[Intro: Female Lead]
I turned the brass nameplate in my hand:
two screws, a pale mark on the wall.
"People, Not Resources." New sign.
The work inside had not changed at all.

[Verse 1: Female Lead]
I booked a room and left the door wide.
A shift supervisor laid three pay stubs down.
One junior asked why bands stayed sealed;
one senior logged the weekends off the clock.
I wrote hours, dates and names.
Plain numbers made soft excuses strange.

[Pre-Chorus: Female Lead]
No brighter logo makes the workload fair.
A title matters when rules change too.

[Chorus: Female Lead]
People, not resources. Say it plain.
A kinder label does not cut the strain.
Show the range and show the pay;
give answers in daylight.
If people count when margins slip,
prove it in the hours and benefits.

[Verse 2: Female Lead]
I cut twelve pages from the onboarding guide:
the unpaid hour called "going the extra mile."
I asked Finance to publish every band.
They passed my message desk to desk for days.
One sentence made the final policy draft:
"Your workload must fit hours you are paid."

[Pre-Chorus: Male Baritone]
Victor praised the font and moved the sign.
He left the salary table out each time.

[Chorus: Female Lead]
People, not resources. Say it plain.
A kinder label does not cut the strain.
Show the range and show the pay;
give answers in daylight.
If people count when margins slip,
prove it in the hours and benefits.

[Instrumental Break: Melodic Bass and Muted Guitar]

[Bridge: Male Baritone]
"Transparency can frighten good recruits.
Improve the feeling first; the facts can wait."

[Bridge: Female Lead]
I heard the bolt slide home beneath his words.
The sign was new. The lock was still in place.

[Breakdown: Female Lead with Gang Vocals]
Not headcount risk. Not labor cost.
Not units gained or talent lost.
A person knows what time was used.
A person knows when numbers lie.

[Final Chorus: Female Lead with Gang Vocals]
People, not resources. Say it plain.
No softer noun can hide low wages.
Show the range and show the pay;
put hours, staffing, facts in place.
A title earns the words we choose
when people outrank resources.

[Outro: Female Lead]
The brass sign caught the hallway light.
Behind the door, the pay bands stayed out of sight.
People, not resources.