The number of people who are losing their jobs in these trying economic times is extremely troubling. Many of my patients are temporarily surviving on their redundancy package or with the help of others. In some family units, both income-earning parents were laid off.

There are direct and indirect economic repercussions to all of this. The sudden loss of income is devastating to individuals and families and the job losses also affect the wider economy because of the resultant downturn in business activities everywhere. There are also direct and indirect psychological repercussions to job losses that will endure even when the economy eventually rebounds.

People who lose their jobs experience stress resulting in varying degrees of anxiety with depression or depression with anxiety. Those with strong family and/or spousal support survive their economic dry spell with nominal distress but those without any support, or who are themselves responsible for the welfare of others, are often so traumatised that they require some sort of medical intervention.

Wrong messages

I didn't like it when the designation 'human resources' replaced 'personnel department' in the business world. 'Personnel department' has a personable ring to it - as if it has to do with treating people as individuals and not just as 'things'. However, 'human resources' sends the message that some of the company's resources are inanimate objects while other resources are animate (human beings). Paradoxically, 'human resources' can dehumanise people in the workplace if they are treated like assets, liabilities or disposable objects.

I know of many people who put their hearts and souls into their jobs as they 'slave' above and beyond the call of duty for years. Many used their spare time to benefit 'their' company, they put their family life on hold, did not take or had truncated vacations, dismissed their health needs and even ignored sick leave in order to ensure that 'their' company ran smoothly. They sacrificed so much yet were disposed of like used office furniture.

I know of a brilliant and deeply committed woman who used her expertise to con-ceptualise and institute innovative changes that made things simple and efficient in the workplace. She earned a well-deserved reputation for making her company more user-friendly for staff and clients, yet she lost her job during a transfer process because a foreigner (employed to a Jamaican company) didn't want to work with her. Ungrateful, cold-hearted economic expediency aside, cases like hers also convince me that some people are using the fiscal crises to rid themselves of those whom they don't like.

Troubling pattern

Another troubling emerging pattern is that some companies are ejecting their high-performance workers and keeping the underperformers ('idlers'). Perhaps those companies believe that keeping the under-performers provides them with pliable lackeys and that it saves them money, but such manoeuvres only highlight their economic short-sightedness.

So now, although every gainfully employed soul is working hard to keep his/her precious job, no one truly trusts his/her employer and everyone must prepare to become unemployed at any moment. There's a growing number of people who don't want to work for any organisation. There's an emerging culture of distrust and demotivation throughout the business sector. Employees are no longer eager to immerse themselves into their current or future jobs like they once did.

White and blue-collar workers alike are becoming painfully aware of and reacting to the fact that, in spite of their sacrifices and commitment, companies can be heartless and calculating when their bottom line is threatened. Hurriedly disposing of employees will not bode well for the future of our country.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice who may be reached at garthrattray@gmail.com or columns@gleanerjm.com