Stress is part of the job description these days. Negotiations go on behind closed doors, colleagues announce their departure and those remaining fret for their own jobs while wondering how all the work is going to get done.
The public don’t seem to have too much sympathy, though, and it’s hardly surprising. At times of great difficulty and upset for many, you can generally trust someone, somewhere, in local government to perform a public relations faux pas and rub everyone’s noses in it. This time, it appears, Wolverhampton City Council has obliged.
To mark national stress awareness day, the council arranged free given free foot rubs, massages and, er, eyebrow threading for staff. However, some bright spark decided to do this the main civic centre reception so members of the public could see staff getting the treatment while they were queuing for housing benefit.
One member of the public who witnessed the event told the media: ‘I can’t believe they would hold a pampering event for staff. God knows how much it would have cost the council in lost productivity at a time when they are trying to cut back on costs.’ Quite.
Council chief executive Simon Warren agreed and called an immediate halt to the vent and apologised for any ‘insensitivity’ shown to taxpayers. He added that no public funds had been used for the event.
Still, damage done.
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