14th September 2021

Letter to the editor - The red flags are there but who is going to force them to play better or just take them out of the game?

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With continuous search for employees, one popular financial institution on island continues to inflict questionable expectations on employees for the reward of the bare minimum salary.
 
Why is this company always advertising a vacancy? Are they only seeking to hire young adults in the beginning of their careers because of the peanuts they pay? Children fresh out of school to do grunt work and harass people into taking loans? Children that live with their parents and so the little they pay can go a long way? Has the Department of Labor not looked into how often this company changes staff? Has the treatment of employees allowed this company to be the regional leader in its field for years?
 
Their strong arming tactics on clients particularly in this period to pay for loans they were never able to afford in the first place should be questioned too. Exorbitant interest rates which you still have to pay even after you pay off the loan early. Harassing individuals to take loans with the false promise of an incentive, they are accelerating lives quicker to the pits of poverty.
 
Frustrated and desperate employees attempt to mask their anguish with a smile while selling desperate clients a product that they themselves do not seem to fully comprehend or trust. Lamenting within earshot of clients yet laughing with each other, it is easy to see that they are doing their best given the circumstances especially in this pandemic. What are their options? Picture this, slaves humming away while picking cotton except their master is never on the estate.
 
With fresh faces ever so often, despite the vacancy ads, while branches remain understaffed yet overcrowded, why are employees not staying? The ones that leave, whenever they do, are they simply neg mawons? Runaway slaves?
 
As rumors of maltreatment of staff continue to float around, perhaps it is more of a hostage situation than slavery. Slaving away for long hours, several days a week and no appreciation, for a financial institution the employees look just as hungry as the people taking loans from them. How are you harassing people to take loans only to take home barely enough to get by? While promoting certain conveniences which they do not practice but their indentured servants will desperately explain away. 
 
Exactly how is this company helping the black people of this country improve their lives - staff and clients alike? With high interest loans and promise to win things that cost a small fraction of the loan? 
 
The red flags are there but who is going to force them to play better or just take them out of the game?

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