Today I was in Starbucks with a friend who bought my drink. I think their prices are silly and I only go if I am with someone who invites me. Anyway, it was a completely new crew and the cashier didn’t know how to ring up my drink. I told her how to add it since I overheard that answer from another cashier who didn’t know how to ring it up. It’s the salted carmel hot chocolate which is a seasonally promoted drink but is available year round.

Why did I share that? So that I could share this. I once was downsized by a company that had financial issues. One company I worked for once let 15% of its workforce go in a single day. It was really tough that day. I wonder sometimes about the cost to the bottom line when companies think this way. Companies are free to do whatever is in their interest, but at some point they have to realize that if people don’t have jobs they can’t afford to buy their goods. I bet that Henry Ford who said he wanted his employees to be able to afford to buy the goods they produce would be surprised at what seems to be the common experience. That the lowest priced worker gets the job, and even then it’s not certain.

I am not suggesting that anyone has a right to be paid any amount of money. I am only humbly asking that if people are treated as costs and not resources, it doesn’t seem like the best use of people. I remember reading a story in which a hospital was facing a shortage of millions of dollars and told the employees that they might have to let people go since management couldn’t find a way to fix the imbalance. Miraculously the employees brain-stormed ways to save money, and it turned out that no one needed to be fired. Instead of letting people go, they improved the waste that was inherent in the system.

It is tough to manage a business in todays economic environment. I am not suggesting that I know better than anyone else how to be profitable and a responsible citizen. It does seem however that by emphasizing profit over everything else gets rid of the people who are creative, dedicated and will find ways to make a business survive.  This is just my idea, I could be wrong.