yet another glimpse into how empires feed on starvation

[sophiaserpentia]

A while back I commented on the connection between Empire and starvation: the Empire keeps us all starving because we are more pliant that way and less likely to look up from our struggles to apprehend the bigger picture.

This is the first thing I thought of when a friend on FB linked to this story:

With nearly 14 million unemployed workers in America, many have gotten so desperate that they're willing to work for free. While some businesses are wary of the legal risks and supervision such an arrangement might require, companies that have used free workers say it can pay off when done right.

"People who work for free are far hungrier than anybody who has a salary, so they're going to outperform, they're going to try to please, they're going to be creative," says Kelly Fallis, chief executive of Remote Stylist, a Toronto and New York-based startup that provides Web-based interior design services. "From a cost savings perspective, to get something off the ground, it's huge. Especially if you're a small business."

In the last three years, Fallis has used about 50 unpaid interns for duties in marketing, editorial, advertising, sales, account management and public relations. She's convinced it's the wave of the future in human resources. "Ten years from now, this is going to be the norm," she says.

from Unpaid jobs: The new normal?

So, basically, we can expect more and more that companies will string people along without pay for as long as they're willing to go along with it, because they're disposable and replaceable and there's someone else starving and desperate waiting in line for the opportunity. They will hire just enough of these people to make it seem like other than a con.

Fortunately at present there are still laws protecting people from being used like this. Wanna bet that's going to change in the next two years?

Comments

[stacymckenna.livejournal.com]

The worst part is, the management at mom's job hasn't asked people to put in off the clock hours. People are doing it SPONTANEOUSLY in an effort to look dedicated in case there's another round of downsizing...

[sophiaserpentia.livejournal.com]

What's likely to happen there is a "race to the bottom:" a mixed-up feedback loop that forces people to go further and further outside of their self-interest. The only thing that will stop it is for everyone there to be aware that it's illegal for your mom's employer to accept off-the-clock hours.

[akycha.livejournal.com]

The sad thing is that illegality seldom stops employers/corporations from doing things that are in their interest, especially when they can persuade people (through a culture of self-denial) that they need to do it to themselves.

[stacymckenna.livejournal.com]

Ayup.

[kitkatlj.livejournal.com]

You've just inspired me to make sure I get that last half-hour of overtime I put in this week. What's the point of fighting to keep my nonexempt status if I volunteer my work for free?

I'd recalculated, and had been meaning to adjust my timesheet before submitting it, but kept forgetting. Now it's safely adjusted, so it won't auto-submit w/o that extra half-hour.

Thank you!