October 21, 2013
I am one of the average workers who works for a giant corporation. I work in a department of 5 support staff when there should be 8. We are missing an entire position that we desperately need, resulting in us splitting the duties that should be taken on by a whole other person, and are forced to double up when one of us goes away. We work, on average, 10 - 12 hours a day, and I feel guilty for taking vacation or getting sick because my coworkers have to pick up the slack I leave. One of the 5 of us is kept on a temporary basis so the company doesn't have to pay for her benefits. None of us have any hope of promotion in the next 3 - 5 years, despite having been here far longer than it takes to get the average promotion in our industry.
My printer is broken, they limit are supplies, and they don't provide food when we stay late or work through lunch, which is quite often.
Meanwhile, last year my CEO was paid $40 million. I graduated summa cum laude from a top 3 university, I work as hard as anyone I know, if not harder, and I love what I do. This year, I have decided to leave the company because of the gross mistreatment of the average employee while the top dogs sit on their golden platters and watch their stocks go up. I know I am not the only one.
I work hard to stay informed. I work hard to know what's going on in the world. Not everyone does, but providing this information as easily accessible will change the way we look at large corporations and will be a huge step towards making a change in the way we treat employees. If the public image of CEO salaries is threatened, hopefully they will begin to use that obscene amount of money to hire the workers that are desperately needed in departments like mine. The government cannot solve the unemployment problem on its own - it's time to force big companies to take some of the responsibility. It's good for business - with more transparency, hopefully companies will have to fight to keep good workers, which in the long run is better for them.
This is a great place to start. I hope it finds the support it needs.