Excerpt of a memo from a few years ago, during the great recession:
(Redacted) has implemented a consumables reduction program. All consumables; copy paper, toner, note pads, pens, pencils, paper towels, garbage bags, paper plates, plastic flatware, toilet paper, and so forth must be reduced by 25%. (Redacted) is spending far to much on such material which is impacting our financial performance.
The Management
My contribution to the effort:
I wouldn’t want the CEO to miss his bonus this year…
I worked at a station with a general manager who took paper clips out of the garbage pails, gave all the volunteers that worked election night pens, then went around early the next morning and stole them out of our desks and told us that we should be paying him for the experiance of working at the station. It gets worse from there. They couldn’t understand why I was so happy to leave.
I worked at a station that had a sign over the toilet paper roll…it said:
“Why use two when one will do?”. I routinely exceeded the recommended minimum.
We bought a new transmitter at this same station, the owner came behind me and straightened the shipping crate nails, so I could use them again….
I should add, this is nothing new in the radio business…
Two zip ties? You could have cinched that tighter and made do with one. How wasteful 😀
I did some AM Ground System work for a large college station that was so tight that the station manager issued pencils to employees and required them to turn in the stub to receive a new one. Lost your pencil? Go to the book store and buy one.
But yet people stayed there for years. The engineer that I was working with had been there almost 20 years and was still 3rd on the CE promotion list.
I was hired to do some specific tasks at a station in CT where the money was tight (1981). There was a memo posted about austerity and saving money. I posted a memo which stated “In order to save money the company will no longer purchase toilet paper. In the interest of personal hygiene we will purchase a blue sponge for use in the Men’s Room and a pink one for the Ladies Room. We respectfully request you clean and squeeze dry after use in consideration of your fellow employee.”
Everyone was accused or writing the memo but me. I later ended up as GM at that station….