While Fraser accurately diagnoses the problems of overwork, she offers little in the way of a viable solution aside from "pick up your things and leave", especially in the current weak economy.
If you want some solutions, this book is not what you're looking for. If you do want some great writing about quality of life issues that affect all of us, especially in the corporate environment, this book is insightful and thought-provoking.
After several years of research, this book was assembled to tell the story of the nightmare that has been the life of the white collar worker in America in recent decades. Using an enticing mixture of facts and figures and real-life stories collected from people in the trenches, Fraser documents a story that cries for exposure. White collar employees from large companies will recognize-painfully-the picture that's painted, with personal histories and company names and practices illuminating the text. Page after page reveals the details of an embarrassingly destructive period in our country's corporate history. Sadly, the story continues, with complications and far-reaching implications, far beyond what's presented in White Collar Sweatshop.
You'll experience a wide range of emotions as you move through this factual report. Those emotions will range from pity to sympathy, from empathy to rage. Using the internet, Fraser found a wide range of people to open their hearts, share their experiences, and expose the questionable, unfeeling, almost inhumane acts of corporate executives. You'll read about people who invested their lives, at the expense of their families and themselves, to help build companies that later chewed them up and spit them out.
The research for this book was conducted during the late 1990s and into 2000. These were the years of the hot economy where opportunities to change jobs were plentiful. Many of the people who worked for large corporations, where this book is centered, did not leave for greener pastures; they were trapped in a never-ending cycle of working, working, working for companies-emotional and professional handcuffs that held them in a no-alternatives, no-win rut.
Since this book was written, the economy has shifted. During the slowdown of 2000-2002, employers became even more ruthless. With fewer jobs to jump to, workers had their escape routes blocked. The current reality is probably even worse than the deterioration described in Fraser's documentary. As the economy picks up, we'll see some cataclysmic changes in the relationship between employers and employees. The historical period recorded in this book will be a foundation for a major upheaval.
To understand what's coming, read this book to understand what's happened. Special note to senior corporate executives: If you want to attract, inspire, and optimize top talent, read this book to comprehend how your employees feel. Even if you're not the size of the major companies cited in the case histories, know that your future or even current employees-directly or indirectly-are influenced by the experiences described.
This book will be a catalyst for change if corporate leaders apply the knowledge they'll gain to assure that sweatshop practices are terminated.
Extra benefits: strong notes section with a number of valuable book references, as well as a comprehensive index.
I say "unfortunately" because technically it really is a good book. It is well-written and well-researched and the author really has captured a good deal of what's wrong with the workplace these days, so it's not that it was executed poorly. In fact it was often too on target. I found myself growing increasingly uncomfortable reading some of the accounts of corporate sadism. Like a rape victim who reads another woman's account of her ordeal or a veteran who reads about another soldier's experience in a desperate firefight these accounts can be very exhausting to get through at times.
The problem I had was that despite really nailing the problem the author has little to offer in the way of solutions (or hope) other than what seemed to me to be wish-upon-a-star platitudes. Now, it's really not fair to expect that one person should have the answer to over 30 years of corporate greed and profit-addicted short sightedness. Still, I felt many times that reading this book was a waste of my time since I already knew how messed up things were; I was looking for relief not a chance to relive the horror.
If you want an accurate, often excruciating, blow-by-blow account of why work [is no good] and why no matter how hard you work you will earn less and less and still get laid off then this book may be for you. If you pretty much know why you're getting shafted at work but want to find a way to avoid the pain then you probably should pass this one by.