Employment Guide, which runs the Charlotte Job Spot, has come out with an article reporting that hourly employees are loyal, optimistic, and good for companies. It's not surprising they ran the article, considering the source gets a majority of their revenue from hourly positions, but in all likelihood the report is true. Why? It's the changing nature of hourly work.
Hourly workers used to be called 'temps,' because they came in as office generalists to cover sick employees or during busy work seasons. Today's hourly worker, especially in the ITfields, are oftentimes more qualified and harder working than the permanent employee.
Contract workers have a wide range of skills and know how fickle the employment field is. They are the first hired and the first laid off, and most would gladly trade the freedom of contract work for the stability of a permanent job.
That's not possible when large corporations sometimes has as much as a 50/50 split in their permanent/hourly worker mix. Personally, when I hear of this report, I'm not surprised. Check out the stats.
"In fact, more than three quarters of the people we spoke with said they would like to stay with a single employer for most of their career," said Littlejohn. "Also, the great majority indicated that they feel a sense of loyalty to their employer that is much, much stronger than we expected."
Only 28 percent of hourly workers agreed with the statement "I generally do not feel an overwhelming sense of loyalty to any given employer," while a significant majority, 72 percent, disagreed.
Anyone who has worked on the inside can usually relate to the Office Space like moments where perm workers lord their superiority over hourly workers, but those moments come at a price. In one office I know of, permanent workers take to carrying their company coffee mugs around when they are hired. Like Star-Bellied Sneetches, these corporate drones turn from productive workers into clockwatchers at the stroke of the pen. A star on their belly would be no clearer indication that there is a rift between them and the hourly worker.
Of course that kind of projection leads to a jaded sort of outlook to your career. When you know that you are a clockwatcher, and that nothing you do from a merit basis can get you fired, you're bound to get a little depressed, considering the office with a window and better office supplies are your two key performance indicators.
Is it any wonder that hourly workers are more optimistic? They know that they can leave that world behind and find a workplace that rewards them for achievement.
Mad props for combining Office Space, Dr. Seuss and our hourly report! "We're not worthy, we're not worthy" (in best Wayne's World impression)
Posted by: Rosie | January 26, 2007 at 10:13 AM