JetBlue flight attendant, Steven Slater recently become an instant folk hero for allegedly telling off a passenger and abandoning his duties. His dramatic actions speak not just to the frustration many people feel about a travel experience that has become riddled with inconvenience and rudeness, but also to the growing dissatisfaction among American workers with their current working conditions.

An August 11, 2010 article in USAToday online reveals that Slater’s actions also cast a spotlight on a broader anger felt by many workers who are fed up with jobs in a slowly recovering economy where burnout is rampant and productivity is declining, and rewards, where they exist at all, are insignificant. Government statistics released Tuesday show productivity fell 0.9% after five quarters in a row of growth. Hours worked rose 3.6%, while output rose 2.6%, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.  The article stressed that while employers may currently get away with less than stellar treatment of their workers, this is likely to change in the near future.

Smart employers are already refining their strategies for retaining and recruiting top talent when employees become more mobile.  www.returnonperformance.org

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