Thank you for all your posts. I will reply to them in the evening.
I am wondering about the job stress stuff. I thought it was affectiing just me b/c well I am predisposed to believe that I am the most screwed up person on the planet. But I am seeing an unprecendented amount of sloppy work, burn out, people dropping out of professions and the depression associated with failing unreachable standards.
There is a generally apathy - where what is the point of trying - when the bar is so high that you will fail anyway... People just give up. And I myself am very close to that point at times. Add perpetual budget cuts and the ever impending fear of lay offs or actual lay offs - the workplace is becoming more of a pressure cooker than it was in the past...
My assistant use to just support me a year ago - and I kept her busy reasonable full time. Now she supports 5 attorneys! And with the latest budget cuts, actions have been taking that has effectively doubled her workload. And I am doing more of the work myself b/c she simply is not available to support me. And she is a contractor - so no maternity leave benefits, no paid vacation time, no paid holidays. Other than health care - no other benefits. And she is paying more for gas than her car payments... Her mother doesn't even have health insurance.
The dollar is dropping like a rock and that is causing even more angst... Foreign law firms I work with charge in their own currency - no longer in dollars... Companies are shifting focus to international markets for customers that can afford their stuff - and well the weak dollar is a good thing if people are paying in other currencies.... My friends have actually starting moving money from here to Europe - euros are the currency of choice these days... I am planning on doing that myself in a few months... No one is even discussing that phenomena on the news yet... Depending on the outcome of the elections - never ending wars funded by loans from China...not good for the economy... And at the same time, the top corporations are at all time highs when ti comes to profitability...
Humongo client is on that list. They are NOT trickling down. They are investing the excess cash in foreign markets and overseas labor. In the US - all the employees get are budget cuts, rounds of never ending layoffs, diminishing benefits, and next to no raises. The CEO is earning himself some hefty bonuses.
There are a lot of good hardworking people - but they are worried about paying for basics - and how are they going to make ends meet... And it is next to impossible for them to focus on work.
Of course, as the people that work for me burn out - it affects me b/c I rely on them... You really cannot pressure burned out people to produce. They are not lazy - it is just really tough for people financially... But keeping an eye on whether they are meeting deadlines is taking up more of my time... Like it or not - it is my job to make sure things get done... I don't like sending "bad guy" emails - but what else can you do...other than squeeze what you can out of people...
I don't think the economy was this affected by Vietnam....or the Cold War - and the war on drugs was a silly diversion for a bored warless country... Republicans and Democrats alike in the business world are wondering how on earth we are going to get out of this one. Business is about fiscal responsibility and money... Who wins the election is going to determine whether anyone even begins to address these issues...
I think I am still in shock over this dollar free fall thing... This is really not a good thing... I never thought I would see this in my lifetime...
