Worker burnout warnings spread across World Economic Forum

The reason they're burning out is because it has been made VERY clear, that jobs get us NOWHERE. and now Big Pharmacy is preparing to reap the financial whirlwind from all the sick and tired worker slaves.

reply to post by NuclearPaul

Thinking that maybe a lot of people are coming to this realization...whether it was a forced choice or a free choice.

This could potentially have a lasting impact on a lot of people's values and priorities. It might even give them a stronger base to operate from within the business world should they ever return.. Maybe they know this too?

reply to post by TrueBrit
TrueBrit. Right but wrong. I live in the UK and I am one of those manual workers that have been used and abused. Thrown on the scrapheap. Body irreversibly worn out. Yet my children work in offices and then mental stress they are put under day after day, just to perform for targets, amazes me . Let me point you to my reason this is very serious. Well proven data. You want to break a humanbeing the best way is through the mind. Not anything manual like torture. Play the mind. Trick the mind. Break the the strongest man. Quicker more efficiently than torture. So do not write the white collar workers off so quickly.

This reminds of that movie with Keanu Reeves, The movie johnny Mnemonic. Where the technological overload of the people created a weird disease. And though we knew the cause, we kept on using, because the people couldn't survive without there technology.

reply to post by Whereweheaded

Wow...yes. I remember that movie. Hope it never gets to that point. I'm pretty addicted at times, but it only takes about a day or so to really detox (no shakes, no phantom cell vibration feelings in my pocket). Then the funniest thing happens...you don't want to go back.

I say the US populace should send another message to our politicians and corporations. Everybody stop going to work until they beg us to come back, then we will all be in a position to make demands. If the economy is going to be screwed up, lets make it on our terms instead of theirs. I know wishful thinking.

reply to post by Skewed

Would that we could. This used to happen...sigh. Then they busted most of our unions and left most of us out there to fend for ourselves. hey know there's strength in numbers, so this was a very clever plan. This makes it a lot tougher to organize...but look how they organized a revolution in the ME via FaceBook and Twitter! There was a UK-oriented thread about this a few days ago that was very interesting.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
reply to post by Skewed

 

Would that we could. This used to happen...sigh. Then they busted most of our unions and left most of us out there to fend for ourselves. hey know there's strength in numbers, so this was a very clever plan. This makes it a lot tougher to organize...but look how they organized a revolution in the ME via FaceBook and Twitter! There was a UK-oriented thread about this a few days ago that was very interesting.

I agree that it would not be an easy task, but very doable. People would really have to work together, which we are not exactly used to doing. I know the fears and I have them as well, but if properly organized and people united under a common goal it would succeed. Some might say, well if I quit working how will I pay my mortgage. Properly organized that would not be an issue, because the people that would be processing the paperwork, payments etc, would not be working either. And, the guy on the top floor corner office sure in the hell will not come down and process the paperwork themselves, they do not even know how to do it anyway. Really the worse thing the citizens would have to do is learn to do more with less, which we should be doing anyway. They would also learn that all these cool addictive gadgets we have are not a necessity as much as we are lead to believe, and a lots of truths would be realized. One full week would certainly turn some heads and we would have them marching to our drum beat. Now, it would be understood that certain business would need to stay open but for those few we can make exceptions, as long as we stuck with the necessities.

I would even consider setting myself up a facebook and twitter account if something as this would come to fruition.

I say, disable the anti-lock and slam on America's brakes and bring everything to a halt. Now, that is one power we do have.

Count me in! I'm all for making this kind of statement. It's the least Americans can do to show global solidarity. I'm tired of being judged by a foreign policy I have nothing to do with and no say in.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Know someone that could organize it? That part is not exactly my forte, but I love to get myself and hands dirty though, I do not mind the trenches.

reply to post by TheLoneArcher


I think you make a great point.

I have a friend that works in an apointment center for a large health care provider. If you clock in three minutes early you have to fill out paper work explaining why. The phone system is what they call a "constant on" system. That means that any phone call is instantly qued and sent to the operator. The operator gets only a single beep and then they are on. This happens constantly all day while they are answering patient e-mails. While answering phone calls and e-mails they are also calling patients to reschedule because of changes in doctor's schedules. On the average day they answer upwards of 90 calls and answer 30 e-mails. That doesn't include the sudden reschedule because a doctor decides he wants to take thursday off to see his kid's field day at school.

Their computers are hooked in to a network that allows the section managers to monitor every thing they type or view. The manager can even go in and correct their typing or close a window while they are actively using the computer. The manager can also listen in on any operatior's conversation at any time. That doesn't mean their calls only. The head phone is hooked in to a system that is constantly recording. Even if the headeset is muted you are being recorded. The mute is post recording device and only stops patients from hearing the operator. The managers are required to listen in to at least one call from each operator twice a week and grade them. They are also required to monitor their computer use for at least 20 minutes per week. So, if you are having a bad day and decide to complain about working conditions, your boss has it on record. If you talk to your fellow employees about forming a union it is on record. Anything you do is on record for 90 days. It can be saved for longer if necessary.

You have to log in to the system as soon as you get to your desk. If you log in three minutes past 8am you have to fill out paper work explaining why. If you log out for any reason you have to enter a code to explain the absence. If you spend more than 10% of your time logged out for anything, besides assigned breaks or training, you get written up and have to fill out paper work explaining why. You even have to request permission to go to the bathroom. The section manager will check to make sure their is enough "coverage" and then deny or aprove your request.

You are assigned a badge with an RFID chip in it. You have to use that badge to enter or exit the building. The elevator has no external buttons. You put your badge on the sensor and it calls the elevator. The bathrooms and break rooms require you swipe your badge to enter. The company can tell where you were in the building everyday since you were issued the badge. Losing your badge is reason for disciplinary action.

It is opressive and mentally taxing. My friend was telling me about a guy that was written up recently. It turns out that he had expressed interest in reporting his boss for several breeches in operating procedure. Three days later the boss called him in to the office. He wrote him up for "varying from the pre approved script" twice in the last 60 days. Then he hit him with a third write up for violating "over time procedures." He clocked in early twice and left late once. The fifteen minutes meant he had earned overtime without recieving permission. He was fired for excessive violations in a grading period.

Those are the type of working conditions that lead to worker burn out. It is hard not to end up stressed and burnt out when you know you could lose it all so simply. It is even worse when you are working under such opressive monitoring with constant information overload.

reply to post by MikeNice81


And they say we are free and not slaves. Maybe not politically, but corporately........

reply to post by Skewed


Unfortunately it is the reality of working in the world these days.

I didn't even get in to everything. They are monitored on the length of calls, the number of people in their que that hang up on while on hold, the average time from arrival to answer for e-mail that arrives between 8am and 4pm, and on how many times they say the word no. It is crazy how many restrictions are laid on these people. Even more crazy is that there is a waiting list of people wanting to work there. The unemployement and under-employement rate has been around 20% for so long people are begging for any job. They beg for big brother and opression if it means being able to pay their rent and eat.

reply to post by MikeNice81


Oh I am well aware of how some places are. I have changed my attitude when I go to interviews now, I interview them more than they interview me. I call out their business practices and such, like asking "Do you as a supervisor, prefer your people to react to the information at hand, or only to your orders." If they answer, respond to their orders, then I know they are micro managers and I remove myself from their consideration. I also ask, "Do you put more emphasis on time spent on projects or quality of work." Being employed already, I have a lot of fun with them in calling out their misguided, uneducated, and lack of leadership abilities. Of course, if I were unemployed, I may have to zip it and tell them what they want to hear.

Originally posted by SeekerofTruth101
Worker burn out?

Is this the new politically correct term to define slavery?

Lol! Guess the masters are really peeing in their pants now and are attempting to downplay the issue out of fear of revolt, even terming it as a neurological mental issue. I guess it is indeed a mental issue, if a human willingly offers himself up as a slave instead of using his will and power to stand up to being tyrannised.

You hit the nail of the head there Seekerof - check out what they have been using on their slaves over the past few years and is now gaining momentum - they're even catching school leavers with this new Training Program it's called 'Common Purpose' and it's really frightening.

Originally posted by TrueBrit
Worker burnout syndrome? Are you actualy kidding me? I can understand a steel worker getting arthritis from working long hours in industrial forges, and welders getting similar issues from the constant strain underwhich they operate. I can understand a postman getting osteoporosis from bad posture under the wieght of his heavy bag day in day out, and getting cramped up, mangled feet from the masses of mileage they go through every year, but non physical work shouldnt be able to burn a person out on its own! What kind of pathetic , weak nonsense is that?
Cops getting sick because they have been shot too many times in thier career, ok I see the problem. Carpenters getting RSI from sawing, totaly get it. But clerks just simply having a collapse of thier bodily health through stress? I think we must have forgotten how to raise strong people in this age of central heating and air conditioning. The natural excesses of our planet, extremes of cold and heat, used to empower us by survival of them. We used to have much tougher lives than we do now, and its only in a pampered and soft present day that any one just "burns out" . Back in times of yore, this species was the top predator on the planet, capable to a man of marching for miles and miles a day just in search of lunch, and capable of shoeing horses, weilding swords and using bows to hunt, and to kill his enemies.
What are we capable of now? What inspiration can be drawn from a people so pathetic that mere paperwork can be accused of being responsible for a persons failing health... what the hell happened to us?

Probably all that refined sugar and corn syrup, more and more added to our diets, coupled with video games and tv, makes for a very weak person. But, if you are like me, and got burned out by driving stickshift in heavy traffic for average 3 hours a day or up to 6 hours(I hated holiday seasons) to get to work, then standing(killer back pain) and doing repetitive movements for another 8 hours and having a jerk boss breathe down your neck all day and give u crap for really petty things, and deal with a bunch of rude and weird and just all types of people all day. Only to go home barely have time to shove the last meal down my throat and get my minimal sleep, only to have the same nightmare of reality happen all over again the next day. The Stress level literally blows you out the door, which is pretty much what happened and I quit that job, amazing I kept it up as long as I did though, but regrettably cause my back is just doneskies, shoulda quit sooner. If your body is in contant motion for 11 to 14 hours a day basically every waking moment you are stressed the f out.

reply to post by intj123

Sounds almost like torture, doesn't it? Repetitive, backbreaking.

And as if the actual work wasn't enough, so many people have some crazy, long commutes in rush-hour traffic, dodging crazy people who think they can drive while talking on cell phones. The last time I commuted to work, it typically took me an hour one way and an hour and 15 minutes back. And that was to go 16 miles. Add that time to an 9-10 hour work day, try to sleep at least 6 and what's left for everything else?

And speaking people who try to drive when using the phone? I swear they add 30 minutes to the commute. They miss lights, leave gaps, cause minor wrecks, and generally don't pay attention.

Sorry for the mini-rant...but! It all adds to the workday stress. Seemingly small things....