I came across this subreddit called /r/antiwork. It consists of memes people have made about capitalism and work. They are all bitter/sweet. They’re funny but also sad since they ring true.
The system is broken and unsustainable. We’re all aware of it, we just don’t know where to start to fix it. There is this mythos that society has built around employment. Blame it on capitalism or advertising or the protestant work ethic or whatever. This reinforced belief traps us within it. And like a religion it has self-regulating and self-reinforcing characteristics.
For example, this is the top scoring post in /r/antiwork:
I have lost count the number of times I’ve been told not to discuss my salary or scolded for doing so. Or how many times I was embarrassed to find out I made a lot more than my coworkers when I felt they worked as hard as I did. And the few times I found out someone made more than I did, when I felt as deserving. Things aren’t always fair, but for some people they’re more often unfair.
I have helped several of my female colleagues with their contract negotiations. For many women, if they ask for more it makes them uncomfortable. This unease is reinforced with the way assertive women get treated, the names they get called. And this treatment gets repeated at all levels of management which leads to fewer women at the top. And I know from speaking to my colleagues it is the same for people of colour.
And the fact there is a top at all shows how incredibly fucked the whole thing is. We live in a democracy but we work in dictatorships. How many projects have immutable timelines for some stupid arbitrary reason? Or companies forced to adopt some way of working or some tool because some jackass higher up decreed it must be so.
These systemic failures are no more apparent than in Japan. Or maybe their effect gets amplified by the culture. For example, people are expected to put their photo on their resumes when they apply for a job. Anyone ugly, or older will find it harder to find employment.
If one does get a job, they’re expected to remain at work until their boss leaves. But of course, the boss can’t leave until their boss leaves, and so on… And when they do leave, they need to go drinking with their coworkers. In Japan, falling asleep at work is not considered a bad thing. Itnemuri, as it is called, shows how devoted you are to the company that work yourself to exhaustion. Japanese workers typically take only half of their paid vacation days. They even have a special word for working yourself to death, karoshi. In 2013, a young woman working for the national broadcaster worked 159 hours of overtime in a month. She ended up dying of heart failure. There are also countless suicides due to workplace bullying and work related stress. And Japan’s not alone.
At one agency I worked for in Toronto, Critical Mass, if you left at 5:00 someone would call out, “Bye <insert name>! Bye!” to make sure everyone heard you left the office and other people would parrot the call. It was meant a half-joke. Partly to remind you of the coworkers you were leaving behind and partly to reinforce the group think that putting in extra hours showed your dedication.
I decided to leave CM after they laid off my coworker -the day after he and I pulled an all-nighter to get some client work out the door. It was clear to me they didn’t give a fuck about people. Management knew they were going to lay him off but wanted to squeeze every last drop of effort from him before they showed him the door. I could no longer listen to the speeches about how “employees are family” and “our most valuable asset”.
Everywhere I have worked has had some sort of Kool-aid you’re expected to drink. [Drinking the koolaid – To make a wholehearted, unconditional commitment (to some group, or idea, or plan) in contrast to choosing an alternative]
Its often disguised as corporate culture. Usually called “the way” or “our path” or “#oneteam” or whatever. The mentality is reinforced through social interactions. Whether it is a company outing, or group event it is intended to coerce you into adopting their mindset. They do this, because it is more profitable for the company if you conform, not because they actually care about you.
The term “drinking the koolaid” is actually a reference to the Jonestown Massacre where the drink was laced with cyanide.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drink%20the%20kool-aid
When I worked at BMO I was almost fired because I wouldn’t drink the kool-aid. And a year later I was given a corporate award because I was actually good at my job.
The company had started this “hoteling” program. Where no one had assigned desks. Instead, each person had a drawer for their belongings (notes/files/manuals/office supplies) and each desk had an assigned locker. You didn’t get a permanent locker, only the use of one for the day. It appeared to be something an executive read in a magazine about creative work spaces. And this was their attempt to make our digital department “innovative”.
In reality it was about profit. On any given day a certain percentage of people are away; sick, on holiday or whatever. As a result their cubicles are empty. By creating a class of employees who don’t have desks they now had bodies to fill those vacant cubicles. To take it further, if no one has a cubicle and everyone uses a laptop, it gets even more efficient. One person might leave for lunch, or a client meeting and someone else can occupy their vacant space.
But it was a terrible system poorly executed because lots of people did have permanent desks. All senior managers got assigned seats. The department head wanted to know where they were. The developers all got assigned seats. They had dual monitors and desktops (as opposed to laptops). Other teams in the building had assigned seats, because their managers rejected the initiative. They recognized it did not take into account the needs of their staff.
Hoteling was a mistake because right away it created a hierarchy of haves and have-nots. It created a hierarchy of desk positions as well, from the most desirable to the least desirable. The rationales around why to do hoteling were not adequately addressed and no one affected was consulted beforehand.
The implementation of the program further negated the benefits. For example, to keep track of attendance a booking system was introduced. This required everyone to reserve a desk up to a month in advance. Many coworkers simply booked the same desk for a month. Some would sign onto the network just after midnight to book the same desk so no one else could take it. This made it impossible for teams to sit together. They would need to know 30 days in advance that they would be working as a team. You also had to login because on any given day you might be in a different part of the building. If your manager needed you they would need to look up what seat you were in.
Hoteling was also supposed to improve work/life balance by allowing workers to come and go as needed. The department head however expected everyone to be in from nine to five eliminating that benefit.
I took exception to hoteling. I felt it was demeaning and hypocritical when the bank talked about “being human” but treated us like cattle. Funny enough I took this traits test at Accenture and my number one trait is consistency. Which explains why I’m good at my job and my need to have a consistent environment.
I tried to not take part and avoided booking a desk. Instead I sat at a communal table everyday. I also voiced my displeasure at the new system at every opportunity. To the point where my manager told me I was going to get fired if I kept it up. I was okay with that. In the end he convinced upper management that he was going to lose his team over this. As a result we got assigned desks with dual monitors.
What changed wasn’t the company. It wasn’t the policy, either. Lots of teams still had no assigned seats. It was the fact that having to hire and train a new analytics team would cost more than giving us desks. It was a simple equation.
So I started looking at the other side of the equation. What was working costing me and what was I getting in return?