CHAPTER FOUR

Stress Of Unemployment

It has been estimated some eight million people last year were affected in some way or another as a result of unemployment in America. The stress we suffer as a result of unemployment can be so devastating that it has been known to literally destroy lives, not only the life of the person unemployed but everybody closely involved with him or her.

This was never more evident than the first week of February 1996. There were two different instances on the same day where six lives were taken. Two men lost their jobs in different parts of the country and couldn't handle the pressures of being unemployed. Just before the death of one of these men, he had stated in negotiations with the police the stress of losing his job was too much for him to handle. He was later shot to death by the police.

The American economy is in a fragile state of being, but it's not by itself. The people who make up this economy are in even worse shape. Corporations are re-engineering, streamlining, downsizing and closing their doors at record-breaking numbers. What seems to be the vibe across the country is a crusade to point fingers and blame corporations and their Board of Directors for the turbulent climate of Corporate America. I don't want to seem like a corporate sympathizer, because I'm not! But I do empathize sometimes with Corporate America and at times feel compelled to come to its defense. Mainly because we have conveniently detached ourselves from the problem as it relates to unemployment in America.

Maybe its me, but I believe our inability to handle and manage our own personal stresses has also played a major role in the deterioration of Corporate America. It has been said that corporations last year spent somewhere to the tune of 300 billion dollars to combat stress in the workplace. One evening, I was driving home when I heard on a radio program that American industries spent $5.6 billion on alcoholism, most of which was due to stress. The guest continued to say that 66% of all primary visits to the doctor by the American worker is stress related, and 700 million dollars alone was spent just to recruit replacements for executives of corporations with heart diseases associated with stress.

As I jotted this information down, it dawned on me that for years Corporate America has been forced to pay for the stresses in our lives, much of which it had nothing to do with. When we make bad choices in relationships or have family problems stemming from years ago, or are faced with stressful social problems, we have always expected our place of employment to pick up the tab. It's what I call the fleecing of Corporate America. Without question, Corporate America has graciously forked out the funds to cure us of what we could have cured ourselves. Now, Corporate America has come to the realization that American workers' stress is quite deeper and much bigger than they ever imagined. Corporate America has come to understand no matter how many stress programs it sponsors or exercise facilities it builds, every day it is plagued with the same stressful problems from its employees. Now, Corporate America itself is stressed out. It can no longer pay for American workers' inability to handle and manage their stresses.