The teenage lad from the factory floor was called to the office.
The manager waved him in with a smile. The boy was a bit nervous when he was asked to take a seat. The boss cleared his throat and said, “We’ve had a dramatic drop in orders over the past few months and the people at the top say we have to downsize the operations here. It was decided that our production levels would match up with a smaller staff. We estimate that our current number of staff needs to be cut by three.
He pointed to a pile of folders. “I have gone through all of the personnel files,” he nodded and continued. “Naturally, I had to take into consideration the fact that three of my people are going to be out of work. Most of the men here have families to support. At first, it was a very difficult decision to make.”
He looked at the file in front of him. “Of course, on the other hand,” he picked the file up and looked through it. “I see from the records you have only been with us six months. As far as I can see you have not taken any sick days or had time off for anything.”
The lad said, “That’s right, sir.”
The manager went on, “There’s a note here from your supervisor saying that you arrive early in the morning and often worked back late, if needed. It also says that you often take less than your allotted lunch break, returning to the workshop floor early.”
The other said, “That’s true, sir.”
The manager turned over a couple of pages. “I see from these worksheets that you are producing more than anyone else in your section.”
The boy smiled.
“I must say that all this has made my decision a lot easier.”
The boy raised his eyebrows.
“As far as I can see, you are basically doing the work of three people…”