Demanding Stability
Maximizing shareholder wealth, that is the goal of a for-profit company, and most companies in this country and around the world do an excellent job of it. Just in the first quarter of 2021, the United States GDP grew 6.4%. This growth is spurred on by our communities beginning to open back up to economic activity at full capacity, and government funds flowing into the pockets of many Americans. More individuals are going to come out of this quarantine state of mind and fly, drive, ride, and buy more than we have seen in a long time. We all need some solid retail therapy after the year we just had. However, maybe there is something different we need to look at. A real pandemic that is hiding below COVID, a nasty, festering, puss-filled sore that COVID has ripped the bandaid off of and made us acknowledge. That sore is the fragility of our jobs and economy.
As a country, we all had to take a long hard look at how our economy operates and how we as a group interact with each other. Working from home is now a new standard and companies are going to try to find ways to cut costs by slashing certain jobs and re-configuring others to meet a lower operating cost. This causes the fragility of our society, our source of livelihood is consistently at risk and it feels as if the rug could be pulled out from under us at any moment. Collectively we are recognizing that corporations do not have loyalty to their employees and will not protect them in the long run. So here’s my primary thought to working to curb this fragile, sore of a capitalistic mess:
We as employees need to get more comfortable with discussing our pay and benefits with our fellow co-workers. This works to close pay gaps and bring about accountability. In order to foster equality and a functional, modern workplace, we must make talking back to the boss and disagreeing a normal occurrence. Disagreements should not be stifled by corporate hierarchy, and companies should hold incubators for their employees to discuss and launch new product ideas. In order for us to return to a work environment instead of our home offices, we need to feel more valued. Pizza parties, yoga classes, gift bags, and branded reusable water bottles are not going to cut it anymore.
This sore will be fixed when corporations offer living wages regardless of the economics, offer full benefit packages across the board, and Livestream their board meetings to the entire company. We are living in an age of accountability, and the most influential members of our society, corporate America, have slipped through the cracks of justice too many times to count. We need not fear financial ruin because we decided to disagree with what our boss or CEO said. I believe the modern-day corporate martyrdom is in fact having a large social media presence and being fired because corporate is afraid of your power. It's time we get comfortable with being loud and ending the fragility of our economic system. We end this fragility by demanding stability from the building blocks of our economy, our corporations.
