Quote:
Originally Posted by lendaddy
This thread makes me depressed, seriously.
What is it you want these companies to do, profit more or promise less? What am I missing?
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To be honest with you, I really don't know. When I was a kid, my dad's version of "The American Dream" was more leisure time through efficiency and automation. Everyone was going to share in the prosperity. What happened? We work longer hours now than they did in his generation.
I'm a working professional. My dad was a Kansas farm boy who never darkened the door of a formal school in his life - second to last of 13 kids, his oldest sister home schooled him. He died in 1978, at the age of 49, when I was 18. He was a hard working union employee at a big company - the same one I work for today. My mom stayed at home with us four kids. My wife has to work to maintain about the same standard of living our folks enjoyed, with our moms staying home.
The unions and the workers they represent are made out to be the villains in about the largest collapse of American business ever seen. Their "excesses" are roundly derided. Are they really to blame?
In my dad's day, from post-Korea America until his death, our CEO's and higher level management types made a good living. In the '50's, when he left the Army to begin a civilian life, the average CEO compensation for a Fortune 500 company was about ten times what they paid their average worker. A very good living by any measure. The management structure at these companies was only a few layers deep from the factory worker to the CEO.
Today, we find that the average salary (including all "bonuses" - which are now contractual obligations rather than performance based) of a Fortune 500 CEO is over 300 times that of their average employee. There are now nine levels of management between me, a working engineer, and the CEO of my company.
So who is really milking corporate America? Whose greed is leading to its collapse? There is obviously a lot of blame to share. I just hate to see the majority of it placed at the feet of the American worker.
Anyway, just venting a bit.