Mad as hell and we're not going to take it any more!

If all our stars would align, or perhaps our numbers would come in, 46 % of those of us currently employed would walk away from their jobs for something else. Such is the state of our employment happiness these days.

A survey called "Work Canada" by consulting firm Watson Wyatt, has been conducted over the last few years and the picture of an increasingly frustrated workforce is being painted for us. Only 43% stated that they thought that their place of employment was a good one, a 12% decline since the survey was last taken two years ago. No growth and no advancement in the workplace are making us a rather surly lot of worker drones.

There is serious disenchantment with working conditions and prospects as workers feel under appreciated and over worked. Not surprisingly money talks, as many workers don't believe that they are being compensated properly for the amount of work they are expected to perform.

The Work Canada study of the disgruntled comes out at the same time as a Statistics Canada survey comes out showing that the much ballyhooed jobs explosion, trumpeted by many a politician may not be all that it seems. Many of the "new" jobs are temporary, part time or casual jobs, with little or no benefits.

The Survey called "Are Good Jobs disappearing in Canada", takes a look at the restructuring and downsizing of the last twenty years and how it has impacted on Canadian Society. The most talked about finding is the fact that wages over the last twenty years are not on any kind of an upward trend, in fact for new hires there is a decided decline in the salary structure. With the increased use of temporary workers comes a problem for the future, many of the temps are not covered by pension plans setting up a potential problem come the golden years.

Not included in these studies, but a personal bug a boo of mine is the increasingly meaningless Unemployment Rate statitstics that the government trots out every month. Since they track only those on an active Employment Insurance claim, l've always wondered what happens to all those people that exhaust their claims. Do they just disappear into the night, never to be reported on again? My suspicion (and a non scientific one I admit) is that there is a vast underlying unemployment rate, that goes unreported. The people that have exhausted their claims may find work, most likely part time or underground, may end up on social assistance or most likely will siphon off their RRSP and Mutual fund monies until things turn around. But they go unreported for as long as they and their money can hold out.

Next time you read of the Unemployment rate in your home town, just take a moment to wonder how many more are really unemployed or underemployed. And then wonder just how we're going to finance a livable wage for folks let alone pensions for everyone, if many are not working or at least not making enough to contribute to their own long term security. Then ask yourself if our politicians truly have any idea as to what is going on in this country!

When the only real financial planning left is to buy tickets for the ever increasing 6/49 and Super Seven jackpots, then perhaps we need to take a look at how things are working, or in many cases not working!