A few years ago, I worked on a project where I had to speak to a company's staff to get their views on their welfare in the company. I wasn't surprised that they were poorly treated. But when I heard that some of them who had worked with the company for over 15 years had earned the same amount throughout those years—their salaries had never been increased, I was shocked.
The only question in my head was, why didn't they leave? They were in the hospitality sector, so these workers were the lifeblood of the company. I knew it. Their employers knew it too, but why was it so difficult for the employees to see their value and leave to "greener pastures"? I asked some of them, and their reason was that jobs are hard to come by. "A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush".
