Once employment was the norm, companies were very paternalistic in their approach to staff offering sports facilities and all sorts of staff perks in addition to a good salary in order to create a good espris de corps and, more importantly, aid staff retention.
Today business is ruthless and staff are viewed as expendable, employers take their pound of flesh (and anything else they can get!) and employees are exploited as never before. Much of this can be attributed to the accountant constantly paring unnecessary costs completely unaware of the consequences of his actions, especially when these are not quantifiable in monetary terms.
Government statistics show a trend away from full-time employment with part-time and self-employment increasing significantly probably because those who have lost their jobs are trying any means possible to earn a living either doing more than one part-time job or under the guise of self-employment doing anything which will earn them something.
Companies who choose not to value their staff may in the longer term live to regret the fact. Employee loyalty and commitment will reduce significantly, staff turnover will rise and it may become more difficult to recruit new staff because of a poor reputation as a company to work for.
Of course to an accountant these things are unquantifiable, how could they meaningfully measure the impact of a redundancy exercise in these terms? Nevertheless they can see the reduction in profitability, an increase in recruitment expenses and a reduced profit margin which results albeit after the event.
Many companies now prefer to use contract staff when the need arises but in doing so may be doing themselves a disservice. No matter how good any type of interim staff can never replace a permanent employee who knows the business inside out and intuitively acts on that knowledge even if it means working extra hours and sacrificing “family time”.
The cost of employing a member of staff continues to increase, not only from taxation but also from extra health and safety, paternity, maternity, racism, sexism, ageism and disability laws to name a few. How for instance can a small employer budget for male paternity leave? Can you blame them for taking an easy route employing more transient staff?
We have reached a tipping point whereby hard-pressed employers are realising that no matter how hard they try they will always find themselves unable to comply with every aspect of employment and tax laws. Wishing to remain within the law and less vulnerable they are choosing not to employ staff, can you really blame them?
For those individuals who have always been employed and are looking for another job it seems the likelihood reduces day by day. Maybe employees will become extinct unless their welfare is addressed. They must realise they need to keep their options open, “employment” can be had in other guises – just take a lead from the BBC!
