In the good old days, people looked forward to working in the Fortune 100 or Big Five, or Oil Majors, or whatever. This was because of the company culture, employee development, career path, etc, etc, that was associated in working in those places. Even in Nigeria, the likes of Shell, FBN/UBA, Cadbury, Guinness, NB Plc, etc, held out a lot of hope and prospects for staff. Even Big Government.

Nowadays, the story is totally different. Not only are these companies jettisoning the family concept in favour of monetisation these days, the 'social contract' is nowadays nonexistent. Now an employee is expected to work for his pay and nothing more, expect no training or career development, no promotion guarantees, in fact, expect to be asked to leave at any time, with little or no benefits to speak of. De-unionisation is now the culture, and in-company intrigues, politics, and underhand wheeling and dealing are the common practices promoted in a lot of these companies.

Nowadays, all over the world, the talk is all about overpaid CEOs, senior employees with mind-boggling bonuses, sharp practices, off-balance sheet accounting. The idea is now for freshers to join these organizations, stab as many colleagues in the back as possible, take all the spoils, and be ready to take the fall when the tide changes.

I would like to know what the house thinks: Is there any merit in the new order? Is AjanleKoko talking through his teeth as usual? Your comments please.

Nice piece, however the MNC losing their culture of yore completely is a bit of stretch . Have they become more capitalist? Yes. As they corporate world is becoming more competitive and sophisticated so they have to re-strategize. It's just the times, as you said somewhere that employees are now viewed by the employer as sub-employer that keeps the company up. Meaning, you have to bring something to the table, no room for mediocrity.

I think it's still true that companies hold tight to their best hands?

^^
True talk. However, what I mean is simple: Whatever happened to the old days of finding and developing a talent pool?
Nowadays, it's a dog-eat-dog process to get into the MNCs, and a dog-eat-dog process to stay employed in them.
The issue of best-hands is now relative; usually companies adopt a mercenary attitude to employees, the so-called 'best hands' are treated as little more than hired guns, signed on to do some sort of dirty work.
In the old days, they would find the best grads, and groom them into the company culture and philosophy. So what's happening nowadays? Has cut-throat capitalism replaced company values, and they only represent the balance sheet these days?

You're spot on and it's gonna get worse.

Try working in ACN or McK then you will know cut throat, lol

You are spot on, best thing work for yourself if you can. You know the funny part "Employees are our greatest asset" but then who is first to be cut when the hammer is up?


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that's y y'all need to be Financially Literate, why climb up a corporate ladder wen u can own a ladder, stop seeking security (no more safe secure jobs out there, no one gives pensions any longer) and start taking calculated risks

gud observation.
coleagues stealing shows from fellows
getting rewarded instead
do ur worst or quit
ceo showin favoritsm

the problem is u stick out ur neck for all (to air popularopinion),
everyone points accusing finger on u wwhen "gbege" starts

Dont mind dem.

I hate to do dis white collar job i my life

SHALOM

I think it is a result of capitalism at its best. Competition due to the pool of qualified candidates, competitors, and shareholders money is driving these previously dormant companies to find ways to compete. I also believe that a company will always hold on to its irreplaceable talent; otherwise, it will result in direct or indirect loss.

There is nothing wrong with competition, as long as if done fairly, because it brings out the best in us.

With regards to bonuses, there are execs that deserve every single bit of penny they get because they’re that good. If an exec superstar is good enough to bring the company unimaginable deals that will result in obscene money, then he should be compensated. This is akin to paying top dollar to a footballer or a basketball player because he’s that good! Why is it ok for Tiger Woods to make about $100 million yearly because of the publicity he brings to hitting little white balls but it not ok for someone that uses his brain to earn as much if he brings the same quantifiable deal as Tiger’s to his company?

I agree that there are issues with how bonuses are paid because it rewards risky behavior. A better model would be to wait a period of time to evaluate if the deal is as good as it was when first made.

With regards to unions, I think they stifle competition and should be discouraged when possible. Otherwise, how can a company or country sustain the insistent strike of workers that unions cause? I’m not saying that there aren’t legitimate worker related issues to be resolved but a better way needs to be found to address those issues. When unions force a company to make unsustainable concessions, it affects the company’s competitive advantage. Perfect examples of this are GM and Chrysler. How can a company compete when all their R& dollars are used to sustain an over bloated workforce that are making ~x2 what other competing companies are paying when salary and benefits are calculated? This analogy holds true for oil subsidy, teacher strikes, worker strikes, senior management strikes, junior management strikes, and whole country strikes (they might as well).

On the other hand, I think a company that doesn’t invest in its employees is only being shortsighted because a company is only as good as its employees. Again, in a capitalist world with a hint of regulation, competition will take care of such companies because they will fail to compete.

@Wallie, I think u hit it at the right spot. For a country as ours, 80% capitalism is realy needed. Its true that sharp practice do exist, not just in Naija, but everywhere humans live. It can be very high or on the other hand, minimal. It all depends on the regulators-like what the Obama administrator is doing. I just hope our people are doing same over here. The Nigerian style of unionism, its just opposite of the main concept of what it is and this is why we're out of school just because somebody thinks he can do anything he likes as a unionist.

With respect to the MNCs, it really depends on which ones you're talking about.

Yes some have ditched the 'social contract' but many retain them still. The reality is that the liability of maintaining the 'social contract' is beginning to outweigh the productivity of the company/employees. In light of this, companies MUST scale back else they will be bankrupt in the future.

Most companies are ditching final salary pension schemes, moving to defined contribution, while monetising other benefits instead of holding the burden for the workers.

One of the causes is also the need for increasing specialization as demanded by the markets. No one wants a company that spends too much on 'non-core' activities - and that includes over bloated workforces, unduly generous benefit systems and open ended future liabilities.

Shareholders are no longer willing to accept mediocre returns - there are smaller companies with lower liabilities that are offering great returns. If the MNCs are to remain the toast of the town, they must become leaner and more efficient.

Even in light of the above, the MNCs cannot completely get rid of their 'non-salary' benefits. The end result is that the companies eventually go into decline and will need to try to claw back that market position. Of course the latter applies to 'developed' economies where the number of willing employees doesn't vastly outstrip the available positions. The key here is matching what the 'industry' does at large - if you do that, your competitors cannot take advantage. However, if the skills are very mobile between industries the losses might still occur.

In places like Nigeria, even a severe tightening of available benefits is still much better than being jobless so it might not affect them as much.

@ poster, many thanks, i have been thinking of raising a topic like this and if possible published it in any of the dailies.

obasanjo under his administration has sold the masses as slave to them that have money and has divided their lot for his filthy lucre and am sure no sinner would go unpunished, before the obasanjo administration company hire semi skilled or even unskilled labourers trained them on hands on the job make them their staff and are responsible to them in all ramifications, but that is in the past now the situation has changed some crazy folks would hire you collect the money thats suppose to be pad you receive 20% and just walk home without doing anything they called that contract staff, no access to the facility the so called full staff enjoin, you are being treated like a second class or third class citizen and someone is telling me that nigeria is ok,

yeah, nigeria would be ok to you because of your greedy attitude because you want someone to be your slave because you with OND qualification want to hire a university graduate to wash your car because you have the connection, because your parents have stolen the masses money tranfer both the money and the office to you and yet they(masses) still sing their praise.

nowadays NNPC now runs on contract staff for university graduate workers all in the name of cutting cost they even chriten it in a modern and hopeful way as if something would be done to their predicament someday by merit(temp),but the person that brought that idea would be grossly rewarded and his salary would show it hence his salary alone can pay 20-30 contract staff that are doing the bulk of the job , listen ,God would bring all our work into judgement .

you now work as if you are hire to do a days job because you are not sure of still working there tomorrow, these isn't a good thing,if you ask me i would say that's not competition it is simply total modern day slavery, someone says you can be self employed yes because you can afford being self employed you should be one sided judegementally, some university graduate can't even afford lunch, now tell me how you want them to be self employed or are you suggesting that they start hawking bread and sell sachet water in hold-up all in the name of being self employed if that is what you mean then why disturb your head only primary school would do the arithmetic of counting five -five naira,is it not the big boys that still gets the loan without collaterals "who be your papa wey oceanic bank go give you #20,000 loan."
please let me go because the more i keep typing the more annoyed i become.

if you cant stand the heat, stay the hell away from the kitchen.

its  a shark-eat-shark world.

most of these coys know that after spending their hard earned money on training these so-called employees, they wont hesitate to dump you for the next good paying job.

so coys prefer the hire-the-best-fit-for-the-job policy, that would bring immediate results. (pay as you go)


my 2 cents

if there has ever been a time i belived in self employment, its never been stronger than now.

employesr ans taking advantage of the situation out there, and offering pitiance as salary and very disturbing employment packages.

like someone said, putting 15years in an organisation no longer gaurantees a retiremnet benefit.

no longer are competent hands hired, but loyal and faithful to the employers cause.

Nice one guys.
Long and short of it is, there is no 'social contract' anymore.
Now all of us as human beings have to be directly responsible for our economic survival. It's a flat, multi-participatory world, and you choose at what level you play. Tough, but that's the way it is.
And Nigeria is no exception. Nigerians, just like any other people, have to start looking at the global picture.

y stay in a modern day slavery called employment? u spend 18-25yrs to graduate only to find yourself in the labour market God help u if u don't have one godfather to give u note to any of the banks or oil company.now u got the job,u are then told is temporary or u are a casual/contract staff with no employment benefit.with low pay u are @ the risk of been sack any moment there is policy change e.g recent sacking of bank staffs.
My fellow naija, wake up! this system no go help us.over dependence on white collar jobs and the govt is killing us.we are people of great talent and gift if harnessed will take us to our dreams. note that most of these talents need little or no capital to groom. just b creative.be patient and persevere.The freedom and peace u enjoy is better than the modern day slavery called employment.

[b]@ poster

In the End the reality always out weighs the sentiments
yes i agree that gone are the days when you get a job in an Italian firm and "zoom" you are in Milan the next morning, same for Aberdeen, Houston Texas et al
on various training courses.

like someone mentioned abinitio, it is no longer in their interest doing so, one funny thing about the white collar job is that the employer and his employees know that the job is not a big deal only that it just has to be done.
Most of them Range from keying figures in a system to monitoring flow processes (both human and materials) which of course with the Appropriate training, a cheaper labor far less in Academic status can deliver.

Perhaps the strategy of marking out the social contract is cost effective in the short run but who thinks about the long run?

Take the Big coys for instance, every dept is corrupt
You have a staff who earns less than 400k a month driving cars of above 10m and having properties worth over 100m within a year of resuming duty
and the big question remains where is the big bucks coming from? you but indirectly,

Your procurement Manager goes shopping strikes a deal with the supplier who comes with a bloated invoice to him for approval, in the end the cash is split, your job is done and everybody is happy (I guess you saved money)

Your contract department screens not just competent coys to do a job but also ones that are PR worthy, they collect hell of bribes that compromises safety and professionalism.

Your HR department collects as little as 50k for interested losers to try out your Standardization tests, collect as much as 500k to give your jobs to people that don't deserve it, cos when you need the verification to be done, you send these same people who can cover up these sins
Hence you have project Engrs that cant make a simple correct sentence let alone their Project Execution Plans that are full of Grammatical and technical errors ( guess you are saving cost)

I almost felt sorry for people talking about competition, in Naija? you must be kidding me, the competition pays the same staff that you failed to take care of, its simple
A list of bid is opened for a job, competing coys apply and what next?
you appoint credible staff for inspection and approval
they go out there collect money from the highest bidder end of story.

Now the big question is what has it Got to do with Social contract?

From my experience in the labour Market, ive come to realise and unequivocably accept that 85% of Nigerian work force hardly consider what they stand to loose except what is in it for them?
Ironically, there is absolute nothing to loose cos the employer is busy cutting cost.

I once Met a business development Manager of a very reputable firm, who once told me how he transfers jobs meant for his employer to others for a fee.
He told me that his salary cannot pay for his daughters fees in the UK let alone feed his family,He equally lamented that as a contract staff nobody knows tomorrow, to him your job today as an employer is your employee's rainy day then i asked in my mind what if the coy what footing that bill?,what if his job is secured?
I still understand that human wants are insatiable but then, when you put your employee in a position where he weighs out his options , using your social contract as a mean then you hear words like "WHAT IF I LOOSE MY JOB"

Gone are the days when you have company staff kids and employees raising their shoulders in pride working for most coys,
The funniest part is that before they are caught, they already have an investment else where that profit more than your job, then he plays truancy and wishes you fired him.

About training, i once argued with a former employer of mine who thinks that training and other benefits is a waste of money, i asked him y someone he spends so much to train will want to leave him, and he said greed.

you pay him peanuts while he makes a lot, you train him to make more yet no promotion and you call it greed?
an employee is leaving because of what he gets from you in contrast to the offers he is getting elsewhere also an Employee is corrupt simply because your job aint got value to him afterall, he lives in a house of his own, drives his own car,Pays his kids tuition,secretly has an investment that acrues more than you pay him.

The bottom line is evading the social contract debases your job in the eye of you employee, which breeds corruption and disloyalty in the long run.
As an employer, you either design your remuneration structure to worth something or your employee will use your investment as a Transit camp.[/b]

[b]@ poster

In the End the reality always out weighs the sentiments
yes i agree that gone are the days when you get a job in an Italian firm and "zoom" you are in Milan the next morning, same for Aberdeen, Houston Texas et al
on various training courses.

like someone mentioned abinitio, it is no longer in their interest doing so, one funny thing about the white collar job is that the employer and his employees know that the job is not a big deal only that it just has to be done.
Most of them Range from keying figures in a system to monitoring flow processes (both human and materials) which of course with the Appropriate training, a cheaper labor far less in Academic status can deliver.

Perhaps the strategy of marking out the social contract is cost effective in the short run but who thinks about the long run?

Take the Big coys for instance, every dept is corrupt
You have a staff who earns less than 400k a month driving cars of above 10m and having properties worth over 100m within a year of resuming duty
and the big question remains where is the big bucks coming from? you but indirectly,

Your procurement Manager goes shopping strikes a deal with the supplier who comes with a bloated invoice to him for approval, in the end the cash is split, your job is done and everybody is happy (I guess you saved money)

Your contract department screens not just competent coys to do a job but also ones that are PR worthy, they collect hell of bribes that compromises safety and professionalism.

Your HR department collects as little as 50k for interested losers to try out your Standardization tests, collect as much as 500k to give your jobs to people that don't deserve it, cos when you need the verification to be done, you send these same people who can cover up these sins
Hence you have project Engrs that cant make a simple correct sentence let alone their Project Execution Plans that are full of Grammatical and technical errors ( guess you are saving cost)

I almost felt sorry for people talking about competition, in Naija? you must be kidding me, the competition pays the same staff that you failed to take care of, its simple
A list of bid is opened for a job, competing coys apply and what next?
you appoint credible staff for inspection and approval
they go out there collect money from the highest bidder end of story.

Now the big question is what has it Got to do with Social contract?

From my experience in the labour Market, ive come to realise and unequivocably accept that 85% of Nigerian work force hardly consider what they stand to loose except what is in it for them?
Ironically, there is absolute nothing to loose cos the employer is busy cutting cost.

I once Met a business development Manager of a very reputable firm, who once told me how he transfers jobs meant for his employer to others for a fee.
He told me that his salary cannot pay for his daughters fees in the UK let alone feed his family,He equally lamented that as a contract staff nobody knows tomorrow, to him your job today as an employer is your employee's rainy day then i asked in my mind what if the coy what footing that bill?,what if his job is secured?
I still understand that human wants are insatiable but then, when you put your employee in a position where he weighs out his options , using your social contract as a mean then you hear words like "WHAT IF I LOOSE MY JOB"

Gone are the days when you have company staff kids and employees raising their shoulders in pride working for most coys,
The funniest part is that before they are caught, they already have an investment else where that profit more than your job, then he plays truancy and wishes you fired him.

About training, i once argued with a former employer of mine who thinks that training and other benefits is a waste of money, i asked him y someone he spends so much to train will want to leave him, and he said greed.

you pay him peanuts while he makes a lot, you train him to make more yet no promotion and you call it greed?
an employee is leaving because of what he gets from you in contrast to the offers he is getting elsewhere also an Employee is corrupt simply because your job aint got value to him afterall, he lives in a house of his own, drives his own car,Pays his kids tuition,secretly has an investment that acrues more than you pay him.

The bottom line is evading the social contract debases your job in the eye of you employee, which breeds corruption and disloyalty in the long run.
As an employer, you either design your remuneration structure to worth something or your employee will use your investment as a Transit camp.[/b]

I had to dig out the post from jp philips. Very interesting, but unfortunately marked as spam.
I recommend everyone read it. Here's the summary I found interesting:

The bottom line is evading the social contract debases your job in the eye of you employee, which breeds corruption and disloyalty in the long run.
As an employer, you either design your remuneration structure to worth something or your employee will use your investment as a Transit camp.

There is an angle that we all seem to be ignoring. The social contract meant (possibly) healthy growth, both for the employee and employer, but the recent 'competitive' scenario might just be promoting a slew of sharp-practice standards that hurt both the employees and employers in the long run. Reason? Everybody is much more desperate.

@master2, you've spoken my mind. creativity is the key for all those who want to run their businesses in Nigeria. People keep waiting for bank loans before they start out. Why can't people start with what they have? There are a lot of business ideas that do not require much money to start out. I'm not talking about selling recharge cards or opening a barbing salon etc etc. I'm talking about starting a business that will add value to the lives of people. I'm talking about sharing skills with people for a fee. If you're good at website design, you can make money by teaching others. You can schedule visits to their homes and teach them. If you are a good dancer, you can set up a dancing school. All you'll need do is to hire a space or make use of a facility in your dad's house. How about spending some money to acquire catering skills and teaching it to others? If you can advertise your business through leaflets and flyers, you will start to grow. Cheers.

Getting a job is tough, when you get one it will come with all sorts if conditions. I think developing a valuable skill and/or becoming an entrepreneur is the best way out. Just imagine you having the whole time to yourself, and not being answerable to any body. ,

Our eduaction system is not dynamic enough to handle the present challenge we face. Getting quality education itself requires money; if you dont work how can ou get the money? Its a vicious cycle

Improve your skill to remain relevant.

Thank God we've come to realise entrepreneurship is d key.
Unfortunately, the structures have not been put in place.
However, there are legal solns to this new menace. None has the courage nor energy nor time to fight. e.g this 'contract staff' trend is against our labour laws.

Friends ! Dont work for money.

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