#254 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday January 21)
Good morning,
THE LATEST CHALLENGE TO NONPROFITS
I like to listen to experts, bucking the current trend of the populists who resist those experts. In the area of employment and labor, my “go to” guy is Eric Swenson. In a recent communication, Eric notes that rising wages and reduced numbers of eligible workers has created a crisis in the single area that could most help those dealing with the traumas of our time:
“From where I stand, there’s no more compelling issue for non-profits in 2022 than finding the ability to pay people competitively. The mission of a nonprofit only goes so far when recruiting and retaining employees. Eventually, people need to pay their bills first.
Twin challenges for nonprofit executives – and Boards of Directors.
Have a pay scale competitive enough to attract new workers and retain existing ones; and
Making sure the workload (fewer employees are working more than ever) is balanced enough not to cause burnout.”
The New York Times reports that a Northern California superintendent of schools takes shifts as a lunchroom monitor, due to the inability to fill positions. Meanwhile, nonprofits are losing social workers to better-paying jobs at Walmart and McDonald’s. We have reached the point that child welfare organizations are turning away families. The Times report that a veteran employee in a program for children earns the same amount as her 17-year-old daughter, who works part time at a cosmetics counter.
It is a sad irony that nonprofits, the bulwark of social services for those in need, may not be able to serve their clients—and due to insufficient wages and the financial burdens, their employees may actually become candidates for needing these services.
OPTING OUT IS HARD…
I’m sure everyone has noted that websites now are required to advise us of what information they are collecting and selling and what targeting of ads is now taking place. The tech companies would have us believe that this is consistent with their desire to be good citizens. The methodology of “opting out” tells, however, a different story.
Do you note how hard it is to do? And how many buttons one must press, all with detailed, often obtuse and misleading descriptions of the issue. But the most nefarious of all—belying the companies’ lack of interest in complying with the intent and spirit of the law, is the way they repeatedly include a brightly colored button, saying “Apply All” right beside a dull gray button that says “Apply Choices.” In this way, one can go through the laborious task of opting out of the collection of information but all the time are being subtly coerced into pressing a button that erases all that effort. Then there are those sites that make us choose “preferences” each time one visits. The tech companies have succeeded in technically complying, while circumventing the intent of the law.
The purveyors of information and shopping options on the internet are not our friends, not watching out for us, and are unconcerned with our choices. These disingenuous attempts to comply with one simple law by manipulating people away from their choices confirms that regulation from outside the industry is necessary.
Have a good day,
Glenn
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