Not retrenched, but overstretched
Publication: Sydney Morning Herald (33,Sat 20 May 2006)
Author: Adele Horin
THE survivors of mass retrenchments are not necessarily the lucky ones any more. At Qantas, the staff left behind once the broom sweeps out 1000 managers and support workers over coming months deserve commiseration, not congratulation. If they are not already fully paid-up members of the overworked, overstressed and time-poor brigade, they soon will be.
The latest decision by Qantas to slash labour costs was prompted not by falling demand, or lazy and unproductive managers, but by rising fuel costs and their effect on the bottom line. (All airlines have been hit by the fuel price rise so you have to wonder why Qantas believes it is at some unique competitive disadvantage.) There is not less work to do - but there will be fewer people to do it. And the surviving managers, predictably, will pay a huge personal toll trying to get it all done.
It is yet another example of rhetoric at odds with reality. For most workers, the flexible, family-friendly workplace much trumpeted by government and big business is a mirage. As Australia gets richer, its citizens have more money but less time. In many cases, the choice between the dollar and leisure is not theirs to make. A new survey released this week by Families Australia, a Federal Government-sponsored organisation, shows that most parents and children, given the choice, would opt for more time over money. Time is the missing ingredient in modern life - time for family, friends, community and even sex.
Talk of family-friendly and flexible work has revved up considerably in the recent years of prosperity. But the reality for the "lucky" survivors of the Qantas surgery will be longer work hours, more stress and less time.