Exploring the Self-Esteem Related to “Having a Job” any job…. an immoral job may backfire
We have wondered how the METABANK employees who answer the phones as customer service representatives actually feel about what they do.
Certainly they must know they are lying to people, ordinary people who are just like them.
Statistics show that bank tellers in Storm Lake Iowa earn salaries that place them below poverty level. How desperate can these phone representatives be? Have they been so mislead that they believe in what they are doing?
If they are ignorant of what they are doing, what will it take for them to realize that they are the ones who are making METABANK’s CEOS super rich while they still live below the poverty level?
Could they understand that by lying to the customers that this is dishonest? For how long can these customer representatives going on perpetuating this lie that makes their CEOs so rich? Certainly there must be something in it for these people to lie to other people who are so much like them at the other end of the phone? What kind of “UNTRUTHS” have these METABANK phone representatives been fed so that they carry out the dirtiest job on behalf of the METABANK CEOs?
At Work: Job, self-esteem tied tightly together
Feedback on the job can be a buffer against depression.
Work means so much to us Americans that without it some people don’t want to get out of bed in the morning.
That is likely one reason unemployed adults and those not working as much as they would like are twice as likely to be depressed as Americans employed full time. [Feeling stuck in a dead-end job such as being a phone representative for METABANK…. This has got to be a pathetic and hopeless situation for those who are being required to do the dirty work that makes the METABANK CEOs rich and then richer yet.]
STORY: Who’s feeling stressed? Young adults
COLUMN: Workers’ happiness rubs off on profits [ Think about this!!!!!!]
That’s the conclusion of a Jan. 1-July 25 survey of more than 100,000 Americans conducted by the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. It says 16.6% of unemployed Americans are depressed compared to 5.6% of those who work full time.
“Self-esteem and self-worth are closely aligned with working,” says psychotherapist Charles Allen, who estimates about 10% of his clients are out of work or worried about losing their job.
When you have a job, you have a continuous source of feedback that you are a contributing member of society, he says. That’s not to say you go to work thinking, “Hey, I’m a valued member of society.” The idea is largely subconscious.
[But what if you are asked to harm innocent people who are just like you whom you only encounter at the other end of the phone??? That can’t feel hopeful in anyway.]
“You feel it in the depths of your brain,” he says.
Being employed helps you feel wanted and that you’re contributing to your finances, says psychotherapist Elizabeth Lombardo. It also gives you social support — “a buffer against depression.”
In his practice, psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert sees a lot of unemployed people who are depressed.
He describes them as usually feeling hopeless and helpless, their sense of identity greatly diminished.
“Employment provides a sense of purpose, … of belongingness,” he says. “Those who are unemployed lack that purpose.”
Some unemployed workers also lack structure, which leads to unhealthy habits like staying up until 3 a.m. then getting up late the next day. That “makes them feel even more different than the employed,” Alpert says.
Being depressed also can affect your ability to seek and keep a job.
Allen’s depressed clients who are unemployed “typically have tremendous difficulty in finding work because they lack energy and drive to engage in a job hunt,” he says. Their pessimism and feelings of worthlessness also contribute to the idea that they won’t find work.
When motivation plummets, you withdraw and “why bother?” prevails, Lombardo says.
A depressed person may not do well in interviews.
“Who wants to hire ‘Debbie Downer?’ ” she asks.
Some people who are depressed can have a tough time keeping a job: They take too much time off, have a lack of drive, don’t concentrate well and sometimes simply don’t care, Alpert says.
[ The term “SIMPLY DON’T CARE” highlights that some people may take a job as a phone representative at METABANK just to have a job. They may understand that what they are doing is immoral, but perceive that there aren’t many other options. This has got to be a sad state of affairs for these employees. If they could see a positive way forward, internally they may be able to ask for the right to treat others fairly…. This situation is predatory on so many levels…. Shame on METABANK CEOs who created this abhorent and offensive scenario.]
They also “often have a poor self-image and lack confidence, two factors that strongly impact job retention and performance,” he says.
Alpert says he also sees a lot of another type of depression — in people who are employed.
It “usually stems from high stress and feeling disenchanted with their job or simply unhappy with the direction their career has taken them,” he says.
Feeling stuck in a position “can bring about a sense you have no control over your situation,” Lombardo says. “Feeling powerless can cause depression. And depression can lead to getting demoted.”
Depression among those with jobs costs U.S. employers $23 billion annually in lost productivity, according to Gallup.
The survey found that depression decreases as income rises. It showed that Americans who earn less than $36,000 annually are nearly three times more likely to be depressed than those who earn more than $90,000 annually.
Depression takes a toll on a person — employed or jobless — as well as the economy.
[We find it impossible to believe that the METABANK Phone representatives who lie to customers can do this in the long term without having some feelings of remorse. We have, of course, made the assumption that they are human beings. How desperate are they that they can continue to lie to people who are a lot like them at the other end of the phone?]
It may be depressing to talk about depression. But the more we know about it and discuss it, the more likely the stigma associated with it will be reduced. [We believe that America is a sick society at this time. It is imperative that as ordinary people that we insist on humane treatment of each other… this treatment goes both ways, you know… It is the “Golden Rule.”]
And perhaps the people who need help the most will get it.
Career consultant Andrea Kay is the author of This Is How To Get Your Next Job: An Inside Look at What Employers Really Want.
Note: Please notice carefully where METABANK and any other Prepaid Bank Card offered places their advertisements
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