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The Age of the Crisis of Work

harpers.org

61–70 of 115 posts

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#61
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other side of this is that interesting projects have a higher inherent risk, it needs to prove that the investment was worth it, if you picked the wrong "interesting project" you will be part of cost-cutting measures when that project doesn't pan out. I used to be a lot more interested in working on "interesting projects", over time I realised it's not that worth it most of times. I might have some more fun and c…

I'm sure that may be true in some organisations, hasn't affected me like that though. I am easy with taking some risks though, keeps life interesting.

It's true in any organisation given enough time and scale.

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy: You're pre-selected. You've been trained for decades in one way or another to unquestioningly chase the mission . You went through five interviews and putting mission-over-self was the #1 selection criterion in each. You call it imposter syndrome or cPTSD or ADHD but the truth is you've just had people screaming expectations in your ear your whole life. It's not a question of you vs. your employer but of y…

I always enjoyed this song along these lines https://genius.com/Lcd-soundsystem-other-voices-lyrics

Much love to you for bringing up lcd soundsystem.

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#63
post #49

Why the fuck would I ever put in more effort than absolutely necessary when I will not be rewarded proportionately for the increased effort? It probably won't even be noticed. and even if I were, where does that get me? Still sucking eggs in a housing market that is now more than ever before for business rather than for fulfilling a human need, still suffering through the bureaucratic uncaring nightmare that is the s…

I enjoy my job. I enjoy getting stuff done.

Good for you. How about the people you love? How about the rest of the humanity?

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean the capitalists ensured that they exploited you enough so that they also had your offspring on the hook for further exploitation? You almost made that sound like a good thing.

That's a pretty cynical take but there are some truly old businesses in the world where generations of families have worked and enjoyed a good life. Work can uplift people and be a centre of the community. Or it can be like most are today where you work away for some faceless shareholders who fire you when they need a stock price boost.

> enjoyed a good life

Did they? As good as the capitalists company owners life?

Or have they just been told that „this is the good life“?

I think the problem today is that a lot of work is actually not needed anymore. It’s just there to make a small elite richer and keep people under control.

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#65
post #49

Why the fuck would I ever put in more effort than absolutely necessary when I will not be rewarded proportionately for the increased effort? It probably won't even be noticed. and even if I were, where does that get me? Still sucking eggs in a housing market that is now more than ever before for business rather than for fulfilling a human need, still suffering through the bureaucratic uncaring nightmare that is the s…

I enjoy my job. I enjoy getting stuff done.

[deleted]

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#66

Explain to me why as an employee, I should care whether my employer greatly succeeds, just slides along, or slowly crumbles? As far as I can tell, except over the very long term, I end up in the same place. Or for a more specific example, I am aware of about a 50K a year in cloud waste. But in my org, I know I won't get anything for reporting it as I am not going for a promo (promos pay a lot less than job hopping wh…

I've found nothing more frustrating in jobs than when I can't help but care about things the company doesn't care about. If your company doesn't care about 50K I don't think there's a need for me to convince you to care about it. If they have no mechanism for either raising those savings opportunities to leadership and prioritizing fixes, or rewarding someone for saving them 50k on their own, they pretty clearly don'…

> "I've found nothing more frustrating in jobs than when I can't help but care about things the company doesn't care about."

Gotta put it in my fortune file.

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#67
post #49

Why the fuck would I ever put in more effort than absolutely necessary when I will not be rewarded proportionately for the increased effort? It probably won't even be noticed. and even if I were, where does that get me? Still sucking eggs in a housing market that is now more than ever before for business rather than for fulfilling a human need, still suffering through the bureaucratic uncaring nightmare that is the s…

I enjoy my job. I enjoy getting stuff done.

Your boss enjoys the money you make for him with so little fuss.

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#68

Why the fuck would I ever put in more effort than absolutely necessary when I will not be rewarded proportionately for the increased effort? It probably won't even be noticed. and even if I were, where does that get me? Still sucking eggs in a housing market that is now more than ever before for business rather than for fulfilling a human need, still suffering through the bureaucratic uncaring nightmare that is the s…

Because even if don't get more money you get to do more fun work with more autonomy if you are good at what you do.

The more fun work in my life are raising my kids and creating art.

Re: The Age of the Crisis of Work

#70

Why the fuck would I ever put in more effort than absolutely necessary when I will not be rewarded proportionately for the increased effort? It probably won't even be noticed. and even if I were, where does that get me? Still sucking eggs in a housing market that is now more than ever before for business rather than for fulfilling a human need, still suffering through the bureaucratic uncaring nightmare that is the s…

Because even if don't get more money you get to do more fun work with more autonomy if you are good at what you do.

In my experience this is completely wrong. In my experience, the more work you do, you're awarded with more work. Companies require you to continuously grow, and chase for promotion. If you're better, then you need to grow better too. If you're average, but cut the minimum, then you're asked to grow averagely too. In my experience, there is such a thing as being too good at your job such that your employer keeps asking exponentially more and more from you.
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