I don't know how the situation looks like in larger businesses. As for small businesses, I base my qualification of "very many if not most" based on the sample I have from personal experience - the companies I've worked with, and companies people I know worked in who trust me enough tell me the stories of what things look internally. Still, I'm just saying small business are - in my experience - bad; I'm not saying they're worse than big businesses :).
Maybe saying that many small business are run "by liars and frauds" is too much; I admit I get emotional over that sometimes. After all, I don't know those managers/bosses well enough to judge the state of their consciousness. But what I observe is that, nevertheless, the workers are often directly asked to do unethical things that go against the interest of customers.
A charitable way of viewing that is that the bosses are forced to cut corners to deal with the pressure[0] or to stay competitive, or that eventually some unethical conduct becomes a standard practice in the industry (I believe that for example washing meat with detergent is such a thing).
As for the impact of losing a single worker - when we're talking about regular people doing regular jobs, losing an employee often doesn't have much of an impact on the company, but it has a lot of impact on the employee itself. For people outside of very specialized fields, finding a new job is a nontrivial task. Finding a new job that pays comparably to the one you just left making a stand is doubly nontrivial. Quadruply, if you live in a smaller town. I know first-hand of a particularly successful online book seller who uses this fact to overwork and underpay his staff while forcing them to lie to customers - he knows that none of his employees can afford losing this job.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that most of the working class is pretty screwed when it comes to disobeying unethical commands - people in IT often forget that our industry is in a (temporary) golden age, and we can afford to make a stand.
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[0] - I run a non-profit and I know how much pressure can fall on you when things get messy while various deadlines for deals or paperwork approach. I can only imagine a competitive business is even more difficult to manage.
"As for the impact of losing a single worker - when we're talking about regular people doing regular jobs, losing an employee often doesn't have much of an impact on the company, but it has a lot of impact on the employee itself."
Completely agree. I meant from the perspective of the company. For the employee depending on an income is a different matter all together.
Depends on the company. If we're talking places like grocery stores or restaurant waiters, the new employee can be brought up to full potential within a week of on-the-job training. After that, they don't meaningfully improve, so it's no surprise places like these have high turnover - they can very much afford it. On the other hand, if you have people who gain experience with your very specific in-house tools and procedures, losing an employee can indeed be a high cost for a small company. If you can maneuver yourself into a position of being needed for the hard-gained experience, you have much greater bargaining power.
Maybe saying that many small business are run "by liars and frauds" is too much; I admit I get emotional over that sometimes. After all, I don't know those managers/bosses well enough to judge the state of their consciousness. But what I observe is that, nevertheless, the workers are often directly asked to do unethical things that go against the interest of customers.
A charitable way of viewing that is that the bosses are forced to cut corners to deal with the pressure[0] or to stay competitive, or that eventually some unethical conduct becomes a standard practice in the industry (I believe that for example washing meat with detergent is such a thing).
As for the impact of losing a single worker - when we're talking about regular people doing regular jobs, losing an employee often doesn't have much of an impact on the company, but it has a lot of impact on the employee itself. For people outside of very specialized fields, finding a new job is a nontrivial task. Finding a new job that pays comparably to the one you just left making a stand is doubly nontrivial. Quadruply, if you live in a smaller town. I know first-hand of a particularly successful online book seller who uses this fact to overwork and underpay his staff while forcing them to lie to customers - he knows that none of his employees can afford losing this job.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that most of the working class is pretty screwed when it comes to disobeying unethical commands - people in IT often forget that our industry is in a (temporary) golden age, and we can afford to make a stand.
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[0] - I run a non-profit and I know how much pressure can fall on you when things get messy while various deadlines for deals or paperwork approach. I can only imagine a competitive business is even more difficult to manage.