SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Workforce — tracks feedback from leading managers and HR practitioners. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter and feature analysis from SmartBrief on Workforce Senior Editor Mary Ellen Slayter on this blog.
Last week’s poll question: Would you work for free — as a short-term measure — to save your employer?
- No, 52%
- Yes, 35%
- I already have, 12%
Nearly half of you say you’d work for free — or already had — to help your employer stay afloat. If you feel that your employer has just hit a rough patch, and will quickly recover with the rest of the economy, a few hours or weeks of “donated” time could be a better bet than the unemployment line. But I would hope that workers would get some payoff for that sacrifice, perhaps in the form of an ownership stake in the company. And senior management better take a cut, too, as at British Airways.
Image credit, iStock
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Interesting response. I know people who work for companies *only* for the health benefits, so if that is still included, it's not exactly "free." Also of course no company is under obligation to ever repay this free work or keep you around afterwards (if one person makes a promise, management can always change). But I imagine there are other benefits – the resume (so long as the company promises not to tell your future employer that you ever worked for free), the social status of still having a job, that type of thing. Fascinating question! I suppose it depends on the employer, and how much I loved the job. Or what the company was all about.