France Telecom: 24 Suicides in 18 Months

Here's a case where a company weaned from a state monopoly--France Telecom--may have gone too overboard in management style, which a union leader labeled as "real indifference, no humanity."

A call center worker for France Telecom this week jumped off a bridge into onrushing traffic to become the company's 24th suicide victim in 18 months.

As that above-quoted union leader noted after the worker's death: "[A}ll they talked about was numbers and workers were treated like sausage meat."

When France Telecom's market was deregulated, stress levels began rising as management pushed to reach goals free-market style. As the stress rose, so did the suicide rate.

Maybe a little socialism isn't such a bad thing, after all. No one ever accused a socialized company of causing stress. Death by boredom, yes, but never suicide.