"Bzabtash": When an Employee Fails to Secure Their Most Basic Needs

Author

Dr. Luay Zaoul

There are simple cognitive words that carry within them great pain, and perhaps the most expressive of the reality of a wide segment of employees today is the word *'Bzabtash'*.

*Bzabtash* means that a person cannot be an employee, an educator for generations, a man of science, a doctor who cares for people's health, a security man who maintains public order, a judge who upholds the law, an imam who carries a religious message, or an employee who facilitates citizens' transactions, or an engineer, planner, and coordinator of developmental, agricultural, and infrastructure programs and projects, and then finds himself unable to secure his most basic needs.

*Bzabtash.*

From a social psychology perspective, the issue is not just a temporary financial distress, nor is it merely a complaint from an employee wanting to improve their income; it is a situation that affects a person’s sense of security, stability, dignity, and belonging to society.

*It is not acceptable to protect others while we are unable to protect ourselves.*

- What does it mean for a doctor to be responsible for people's health, yet cannot afford the price of a simple medication for a transient virus?

- What does it mean for a security officer to be tasked with maintaining public order, yet cannot find the fare to get to their workplace?

- What does it mean for a teacher to be responsible for shaping the minds of generations, yet returns home thinking about how to secure the basic needs of their family?

- What does it mean for a judge to be a guardian of the law, or for an employee to be a gateway to serving the citizen, or for an engineer and planner to be part of the construction process, and then for all of them to be in daily conflict with the needs for food, drink, medicine, and transportation?

This is not just an economic paradox; *it is a psychological and social paradox.* When a person lives for a long time unable to satisfy their basic needs, their psychological energy increasingly shifts to one question: How will I survive?

Here, thinking about creativity, development, and giving becomes less easy, because a mind preoccupied with survival cannot always operate at full capacity in construction.

*Maslow's Hierarchy... When reaching the base becomes difficult*

Psychologist Abraham Maslow arranges human needs in the form of a pyramid, starting with basic physiological needs, then safety, belonging, esteem, and finally self-actualization.

The painful irony is that the employee who is supposed to be in an advanced professional stage, having spent many years in education, training, and experience, sometimes finds himself forced to return to the question of *the pyramid base:*

- Can I secure food?

- Can I buy medicine?

- Can I pay for the fare to work?

- Can I secure my children's needs?

- Can I live with an acceptable level of security?

Here, the phrase *"it doesn't work"* becomes more than just a colloquial expression.

It expresses a mismatch between what is required of a person to contribute to society and the minimum that society can provide for them to continue fulfilling their role.

*The exhaustion of years should not lead to permanent incapacity*, there is a natural social justice that a person feels through the course of their life.

Someone who has studied for many years, stayed up late, obtained a university degree, then pursued higher studies, gained professional experience, and taken on job, family, and social responsibilities, naturally expects that this journey will lead them to a degree of stability.

The intention is not for the testimony to become a privilege over others, nor for the employee to be better than others.

*The aim is to have a reasonable balance between effort and responsibility and the ability to secure basic living needs.*

It is not normal for a person to reach the age of forty-five or fifty, after many years of work and giving, and then feel that they have returned to a stage where they are waiting for a small allowance if it is available, as if they were a student in middle school.

It is even more painful for a person to feel that everything they have given over the years of their life has not granted them even the minimum level of stability.

And here we are not talking about luxury.

We talk about *human dignity.*

*Burnout does not start at the office*

Burnout does not occur only due to the abundance of files, meetings, and working hours.

Sometimes, burnout begins outside the workplace.

It starts when the employee leaves the office carrying the burdens of home.

When he drives his car while calculating the cost of fuel.

When he stands in front of the pharmacy and postpones buying medicine.

When he hears his children asking for simple needs and does not know how to meet them.

When the salary that is supposed to be a means of stability becomes just a short stop between debts and obligations.

In this case, the employee becomes trapped between *the demands of life and the demands of the job.*

He is required to be present, productive, disciplined, and smiling in front of citizens, capable of making decisions, and to provide service in the best possible way; yet inside, he is fighting another battle that no one sees.

This is one of the most dangerous forms of psychological pressure; that a person works with full responsibility while feeling that their personal life is deteriorating before their eyes.

*It is not acceptable to ask an employee to burn themselves to light the way for others.*

- The employee is not a machine.

- The teacher is not just a voice inside the classroom.

- The doctor is not just a stethoscope and a medical file.

- The security officer is not just a uniform.

- The judge is not just a platform.

- The government employee is not just a signature, a stamp, and a transaction.

*All of these are human beings.* They have families, children, needs, feelings, dignity, and postponed dreams, and it is psychologically and socially unjust to treat a person as if their job cancels their humanity.

We ask the employee to serve the community, and this is a noble duty, but the community, in turn, needs to support the employee when life becomes difficult for them.

*We should not burn out the employee so that the institution remains bright.*

*Social justice is not equality in everything*

From the perspective of social psychology, justice does not necessarily mean that everyone gets the same thing.

Justice means that a person feels that the social system they live in is *fair and reasonable*, and that their effort, responsibility, and professional status are not met with neglect or disregard.

When an individual feels that there is a significant gap between what they provide and what they receive, feelings of frustration, alienation, and injustice can accumulate.

This is where the importance of what is called organizational and social justice comes in; that is, a person feels that the institution and society treat them with respect, and that the circumstances they are going through are not interpreted as a personal shortcoming.

An employee who suffers from high living costs, difficult transportation, or a lack of purchasing power is not necessarily a failure or incapable of managing their life.

They may simply be a person who finds themselves facing *economic and social circumstances that are beyond their individual ability to control.*

*Do not leave state employees alone, this is where the role of society comes in:*

- The role of civil society institutions.

- The role of the private sector.

- The role of businessmen and investors.

- The role of economic institutions.

- The role of unions and federations.

- The role of every institution capable of contributing to alleviating the effects of this phase.

It is not required for society to become a body that pays employees' salaries, nor is it required to create permanent privileges for one group at the expense of another.

*What is required is temporary, smart, and organized social solidarity* in difficult times, including:

- Discounts for employees.

- Health programs.

- Initiatives for transportation.

- Material aid that preserves dignity.

- Partnerships with commercial institutions.

- Temporary food or medical programs.

- Educational facilities.

- Organized social funds.

- Initiatives from the private sector.

And other ideas that can alleviate pressure without turning a person into a beggar.

*There is a big difference between assistance that wounds dignity and community support that preserves it.*

*We do not want a broken employee.*

A society that wants strong institutions needs psychologically balanced employees. An institution that wants good service needs a person who feels secure. A state that wants development needs an employee capable of thinking about the future, not an employee who spends their day searching for how to secure their current day.

Therefore, supporting the employee is not a courtesy to them. It is an investment in society:

- When you help a teacher, you are helping an entire generation.

- When you help a doctor, you are protecting the health of the community.

- When you support a security personnel, you are supporting the public security system.

- When you uphold the dignity of the judge, you support trust in the law.

- When you assist the administrative employee, you contribute to the continuity of public services.

- When you support the engineer, planner, farmer, and researcher, you promote the wheel of development.

*"Bzabtsh" is not rebellion... it is a human cry*

When the employee says: *"Bzabtsh"*, it does not necessarily mean that he refuses to work, nor does it mean that he is evading responsibility. It does not necessarily mean that he is asking for what he does not deserve.

*Sometimes the meaning of "Bzabtsh":*

- I am tired.

- I have given.

- I want to continue, but I need someone to feel my suffering.

- It is not acceptable for me to be responsible for serving people while I cannot serve my family.

- It is not acceptable that I maintain the health of others while I cannot afford my medication.

- It is not acceptable that I protect the security of the community while I cannot reach my workplace.

- It is not acceptable that I raise generations while I am unable to secure the simplest needs of my children.

- It is not acceptable that I obtain the highest degrees and then find myself unable to buy a loaf of bread or a can of oil and thyme without borrowing.

This is not a comparison between people, nor is it a call to envy.

*It is a call for a deeper social understanding.*

*Social peace requires balance*

Any society needs a balanced social peace, where every group plays a role;

the worker, the employee, the doctor, the teacher, the security man, the judge, the merchant, the farmer, the businessman, the investor, the academic, and every professional, no one can live in isolation from others.

Therefore, true social adaptation does not mean that only the weak adapt to the circumstances.

This means that *the entire community should adapt to its crises through the distribution of responsibility, solidarity, and mutual support.*

The difficult phase should not make us more individualistic, but rather more united.

It should not lead us to view the employee merely as a salary earner, but as a human being who carries part of the community's responsibility.

*In the end:*

Perhaps the best thing we can say today is: *(It doesn't work).*

- It is not right to demand that a person gives without limits, while they cannot secure the simplest necessities of life for themselves and their family.

- It is not right to ask an employee to remain resilient at all times, and then leave them alone when reality exhausts them.

- It is not right to celebrate certificates, experience, and responsibility, and then ignore the person who stands behind them.

- It is not right to dream of a better future, while leaving a fundamental part of the builders of this future living under the pressure of fear of tomorrow.

Ensuring justice for the employee does not mean favoring them over others.

This means *protecting the social and psychological balance that the entire community needs.*

And if the economic, political, and social conditions have imposed a harsh reality on people, then it is our shared responsibility to seek means to alleviate this reality, even temporarily, so that temporary pressure does not turn into permanent burnout, and so that the employee does not transform from a productive person into an exhausted individual.

*We need to tell the employee:*

- We see your fatigue.

- We appreciate your role.

- We know that much of what you are going through is not of your making.

- You are not alone in this battle.

Because a society that wants to rise does not let those who carry its institutions fall silently.

*And simply put... it doesn't work.*