Get Paid to Leave Your Job?

In this morning’s news Ford has announced they will offer buyouts and early retirement packages to 54,000 workers.  Obviously they are attempting to cut more jobs and replace those highly paid workers with those making about half the pay.

So the question is:  Are there any losers in this deal or can everybody win?  One of the stories I tell in No More Mondays is about a gentleman who said he hated his job for 17 years, and then was offered a $140,000 buyout.  And he was having a major struggle in making his decision.  My response was essentially – YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!”  How often do you get the opportunity to be paid $140,000 to leave a job you hate?  Take the money and run.  Surely you can figure out something to go TO with that kind of start-up capital. 

There are too many options for fulfilling, meaningful and profitable work all around us to settle for anything less.  If you “fired yourself” today, would you choose to apply for the same job you have now?  How much of a buyout would it take for you to walk away from your current job?

Dead Man Working

I am frequently alarmed when I hear someone describe how effectively they avoid work and are still able to receive a paycheck.  Do these people really enjoy “not working?”  Now I’m not talking about relaxing with friends and family, or taking a cruise, or even taking a break to just walk around the neighborhood.  No, I’m talking about expending energy to try to figure out how to avoid any real productive work while in their place of employment.   Computers seem to have added to this malady.  As long as someone is sitting in front of a screen I guess it looks like work.  People check personal email, browse on eBay, and do their Christmas shopping.  Recently I was walking through a corporate office and watched a woman playing solitaire.  I commented to the person showing me in and he dismissed it as that’s just what people do. It appears that looking at a computer covers a world of self-absorbed inefficiency.  It the boss walks up you can always say you’re teaching yourself some new software and thus saving the company training dollars.  You’re not a slacker – you’re a self-starter.   I’ve encountered people who have purposely jammed the production line so they could get in at least a 30-minute nap.  Others who pay co-workers to clock in for them.  And then they complain about loss of benefits or being laid off.   Don’t people realize that in avoiding work they are numbing themselves to the process of innovation, creativity, profitability and ultimately personal fulfillment?  A meaningful life cannot include deception and seeking payment for work not performed.  Is it any wonder companies are looking for ways to pay for “results” rather than “time?”