One of the panelists here at Milken is New York Times economics writer Louis Uchitelle, who has new book “The Disposable American." Uchitelle was the lead reporter for the Times series “The Downsizing of America,” which won a George Polk Award in 1996.
After his panel, he heads to the AOL tent to sign books. But there hasn't been enough publicity (in my opinion) for his book signing, so there are few readers milling around his table. While he waits for people to come along, Uchitelle is game to give me an interview. Extremely personable, he's able to easily explain complex issues. Without a broad business background, I'm always happy when there's a strong human interest element to a business story.
Originally this was supposed to be a Q & A. But since I don't have a tape recorder, I just will condense what he said for fear of misquoting his words.
In any case, his book is along the lines of Barbara Ehrenreich's book "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America." He looks at the effects that layoffs have in America, both from an economic and psychological point of view. He interviewed about 12 people, while a total of eight people appear in the book. What kind of work did these people do? They are workers like airline mechanics, as well as managers at companies like Proctor & Gamble. These are middle-class workers, not the kind of people Ehrenreich profiled in her book. I ask him why he focused on the white-collar element, and am surprised when he tells me that the majority of people in the U.S. that are laid off are white-collar workers, rather than blue-collar workers.
So what happens to workers when they are laid off from work? "They withdraw from society and they blame themselves," he says. At first, this seems simplistic. Of course people get depressed when they get laid off and of course, this will have repercussions on their families. But, as Uchitelle explains, people who've been laid off become more self-absorbed and ultimately don't contribute to society.
As Uchitelle noted during the panel, U.S. companies instinctually lay off workers, rather than explore other ways of cutting costs. But there are companies that he admires. He lists off three: Southwest Airlines, Harley Davidson, and Haas Tools. He explains a bit about each company, and what they do to support their workers. For example, Harley Davidson works hard to keep relations with its union running smoothly.
A handful of fans come up to get their books signed, while one of Uchitelle's colleagues, a reporter from BusinessWeek, comes by to say hello. Then he has to go pack. I ask him what surprised him most about writing the book. He says that despite the fact that he would repeatedly tell workers that economic issues were behind their layoffs, workers would still blame themselves. I wonder why people can't see the larger issues. Why do they feel like failures? Much of it likely has to do with our faith in the American dream.
