Is Your Number Up?

Are today's workers becoming a physical commodity that can be brokered like orange juice or pork bellies? Traded away or outsourced in order to boost the company's bottom line?

In the ever changing landscape of Corporate America, giving chase to the all mighty dollar, big business is finding many imaginative ways in which to cut costs and increase profits.

While on one hand the value of the company stock continues to grow as their market shares rise, keeping stock holders happy; the employee headcount on the other hand is being diminished, and demoralized in the process.

Attrition has always been one common method of culling the employee pool. Consequently, when a person leaves an organization they aren't replaced, but instead their duties are added to the other worker-bees who are already over taxed. Placing more burden and stress on those left behind.

Still, the Company's main goal of saving money has been accomplished.

Since globalization has become more prevalent, other creative techniques are being applied as attrition no longer seems to be cutting the mustard.

Outsourcing: the process of subcontracting a portion of a Company's jobs or services outside the U.S. is a big one!

Outsourcing certain functions, company positions or even entire departments overseas has become increasingly popular. This practice is extremely common in Information Technology applications. Due to the overall low cost of doing business aboard, using such cost saving measures is very enticing.

Some companies encourage early retirement, offering attractive packages to those who accept it.

A more direct approach is simply to layoff employees. Or in politically correct speak: downsizing or rightsizing.

Capitalism at it's best! I don't deny a Company's right to implement any of these strategies in order to profit as much as possible. After all, they are in business to make money.

It's not the fact that Companies are doing these things. But more in the manner of how these practices are sometimes implemented and how it impacts the employees.

Organizations, big and small, used to be more personable. In the same token, employees used to have more loyalty to his or her employer as well. That's not always the case now. As chance would have it, this fact makes it easier on those deciding the fate of others, allowing them a clear conscious and the ability to sleep at night.

When the layoffs and outsourcing of employees commences, by whatever methodology the company has devised to determine who gets the ax and who doesn't, it's painful. But rest assured, when the time came to decide who the unlucky ones were to let go, your name was never mentioned. But your number was! It now seems to me that all civility in this process has been cast aside.

It's all a numbers game. Maybe they used an employee number, an employee ID, or your social security number: that governmental number issued to you at birth and linked to you forever more. It's similar to the metal tags attached to wild animals in order to control and monitor their behavior.

With a SSN, government agencies can track your every move. It enables authorities to collect taxes, various fees and registrations, garnishments and the like. The list is almost endless. Just by way of a number.

What's it like to be treated as a number, instead of the unique person you are; someone with thoughts, emotions, family, and a name?

Take the actor Patrick McGoohan for example in the 1967 TV series The Prisoner. He's kidnapped, stripped of his identity and held prisoner in a place called The Village. Now he is known simply as Number Six. His name, nor anyone else's name, is ever mentioned. All residents of this robotic, Orwellian town are governed primarily by someone called Number Two. In this place, Number Six finds out there is no escape and worse, he's lost his individuality. No one has a name, but everyone has a number. He's been tagged!

Is this the future of our society?

What number are you?