The Corporate mind !

     Today, we are living in a highly commercial world. The multinational companies and the corporates are indirectly ruling this world. Revenues of some of the corporates are more than that of some of the country’s budget. They have created a sustainable system to generate revenue and expand tirelessly with the profits that they earn.

    It all began with Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation(LPG) where the governments liberalised and privatised their economy ultimately integrating them into the globe. The LPG ushered in a new world order where the multinational corporates started emerging with profit as their main motive and this increase in wealth has had a trickle down effect in improving the quality of life of the lowest rungs of people. Many people who were hitherto vulnerable have been able to afford a descent lifestyle because of the reduction in the price and improve in quality of products/services due to competition.

    But there is always two sides to a coin. With such huge profit margins, these corporates are able to influence the policy making of any country to provide them with favourable terms, after all a political party needs money to win an election. Today in the the IT sector, these corporates are almost unregulated. Take the instance of "Work from Home"(WFH). The WFH has created a situation wherein the corporate makes the employee feel that he is in his own conducive zone such as his home, and makes her/him  to first feel comfortable about this. This comfort is then exploited to extract more work from him/her when compared to working on premises. The time span of work can extend to well over 8 or 9 hours or even more. Just because they are staying at home, they are expected to work more. The actual needs of the physical infrastructure like a place, building, rent, electricity, etc. will be done away with gradually. Also the extra hours of work by the employees will accrue huge profits.

    The corporates are indirectly manipulating the spending profile and psyche of their employees. The employee is made to work like an animal from Monday to Friday. After working tirelessly, the employee questions himself as to whom he is toiling so much for. The employee after working so hard comes to a conclusion that she/he must be rewarded for the work. This creates an attitude of unnecessary spending. Every weekend the employee wants to spend some money. This cycle of earning and spending continues in an endless loop. So the corporates are creating a demand for their products/ services from the labor of their own employees to earn massive profits !

    Also there is a huge setback on the physical as well as psychological well-being of a person in the long run. The physical health is adversely affected because of accumulation of stress over the years. This stress can easily manifest in the form of a disease. On the psychological front, it can create hidden damage. The corporate involves an impersonal goal oriented behaviour while working in a group. This behaviour might sometimes internalise in a person and start showing up in the primary relationships of the family. When this happens there might be relationship problems and breakdown of the institution of a family. Finally we need to realise that we work so that we can live and not the reverse !