Question about your job and the ethics behind it..

No, I've never and would never do such a thing. I've got too many people relying on my income. If it came to it, I would leave my job to take another one that pays approximately the same amount and made me happier, though.

 

Yes... left a restaurant where I was sous chef because the Chef and other employees did not care too much about sanitation. I had medical dental and the pay was adequate. I am now unemployed.

 

Considering I'm co-owner of my company I would be in big trouble if I questioned the ethics behind it.

In general I don't think you should compromise your ethics even if you are getting paid well but obviously that depends on what else is going on in your life. Say you have a sick kid and your job is providing health insurance and/or paying you well enough to pay for your kid's care do you quit your job because you find it challenges your ethics?

I guess for your friend I would say he needs to take a hard look at his life and see what are the implications to him leaving his job.

One other thing to consider is what the company doing something that is illegal and are you complicit in that illegality? I think a job where you might end up getting sued or in jail would mean a career change is in order.

 

it's two week cycles for me. i get disenchanted by the lies and lack of integrity as the days wear on, and then those feelings go away when they hand me my paycheck.

sounds terrible but it's the way it is. in this economy i can't be picky.

there are only 3 places where i would REFUSE to work:

• a factory farm
• trinity broadcasting network
• wal-mart

 

I'm not sure how this hypothetical is supposed to work. The electricity retailer I work for would ask me to start selling drugs to the kids in my neighborhood?

Let's say they did ask me to do that. Or, maybe we sell power to California but then want me to manipulate the congestion on distribution lines so that California has to pay ludicrously high rates for their wholesale power. I could quit that job and then go apply at other energy companies that could pay the same but not make me do morally objectionable things. If the whole industry is corrupt, I can still transfer my skills to some other company in some other industry. They'd all pay me roughly the same to do essentially the same function. To make less, I'd have to change my function or else work for a non-profit.

 

Is the decision about being happy, or choosing a company with greater moral ethics as their cause/goal/policy?

Both, maybe, but often it's hard to know a company until you see it from the inside. Also, the grass is always greener, an' such.

That said, if your friend can see himself living within his means and with enough comfort under the supposed happier job, tell him do it. If not, resentment comes in many forms.

Lastly, a young man climbs a high horse more easily than an older one. Is it really that bad where he is? If so, he knows the answer already. If not, time will dull some of that sharp criticism, I'd bet, especially with the onset of a family and/or other responsibilities.

 

Dentistry deals with a crapload of ethical situations.

Dental chains typically care more about quantity over quality. When I worked at one, you basically have a quota to fulfill...its not about how you do it, its about how many patients you see and how much money you produced. If you dont produce enough, you get the pink slip. As simple as that.

In private practice, there is a slight shift...the ethical dilemma surrounds treatment planning for a patient. For example, do you do a large filling or do you just go ahead and make it a crown (since the tooth will probably, one day, need one anyways). You basically implement much more expensive treatment, with the thought that the patient will eventually need a certain treatment.

When I eventually have my own practice...I definitely want to be as productive as possible, but I think gaining the patients trust is the most important aspect of building a great practice. So, I'd have to say that I wouldnt run my practice the way I started out, when working for other people. I'll take care of my patients (I just might be a little more expensive than the next guy )

 

Yes and it was the best thing I have ever done for myself. Just think, I could still be in some terminal as a tech working for Qwest, but instead, I'm sitting at home, sipping coffee, preparing for work and wondering if I really need to shower this morning. :grin:

Back in 93 I left a great paying job at Qwest because I wanted working experience with computers. My roomy was a mgr at Genigraphics and got me a job at 8.50 an hour. 8.50 an hour pushing slides!

That hurt but I wasn't married and had NO serious financial responsibility. 7 years after that decision I found myself with a great paying job offer that had me working from home. How cool is that.

10 years later and I'm still with the same company, working from home.

Although my story sounds pretty cool, I had to eat dirt for awhile. Also, this wouldn't be a good story if I was married at that time...good grief, I'd still be at Qwest...sigh

 

I sell people Macs. If my company were unethical, I'd be selling PCs and masking them as hassle free and easy to use.

 

I work in aerospace. I try not to think about the fact that:

What I contribute to building is aiding the war-fighters, and potentially could be aiding the killing of people (regardless if they are our enemies).

 

DD complaining about someone being persistent? Wow. I'm pretty sure if I go to the garm right now, every TMac thread (and many that aren't even directly about him) has a lot of DD input.

 

I was close to working for DoD a few times, just could not do it because it made me feel uncomfortable.

Of course, now I work in oil and gas, so "choose your ethical poison", I guess.