Is it ethical to work for a major corporation?

[Nikia]

I am interviewing next week for a poisition at a company that has plants world wide. It's products are sold worldwide too. They are predatory in buying smaller companies to gain more of a market share. Working for a large company would give me chance for advancement and actual training. I don't know if I would feel good about this though.
I already have a job at a small company, the type that this company would like to buy. I am not happy there though.

[kodi]

1. you can be taught how to fall or get up, but not when. use your head

and heart.

all life damages other life. ethics is the way one minimizes it.

[ScrewyRabbit]

2. I'd say it depends on the corporation

Do they promote unfair labor practices here or overseas? Are they a source of pollution? Do they make safe products?

I'm not a fan of big companies either, though I work for one now.

[21winner]

3. I think it will be a great choice if you get it.

Large corporations deliver the lifestyle we demand. Ma and Pa Kettle won't be drilling for oil offshore so you can have gasoline. Large corporations can pay well and provide benefits. Small companies fire people for having Kerry bumper stickers on their cars.

[Nikia]

6. It would be good for me personally

I would get better benefits, training, and a chance for advancement. I think that I would also be treated more fairly. For example, one year at my small company I did not get a raise. I thought that I was denied one unfairly but since no one else held my position, I couldn't prove that or even make a very good case.
Most Americans are heavily dependent on major corporations and even small business often are too (utilities, vehicles, equipment, ect.).
It is just that they seem too powerful for their own good, have no other interests besides profit, and do not have people which have to take personal responsibility for all of this. I also feel that what I have learned from my small company could be eventually used to crush it. Maybe that's over estimating my importance, but that sort of thing happens.

[mconvente]

4. depends

Some would say "guilty by association", and others would say "it's fine as long as you retain your own morals and strive to have your co-workers do the same". Picture it this way - do you consider the true good hardworking people for Enron (I'm sure there were some lower end workers that were) crooks just because the higher-ups acted like assholes? I don't.

[Senior citizen]

5. Think outside the cubicle.

What would you like to do longterm, and what will it take to get you to where you can do it?

There are a few things to remember in work these days:

1. No, your job is NOT safe.

2. No, your pension plan is NOT safe.

3. Yes, your health premiums WILL increase.

4. If you can't find a way to make your current situation further your long-range goals, check your GPS as you may be on the wrong track.

:grouphug: :hi:

[Nikia]

8. If I got this job, it would help my long range goals

I am currently stuck in my position at my company. My company won't pay for any type of certifications, seminars, or training for me. The older men who hold positions above me have no intention of leaving the company for another several years. Even if my boss did leave, I think that they would hire someone else who another company had invested in. They expect a lot from me while offering little.
The large corporation would offer me a chance to develop and be promoted within the company.
I suppose the personal risk is point number one. The current owners of the small corporation that I work for seem committed to their business. It is unlikely that I would be layed off there. Unless something serious happens, the plant will not close. We are already running too thin in my department so my position will not be eliminated. At the larger corporation, they have downsized anytime they have failed to increase their profits.

[Senior citizen]

10. Unemployment is unlikely to further your goals.

Why not figure out some other way to get the training you want?

Anybody smart enough to be on DU ought to be able to think of a way to finance their education. Maybe some other DUers have some suggestions. What field are you in and what sort of training would you need?

[Nikia]

11. I am in quality assurance in the food industry

I would like to be HACCP certified. I would also like to get a MS in food science or MBA. I am also thinking about perhaps going into R&D, which would probably make the food science degree more valuable than the MBA. In the area where I currently live and work, getting an MBA would be easier. There aren't as many MS in food science programs and I don't think that it is one that can really be taken mostly online. I suppose that I would like to take some business classes anyway. I have not formally been taught how to be a manager or a professional. I could take these classes for a somewhat affordable price at the tech college.
The corporation offers complete tuition reimbursement up to a certain amount. It also provides corporate training on the basics of business managment.
The position that I am interviewing with is probably faily safe, I think. I am just saying that it is less safe than at my current company.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

7. I don't know if it is ethical

or not, I just know I'm glad I don't. Mr. Moonbeam works for a small company and I work in the public sector. Good luck with your decision!

(Think about how you will feel about it on your deathbed, that always helps me with big decisions!)

[Gothic Sponge]

9. Depends

I would never work for a corporation, but that's just me.

[Ksec]

12. used too- got fuked- dont anymore- work for myself now- much better

[miss_kitty]

13. IMHO

i think that if it gives you opportunites you don't get elsewhere, milk it. put money aside religiously (pay yourself first)...Use them to attain your goals. and if i remember, are you not a lactose intolerant person working in a dairy products firm? i Do know you are having gut problems-so this may be your chance to make a break for it.

If you feel stymied and unhappy where you are now, it shows.

[Nikia]

14. Yeah, I think my current job is making me sick

The job that I am interviewing for is not at a dairy plant, fortunately. I think that it would be good for me to leave. My current economic situation with my husband unemployed prevents me from quitting outright or taking a low paying job. With how the economy is, that pretty much means that the jobs that I could get that pay enough are in my general field or require killing myself at a heavy labor, rotating shift factory job which I probably wouldn't get either do to the number of people applying to them.
If I get this job, I will start furthering my education as soon as possible.

[miss_kitty]

15. well, that can contribute to a lack of 'lust for life'

being 'ill under the radar', so to speak, can take a devastating toll on your natural verve. and often when this happens, we are unaware of it...
once you get more and varied experience in your field, you can return to the smaller sector as a more valued asset, and you could choose not to work with dairy, but do what you want with different food.

good luck

[Rabrrrrrr]

16. There is nothing inherently ethical or unethical about large corporations

It would be unethical to work at one that asked you to do unethical things, or support an unethical corporate policy, but that goes whether it's a small company or a big one.

Sounds like it would be a good move for you - more pay, better advancement, probably more job security. And if they are buying up companies, including the kind you work at now, you'll probably end up working for them anyway.

At least, until they fire everyone in the plant a few months after they buy it.

Best to get in the door now. :-)

And although only you know your situation fully and can make the decision, let me at least assure you that working for a large corporation is not de facto unethical.

I've worked for a few world-wide corporations, and my soul feels pretty good.