Cited: CNN

Could 2012 actually be the year that workers in the U.S. stop taking all of the slash and burn policies of their employers and perhaps take a little more control of their situations? Some market watchers think so while labor leaders hope so. With the unemployment rate in the U.S. falling for four consecutive months and non-farm payroll data showing a bigger appetite to hire workers, the conditions might just be staring to turn in favor of labor, but no one is getting too far ahead of themselves about drawing that conclusion just yet.

One prominent economist has dubbed 2012 as “The Year of the Payback,” meaning that this is the year that corporations start to worry about retaining skilled workers and that they realize that they cannot simply dictate unfair policies to a labor force that may very well start to have other options other than to just sit back, take it, and be happy to have a job.  With economic activity starting to pick up, especially in some key areas like automobile sales and production, corporations will have to start worrying about being able to grow their business without proper help on the lines of operation. The consequences are lower productivity, and perhaps the most talented worker leaving to join the competition. One indication that workers might be sensing the tide shifting in their direction is that for the first time since the recession began in 2007, there was an uptick in the number of workers who actually quit their jobs, not fired from their job.

Some of the more progressive and pro-active companies out there are already trying to get ahead of their peers in keeping workers happy and on the line by offering a whole host of incentives to their employees including fringe benefits like work-life initiatives, retraining, education and wellness programs, and other ways to manage and reduce stress in the workplace.

My take:

The pendulum always swings too far to one side and then the other. The way that American workers and the few unions that exist anymore have been treated by corporate America over the last decade is deplorable and the shift back toward providing a real living wage and support for the middle class can’t come soon enough.