Fatally flawed proposal

We’ve been hearing for a while about the terrible and unprecedented number of suicides occurring at France Telecom (25 since 2008 apparently). According to a recent story in the Times, the organisation is now to make part-time jobs available on a voluntary basis to employees aged over 57 who feel that full time work is endangering their health. My money’s on the fact that those making this decision are nowhere near 57 themselves. The (potentially fatal) flaw in the argument is that these poor beleaguered older workers who are already feeling highly stressed and threatened would be doing the equivalent of throwing themselves to the wolves, the very act of admitting that they could no longer take the pace being tantamount to lying on their backs with their legs in the air waiting to be ripped asunder. As anyone who’s spoken to older workers knows, a common driver of those who still want to see themselves as contributing value in a competitive situation is not wanting to admit they’re ‘not up to it’ or ‘not as good’ as younger competitors. BT proved this when they found that few of their older workers actually wanted to take advantage of reduced hours working for just this reason.

 Okay, some older workers do want to wind down and reduce their hours, but those at France Telecom are unlikely to fit the bill as they’re not being offered the choice to do it for positive reasons (either their own or their employer’s) in a supportive environment. As a comment on the Times site said, they should at least offer the option to all workers, to single out older workers in this instance is both inappropriate and insulting – and unfortunately not likely to solve the problem. Let’s hope they call in the occupational psychologists without delay.

Read the Times story at http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6895790.ece

Maybe there’s no “I” in team….

My daughter suggested this blog topic to me.

As I pass away the hours researching for in my prime, my mind is occasionally apt to take a five minute break. During one of these breaks I designed a small poster which is now pinned on my office wall.

My daughter, a doctor working in general practice, on seeing this commented that it would be ideal advice for the many archetypal women in their forties, fifties and sixties who come to see her. These overstressed and overstretched women with their tanks running on empty come to her for some attempt at respite from their depression and mental and physical exhaustion. If it is not children or grandchildren they are caring for it is elderly parents who demand their attention and these while they are trying to juggle a job, the house, being a good partner etc etc.

The advice which is given, “give yourself some space”, “take some time out for yourself” is met with “I haven’t time for that, I’ve so much to do”. And so the vicious circle continues. Nevertheless the advice remains valid and vital.

What does the poster say?

Maybe there’s no “I” in team – but there is “I” twice, together with “my” and “me” in “in my prime”.

Over 50 but not overly happy

“Over 50″ represents a huge spectrum – from wealthy and carefree at one end to lonely and impoverished at the other. Most of the bad news tends to be about the old, sick and helpless. But it’s by no means an automatic bed of roses for all of those who are younger and probably better off.

A report this week reveals that more middle-aged women (45- 54)  have depression or anxiety than ever before – up a fifth from 1993. And according to the survey, conducted by the NHS Information Centre, female pensioners are more than twice as likely to have mental problems than men

Experts believe the stresses of balancing home and work, caring for sick relatives, or feelings of loneliness after children leave home, can all contribute to the ‘crisis’.  On top of this, those who grew up in the Sixties are more likely than previous generations to feel they haven’t made enough of their life and to be unhappy with their looks.

Women are finding it increasingly difficult to balance home and work – and many are being put under stress because they have to care for parents with dementia. We also live in a society in which the relentless bombardment of youth can make even the most sophisticated woman feel depressed. Finally, this is the age when people question what they have achieved. But standards have never been higher for women who can be more unhappy than previous generations, not because they are worse off, but because their expectations are higher.

So there you go. Understandable. Perhaps inevitable. And hopefully for many, treatable. But we do need to keep it in mind when making broad brush statements about the over 50s. Who exactly are we talking about?