Challenging the corporate image of organizational reality

Today I'm not in the main going to write about work per se. Two articles and their less obvious content prompt me to post them on my blog. The first article - lessons through a lens - is about a supply school teacher who secretly filmed a classroom. It of course goes on to discuss the ethics involved in such a venture. It is in this respect that I seek deep similarities with blogging about work-related situations. For instance, the teacher in question is accused by her employer of presenting a 'distorted portrayal' of how the school functioned. I sense that employers in general are really worried that the blog allows employees the potential to portray their organization in a way that goes against the company/corporate line.

The second article - there's no going back - concerns what are commonly referred to as the 'boomerang generation'. In other words, grown-up 'children' who return to the security of their parent's home after leaving home most notably to attend college or university. From a work-related perspective what interests me the most is highlighted in a direct quote from the article - the current problem for young people in the UK is that they can no longer earn incomes sufficient to sustain independence, even if they find work. Ultimately, should we assume that the expectations of the 20 somethings are too high, or, are wages set too low for a debt-orientated and consumer-led society, let alone people with even the most modest life styles?

The next article is work specific - nine-to-five in decline as UK embraces flexi-time - and for me as a lecturer/academic heralds the first results from what is arguably the most comprehensive work-related survey in the world - the British 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey. Previous surveys were conducted in 1980, 1984, 1990 and 1998 and are particularly relevant to those who have seen four Conservative governments (1979-1997) and a series of reticent Labour administrations keen to marginalise or tone down the effects of trade unionism on British industry. The article, in brief, suggests that despite an enormous change in the world of work, workers continue to want to shape this world, albeit increasingly without the help of trade unions.

Last, but not least sees supermarket staff in strike vote - apparently, sufficient staff support the bargaining strategy of strike action as the GMB union believes workers at the Ambient Distribution Centre are amongst the lowest paid in the sector. Perhaps they should all go back and live with their parents!

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