Mac-n-cheese king Kraft Foods, which acquired British chocolate maker Cadbury earlier this year, isn’t wasting any time when it comes to flexing some American-style corporate muscle. According to the Financial Times, Kraft has warned 3,600 Cadbury employees that they’ll face a three-year pay freeze if they don’t agree to “voluntarily” opt out of the company’s pension plan. Separately, Kraft announced that CEO Irene Rosenfeld was getting a 40% pay hike this year, due in part to her “exceptional” management of the Cadbury deal. Rosenfeld’s 2009 take will be about $26 million.
One of the things I truly don’t miss about working for a Fortune 500 company is the feeling of being an interchangeable part. When you work for a company with 26,000 employees…well, let’s face facts. You’re a number, and your inherent value to the organization is far less than anything you might think it is. Few will care that you’re gone, and even fewer will note your departure. When I left, I got the usual polite “been nice working with you” from a few of my former colleagues, but then life goes on, which is, I suppose, as it should be. Truth be told, I wasn’t exactly crying the blues about my termination. I’d already turned in my notice, but my manager decided to quit me sooner, which really only meant that I was now eligible for unemployment. Score one for Jack.
I grew tired of working for people who were only interested in what they could get out of me. After doing what was asked of me and still being granted a 0% raise, I’d had enough. I was tired of being a number, tired of being treated like one, and tired of working for a manager who couldn’t spell “leadership” if you spotted him the first letter and the vowels. He was clearly tired of me, and I was sick to death of the stifling culture and atmosphere. After eight years, losing the daily routine was an adjustment…but not nearly as much of one as I’d thought it might be. I drive by my old office every day, often without even so much as a thought. Do I miss it? About as much as I’d miss a case of jock itch.
Given the current economic climate, when so many are simply glad to have a job, it’s become far too easy for employers to exploit those in their employ. In a down economy, where jobs continue to be at a premium, it’s easy to squeeze the rank-and-file, especially when you know that they have few readily available options. Sure, companies could treat their employees as human beings, but that sort of compassion and understanding ain’t cheap. No, it’s much easier, and far less expensive, to wring what you can out of your people…and then simply plug new ones in when the current ones squawk or display the temerity to stand up for themselves. People who think for themselves are an expense that many companies just can’t bring themselves to bear, not when someone else can be plugged in with little, if any, adverse impact.
Yay, capitalism!!!
