The geeks and nerds, along with other in-demand knowledge workers, are inheriting, if not the earth, at least viable workplaces.

A two-part article in the LA Times (part 1, part 2) provides chapter and verse on how companies are treating those in various functions that are considered replaceable.

All in the name of short-term, Wall Street-demanded profits.

Contrary to the popular image, tech companies aren’t any better.

An article citing Amazon’s vaunted customer focus advises companies to follow the leader in focusing on the long-term.

But Amazon’s treatment of it’s fulfillment and other lower-level employees shows no leadership and its thinking is just as short-term as everyone else’s.

At some point business leadership will come to understand that business is like a three-legged stool—customers, investors and employees.

When one or two legs are wildly out-of-whack with the third the stool falls over.

Maybe not immediately, but Rome didn’t fall in a day, either.

Three points to consider:

• The economy may not turn around in the near-term, but it will eventually.
• Workplace demographics don’t favor companies who, skipping the euphemisms, treat their people like crap.
• Memory improves significantly when the impact is personal.

I look forward to watching these same companies struggle.

Flickr image credit: Laurel Fan

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 at 1:15 am and is filed under Culture, Ducks In A Row. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Tags: consequences, management approach, short-term thinking
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