In 'Dying for a Paycheck,' Jeffrey Pfeffer unveils the shocking truth about the detrimental effects of workplace stress and unhealthy corporate cultures on employees' well-being. He argues that the business practices designed to maximize profits often come at the expense of workers' health and lives. With a blend of research and personal stories, Pfeffer exposes the alarming reality of death and suffering linked to toxic work environments. This provocative book challenges readers to reconsider what it means to succeed in business while prioritizing human dignity. What changes must we embrace to create workplaces that nurture rather than destroy?
By Jeffrey Pfeffer
Published: 2018
"In the relentless pursuit of profit, we often forget the most valuable asset we have: the well-being of our people."
In one survey, 61 percent of employees said that workplace stress had made them sick and 7 percent said they had actually been hospitalized. Job stress costs US employers more than $300 billion annually and may cause 120,000 excess deaths each year. In China, 1 million people a year may be dying from overwork. People are literally dying for a paycheck. And it needs to stop. In this timely, provocative book, Jeffrey Pfeffer contends that many modern management commonalities such as long work hours, work-family conflict, and economic insecurity are toxic to employees—hurting engagement, increasing turnover, and destroying people’s physical and emotional health—and also inimical to company performance. He argues that human sustainability should be as important as environmental stewardship. You don’t have to do a physically dangerous job to confront a health-destroying, possibly life-threatening, workplace. Just ask the manager in a senior finance role whose immense workload, once handled by several employees, required frequent all-nighters—leading to alcohol and drug addiction. Or the dedicated news media producer whose commitment to getting the story resulted in a sixty-pound weight gain thanks to having no down time to eat properly or exercise. Or the marketing professional prescribed antidepressants a week after joining her employer. In Dying for a Paycheck, Jeffrey Pfeffer marshals a vast trove of evidence and numerous examples from all over the world to expose the infuriating truth about modern work life: even as organizations allow management practices that literally sicken and kill their employees, those policies do not enhance productivity or the bottom line, thereby creating a lose-lose situation. Exploring a range of important topics including layoffs, health insurance, work-family conflict, work hours, job autonomy, and why people remain in toxic environments, Pfeffer offers guidance and practical solutions all of us—employees, employers, and the government—can use to enhance workplace wellbeing. We must wake up to the dangers and enormous costs of today’s workplace, Pfeffer argues. Dying for a Paycheck is a clarion call for a social movement focused on human sustainability. Pfeffer makes clear that the environment we work in is just as important as the one we live in, and with this urgent book, he opens our eyes and shows how we can make our workplaces healthier and better.
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“In the relentless pursuit of profit, we often forget the most valuable asset we have: the well-being of our people.”
Dying for a Paycheck
By Jeffrey Pfeffer
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Jeffrey Pfeffer is an esteemed author and professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Renowned for his incisive analysis of the dynamics of power and politics within organizations, Pfeffer has authored several influential texts, including 'Power: Why Some People Achieve It and Others Don't,' 'Leadership BS: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time,' and 'Dying for a Paycheck.' His writing style is direct and engaging, often blending empirical research with real-world examples, and he challenges conventional wisdom with a critical lens, making his work both thought-provoking and accessible. Pfeffer's insights are widely respected in both academic and professional circles, cementing his reputation as a leading thinker in management and organizational theory.
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