OK, I'm back but I don't know for how long.

You know, over the last 40 years of work I've noticed a number of changes in the workplace. Here and there on blogs people have discussed it and the general consensus seems to be that conditions are worse than they used to be. Thought I'd give some voice to some of the changes I see.

It used to be that a person went to work for a company, worked for it until he retired or died. That company would never think of firing him, other than for some outrageous thing he had done, and other companies would be very suspicious of hiring him because of this firing attitude. "Your old company went out of business, fine. Otherwise, what kind of screw-up are you?"

In the past the companies valued experience. Sure, it cost a bit more, but experienced people were generally more productive. And if a person became less productive due to illness or age, it was just sort of understood that that was an overhead cost that all the other employees had sort of agree to, one that lower their salary in some minute way or increased their workload slightly.

Companies worried about their employees, making sure there was a retirement plan for them. And the employees worried about their companies, knowing that a bankrupt company doesn't hire many workers.

But time have changed. And companies and employees as well. Nowadays, it seems like layoffs are a everyday occurrence, almost like optimal employee levels are determined hour-to-hour. It used to be that the company was the employees' security net. Now it's the government. Companies don't mind firing someone, since the person can get unemployment, something the company has provided the money for. They can get another job because the other employers know that being fired many times has nothing to do with the employees competence. And when they retire, well, there's always social security, right?

Of course, employees don't have a whole lot of loyalty today either. They know that the next layoff can be right around the corner, they know there are other jobs out there, they know that it's easier for them to get a job at another firm at a higher salary than it is to get a raise where they're at. Of course they don't have loyalty.

Companies are constantly laying off and rehiring. Usually the new hires have to be trained, but that cost usually doesn't come out of the department's pocket that is hiring the person. The salary does, so they want someone cheap. And of course that person doesn't have experience and has low productivity. Ever been to a McDonald's lately or a Burger King. Lots of competence there. Low salaries, too.

Many companies today are cutting out benefits, ranging from health care to vacation to sick days, etc. If you've noticed a pattern, it's the bottom line. Now, it's true that modern-day managers are pretty short-sighted, not looking at the long-run costs. Why should they, they themselves will probably be laid off next year, too. How can they look good now? By reducing costs.

Before we start condemning companies too much, however, keep in mind that a company without profit is a company that doesn't hire anyone, cheap or not. Many times we think of companies like in "A Christmas Story", with Scrooge at the helm, paying the help a pittance out of his own pocket so every penny he gives Crachett is a penny he doesn't have for himself. Nowadays companies pay what they can given their sales and costs. Salaries are just another cost and if a company is doing well, they're usually high, and if it isn't, they're low.

There are those companies in the news lately that liberals like to hold up as example of why capitalism is bad. But, it's not the companies that are bad, it is a small subset of management who are doing some quite illegal stuff. Some people say there needs to be more government control of business. As a matter of fact, most of the manipulation we've seen lately was done in response to some rather stupid rules and regs that the federal government came up with earlier. They were trying to solve one problem and caused another. I'm sure they will come up with some rules to solve this problem and it will push that same subset into some other illegality.

Today people get divorced in record numbers. We have little patience with relationships nowaday. We want instant food, instant service, instant satisfaction. An hour TV show has become more difficult to watch, we don't have the time to waste. MTV has spawned its generation with time-spans of no more than 15 minutes, usually less. Technology advances faster and faster, from records to tapes to CD to MP3's to DVD to... Whatever it is, it's right around the corner.

In such a world is it any wonder that companies have changed. Is it any wonder than managers only care about THEIR jobs, about looking good to THEIR bosses. Dog eat dog doesn't even come close to describing the current competitive markets. Think about all the jobs moving overseas in an attempt for the companies to remain competitive. We love paying only $40 for a DVD player, we don't want to think about how it comes with the price of an american job.

I worked for a company at one time which was the epitome of this kind of society. We had whole divisions start up and vanish in less than two years, departments were likely to last only 6 months before reorganization. In a two year period I worked in 3 different division, 7 different departments, in 5 different jobs and 3 different physical locations - you had to check at the front desk every morning to make sure you were in the right building. While I was at Boeing Aircraft 10,000 people were hired "on spec", but when they didn't get the contract for the SST, they were all laid off 3 months after hiring.

Yes, companies have changed, but they aren't the only things. When our society gets tired of constant change, when there are those people who say "I'd rather have stability, I'd rather work on my marriage than look for someone new, I'd rather figure out how to work with my boss rather than look for a new job, I'd rather be loyal to my employees and care about them rather than firing them and rehiring someone else tomorrow," only then will we see any real change. And when we say society, we mean the people, because that's who society is.