit. Yes, I keep
a sharp eye on the balance of time in the office and my personal life.
Yes, I make sure I make my employer pay for my time, and I make sure I
live a whole life as well - writing, or programming, is what I do, not
who I am.  I'm way past the recent  grad phase of my career and I've
sinced turned my attention to building a life.

     BUT...

     What you're describing above sounds a lot like the traditional
"apprenticeship" atmosphere, but handled properly.  A young employee's
chief assets are their energy & enthusiasm, and their geographic
mobility.  This is the way it's been, this is the way it will be.  In
any field, tech writing or otherwise, when you start out, you gotta
put in your first couple of years taking the dirty jobs and proving
yourself (you will be amazed at how much you learn in the process).

     Looking back, I know I was hideously underpaid (my first career
job, they ended up hvaing to hire two people to replace me; come to
think of it, that's been a bit of a trend :-).  I don't regret it,
however.  To a certain degree I miss the sense of being able to lose
myself in the job (let's face it, I love what I do or I wouldn't have
put that much effort into arranging to do it for a living) and let my
employer exploit me.

     There's nothing wrong with getting the most out of people, as
long as they're getting what they need out of you - experience, an
honest living, etc.  Arranging the job environment to make it as easy
and painless as possible for them to give you the most just makes goo
dsense. Now if only more employers would figure that out instead of
being penny wise and pound foolish.

> It's a very thought-provoking article and would explain why companies with
> the technology and supposed cutting-edge management policies blanch at the
> word "telecommute." After all, it makes great business sense to pay salary,
> benefits, and training costs for one employee who does the work of two. Free
> beer is chump change in comparison.

     Who says they're cutting-edge?  Them?  They blanch because
they're foolish enough to equate "work seen" with "work done" with
"progress".  The real cutting-edge, high-tech companies laugh at them.

Steven J. Owens
puff -at- netcom -dot- com


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=