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to change the picture from six people laughing in a meeting to six people crying!” Lakshmi read the email over and over. Daniel immediately opened his calculator. Helen didn’t bother doing either. Not long after the employees digested the email, an anonymous discussion among Hopewell Financial employees began online. Everyone was airing out their problems and possible action plans. One employee mentioned working weekends elsewhere. Another had an adult child who’d moved back home because they couldn’t afford to rent separately. Then one employee wrote: My partner and I want children. We keep waiting until we feel financially secure. I’m starting to wonder whether that day will actually come. Lakshmi stared at the screen because she hadn’t written it; someone else had, and it really bothered her. Daniel kept scrolling. People he’d assumed were comfortable were talking about mortgages, bills
Everyone was airing out their problems and possible action plans. One employee mentioned working weekends elsewhere. Another had an adult child who’d moved back home because they couldn’t afford to rent separately.
computer learning how she did the job she herself had spent 29 years learning to do. When Hopewell’s annual results came in, the company reported another strong year. Employees received the usual email thanking them for making it possible, blah, blah, blah, along with a photo of six people laughing in a meeting. Helen had worked in finance for 29 years and had never seen six people laugh in a meeting. A few days later, another email came. This one was super important because it was about pay. When Helen read the subject line, she thought, “They may need
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GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE ISSUE 28
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