According to US Reports:-
Renault said it plans further measures to improve working conditions at its engineering facilities after three employee suicides in the last year that led to a probe by the public prosecutor's office.
Among the measures are monitored limits on working hours, 'efficient meetings held at reasonable times', mandatory lunch breaks and a ban on working at home.
As a comparison Peugeot had 6 deaths by suicide in 12 mths..
Is this a factor of the motor industry or would this be across industry in general?
What about the public sector? Would this sort of figure apply?
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SNIPQUOTE!
Not in my experience, although I have no experience of French companies. Working in Germany is well regulated and certainly at professional engineer level staff take breaks throughout the day. Eating facilities at BMW FIZ (R&D Centre) in Munich are excellent! Friday is early finish. Regular company outings to do snowboarding etc., at appropriate times of the year. They look after staff from abroad (good quality furnished flats available). Never seen the kind of pressure that would cause someone to become suicidal. Alcohol misuse might be a problem (beer vending machines in production area!!).
British companies tend to be poorly managed and only ever want to compete on price and so a lot of 'firefighting' has to be done - sudden demands for late working, panic jobs etc. So I would imagine that some people feel the stress - although in my experience many will just walk away from the job (UK companies don't pay enough that you can't easily earn more elsewhere).
What about the public sector? Would this sort of figure apply?
'Public sector' is a broad term. I believe that highest rates of depression, alcoholism & suicide are found amongst medical staff and schoolteachers. Can't believe that paramedics and firefighters don't suffer a lot of stress either..
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Can't believe that paramedics and firefighters don't suffer a lot of stress either.
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they do indeed
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a ban on working at home.
How's that going to help? Being able to escape the drudgery of the commute now and again is a bonus, in my experience, and is proven to increase both productivity and morale if applied correctly. Even my company, whose directors have vehemently opposed home working for years has reluctantly agreed to run a pilot study with a couple of teams, with a view to making it company policy if it has no adverse effect on business.
It's interesting visiting our subsidiaries across Europe and seeing how differently people are treated for no reason other than each country's traditions and laws. German, French and Dutch workers are far better looked after than those in the UK. Whether it's eating facilities, childcare facilities or in the case of the Dutch, the raft of consultation, support and wider social responsibilities a company must undertake if it imposes a round of redundancies for example. Workers are treated like carp here in comparison, which I firmly believe is a key reason why so many companies invest here. Let's face it, we use a different currency, have low productivity and high transport costs in relation to most of Europe.
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
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>> a ban on working at home. How's that going to help?
I assume they mean working at home in the evenings/weekends ** in addition** to regular working hours. IME some UK companies feel its acceptable to give you a job on Friday afternoon with an expection that it'll be done for Monday morning.
Workers are treated like carp here in comparison which I firmly believe is a key reason why so many companies invest here.
Not at the higher-tech end of industry they don't. We tend to get the production jobs. Automotive engineering design has been leaving these shores for years. High quality jobs tend to be found in Germany, Austria, Switzerland etc. The high and somewhat unpredictable value of the £ means that the UK is not necessarily any cheaper than elsewhere in Europe (even with inferior working conditions to reduce employment costs) and poor levels of general education and public infrastructure hamper productivity.
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Perhaps they should also do a survey of the suicide rate of Renault owners......
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Perhaps they should also do a survey of the suicide rate of Renault owners......
LOL! Yes. And the poor techs who have to work on the things!
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Or the 'designer' of the new Laguna?
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And the poor techs who have to work on the things!
Agreed. [Anyone condemned to work permanently on Merc A-Class would also have little option other than to reach for a rope...]
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