[DanI-S]

I would guess that the current economic climate provides an incentive for management to push workers harder than before, since there's a greater pool of replacements and a worse fate awaiting those who can't keep up.

[winestock]

Some time ago, a commenter on a blog called Advice Goddess wrote something apropos to what you've written:

"Competition isn't always an impetus to improve. Sometimes it's just impetus to fuck harder."