“This used to be a great place to work.”

Lately it seems that I keep having the same conversation over and over again:

A young woman looks at me across her glass of wine. She looks anxious because she works for an energy company planning a round of layoffs and pay cuts. “I don’t know how I’m going to make it if I get laid off,” she sighs. “I thought I had it made, but I can’t make it if they cut my pay—I’m a single mother and my ex isn’t exactly coming through with child support. It’s a shame because it used to be a great place to work.”

The Sam’s Club door person, an elderly lady, is chatting with another employee. As I approach, holding my receipt to be examined, the other employee scuttles off. The elderly lady shakes her head and bitterly tells me, “We used to have bonuses and incentives and they’d pay us extra for working Sundays. Now they’re cutting our hours and taking away our vacation. This used to be a great place to work, now it’s just a paycheck.”

A middle-aged man works as a coder for a mid-sized financial firm. “They’re making us do twice the work for the same pay. I’m working 60 hours a week and not being paid overtime, but I’m afraid to complain because they’ll hire some Indian to do my job. I don’t have the time or the energy to look for another job. I used to work normal hours. This used to be a great place to work.”