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Letter: Profit motive pressures workers

(Kristin Murphy | Deseret News/pool) Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, speaks at the daily COVID-19 media briefing at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

(Kristin Murphy | Deseret News/pool) Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance, speaks at the daily COVID-19 media briefing at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, April 7, 2020.

Derek Miller, Salt Lake Chamber CEO, suggested that the private sector can lead us through the pandemic mental health crisis (Oct. 29).

Yet until the very fabric of our capitalist investor profit motive is changed, the negative pressures on employees will continue to result in traditional business operations calling for making more and more money. As a result, the private sector will continue demanding more from its employees with less compensation in order to keep the bottom line low and the return on its investment high.

The development of socially conscious and environmentally sensitive companies may be the real solution to the mental health crisis of employees. Companies that don’t have profit as their primary objective, but investing in its employees and having them work in ways they enjoy, seeking to invest in community development, and making the world a better place is the best response to today’s stressful and anxiety-producing working environment.

Tab Lyn Uno, Clearfield

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