In good times, workers would often ask to use flex time or to telecommute. But with so much uncertainty about whether they will even have a job in the future, workers today are reluctant to ask for such job benefits.
The Washington Post reported:
There's now a "silent fright" among workers, said Joanne Brundage, executive director of Mothers & More, a 21-year-old networking group, likening the atmosphere to what she saw 20 years ago, when working mothers were advised not to keep pictures of their children in their cubicles.
"That's what it feels like we're returning to. Work as many hours as you possibly can. Make yourself indispensable. Don't ever complain. Don't ever ask for anything," she said. "I'm just horrified we may as well just forget the last 20 years."
For their part, many managers are doing little to calm those concerns, human resource consultants say. They tend to view options such as flex time and telecommuting as retention tools, experts say, and in recessions, fear of unemployment is just as effective.
There is little data on the recession's impact on so-called work-life initiatives in the private sector. But there is anecdotal evidence that, while few companies are formally suspending programs, employees feel pressure to reconsider their work arrangements.
While I certainly buy this article's premise that employees are...
