We are evaluated now on several key "targets". All the workers in my district (about 200 of us) are thrown into a comparison pool and the bottom 20% in any given month are in trouble; even if you reach your particular targets! So, for example, if you are expected to hit 98% efficiency and you hit 100% but everyone else hits 101%, then you're fucked. You're on the list. Get on the list for three months out of any six month period, and you're gone. When more workers are gone the workload goes up and the comparison pool shrinks, making it easier to get on the list next time. The fat was already trimmed long ago; now they're cutting into muscle and bone and before long, they'll be cutting into arteries.

The end result is that we now view each other as competitors instead of co-workers; less likely to collaborate and help each other. We view each job as something to get through quickly instead of thoroughly, the customer be damned.

Everyone is afraid and beat down all the time; which, I'm sure, is just what the company wants. It's all about maximizing quarterly earnings now, not about long term investment in the workforce or the service or, for that matter, the customers.

The margin for error is so razor-thin that one bad job can ruin your numbers for that whole day. One bad day can ruin your numbers for that whole week. One bad week can ruin your numbers for that whole month. One bad month and, well, you're on the list.

Three bad months and the list you're on is the unemployment roll. Remember, when I say "bad month", it could very well mean a month in which you reached every one of your targets but where 80% of the district exceeded theirs.

Those of us who actually care about our customers and try to do right by them are the most likely to get on the list. The corner-cutters and the do-just-enough types are the most likely to stick around and will eventually comprise the entire workforce. People who don't give a shit about the customers, only their own asses. The careful and conscientious workers will be gone.

There really aren't any good days at work anymore. Only days filled with stress and fear.