Sorry to be absent a couple days.  Been dealing with climbing out of my little hole.  I have intensified the job search and decided to move back to the city where there are more opportunities.  So, I have been in full planning mode and have taken my Ritalin regularly to help me out. 

I just read a news article, it’s short, so I will post it here:

“The FBI is conducting more than 500 investigations of corporate fraud amid the financial meltdown.

FBI Deputy Director John Pistole is describing the bureau’s efforts to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Pistole says there are 530 active corporate fraud investigations, and 38 of them involve corporate fraud and financial institution matters directly related to the economic crisis.

Also appearing before the committee is Neil Barofsky, the watchdog of the government’s $700 billion Wall Street rescue package passed last year.

Senate Democrats are urging more spending to expand the ranks of the FBI’s financial fraud investigators.”

Guess what, as a former corporate employee, I only see this number going up.  I had a position where I was high enough to witness the abuse of some executives.  And quite frankly it was startling.  As someone who was raised with values and ethics, I couldn’t understand how people like that were in the positions they held.  It certainly turned me off to a career path in Corporate America.  Quite honestly, the abuse was so rampant, that I couldn’t figure any other way to advance but to join their party or become a pawn in their chess game.   I chose to take a position that limited my exposure to them and just put my head down and do my job.  Of course, I wasn’t a player, so I eventually got laid off, but truly it beats being an unethical human being. 

And there were plenty of ethical abuses.  These people at the top had cars, houses, boats, toys galore, and they just kept making more money while limiting the income potential of employees at lower levels.  They limited merit increases, reduced bonuses and increased the cost of benefits to the employee.  Here were the very people who afforded them a luxury lifestyle and they were screwing them any way possible.   Sure there were cut backs that needed to be made, but you never saw those people cut back anything.  They lied, cheated, and abused their power.  They took care of the people who covered for them and tortured those who didn’t.  I saw many good people suffer at their expense.  But I wasn’t in a position as a single mother to do anything about it.  And that is exactly what they count on.  If you want to keep your job ~ shut up, sit down, and do your job.  See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil and you will be fine.

The only time I did decide to speak up I got no support at all and ended up being let go.  I was a trouble maker.  And yes I was a single mother with two kids to feed.  And the abuse went further when the company told a recruiting company I was working with to get another job that I was a bad employee.  I was black listed and couldn’t find another job in that city. 

There is no greater pain than lowering your child’s quality of life because you have had enough and decide to do something about it.  What lesson is to be learned in that?  Yep – If you want to keep your job ~ shut up, sit down, and do your job.  See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil and you will be fine.

I do not want to work for a corporation again, but feel that I don’t have a choice given my extensive business experience and current state of financial ruin.  But this time I have a plan, I will find a job, but while I am working I am going to get my Masters degree in Counseling so I can start my own business and leave corporations for good. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure that there are some good corporations out there, and some good executives who aren’t abusive.  But I have personally worked with 3 separate organizations and have experienced the same ethical concerns with the top executives of all three.  And these are Fortune 500 companies, not just some small companies. 

I am glad the rest of the world is finding out about these executives, but I am also worried about what it means for Corporate America as a whole.  Just when the country is in a crisis, we need ethical executives more than ever.  Hopefully there are some out there that can take over for the crooks and save some of the good companies. 

Iz