When people talk about child labor I summon up the image of 8 year olds, toiling for a large athletic footwear corporation and getting paid a crust of bread for a days wages.
The media has always shown child labor as a phenomenon that happens in the dark corners of impoverished nations such as Gambia or India. So you can imagine my surprise when I realized recently that the company I work for does in fact participate in the hiring of children.
I work in an industry that employs thousands of people worldwide and generates billions in dollars in revenue each year. Little of this revenue actually gets paid out to the peons or worker bees like myself toiling away anonymously in the dark.
I can only imagine it was the corporate desire for more revenue that made HR collectively turn their heads when the first 8 year old submitted their resume.
When I finally left grade school I thought that my days of dealing with snotty nosed,whiny malcontents was finally over but alas I can see that is not the case.
Whiny children have become part of the culture of the modern international corporation. Management sees the hiring of children as a "win - win" The company saves money and parents don't have to worry about day care.
How can you tell if your company is hiring children? Look for these signs
1. The Smoking Area has be made into a sandbox
2. The entire building has been "baby proofed"
3. There will be a higher number of employee temper tantrums
4. Mandatory Nap Time
5. Designated parking spots for Tricycles
Don't say I did not warn you - children are becoming a larger part of corporate culture.
One thing to remember is that large corporations will give whiny children anything they want. It's the same tactic that parents have used for decades now- "Finish the quarterly budget report and you can have some ice cream"
-sigh
