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Ask HN: Widespread Apathy?

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Re: Ask HN: Widespread Apathy?

#11

Post by asynchronous »

ryandrake wrote: post #7

To me, this seems like a good sign that maybe the US norm of workaholism is finally on the decline and workers are starting to set boundaries. Work is a financial exchange of labor for money. "Super engagement" is not necessarily part of that exchange. IMO save your super-engagement for your family, your hobbies, your church, service to your community, and so on. Lifetimes are limited, how much of your soul-hours sho…

I think that last bit is the key- before US workers swallowed the myth that working harder would translate to better outcomes for the company, and then them overall. But now it’s more clear than ever corporations hoard wealth and do not let improvements trickle down to employees.

Re: Ask HN: Widespread Apathy?

#12

Post by throwaway9143 »

People have gotten the message that capitalism is a cancer that will exploit workers of every bit of value for a pittance. People are fighting back by quiet quitting and doing the absolute bare minimum to collect a paycheck. There's literally no point in working hard for your higher ups to make bank off of you while you get an "attaboy." They're going to learn the hard way now.

Re: Ask HN: Widespread Apathy?

#13

Post by dogman144 »

ryandrake wrote: post #7

To me, this seems like a good sign that maybe the US norm of workaholism is finally on the decline and workers are starting to set boundaries. Work is a financial exchange of labor for money. "Super engagement" is not necessarily part of that exchange. IMO save your super-engagement for your family, your hobbies, your church, service to your community, and so on. Lifetimes are limited, how much of your soul-hours sho…

This is why employees advocating RTO for the socialization depress me. There’s a big world out there, go find it.

Re: Ask HN: Widespread Apathy?

#14

Post by foobar502 »

Over-hiring in the zero interest years. It resulted in the hiring of non-qualified personnel and of qualified personnel with no concrete plans on how to utilize them. Either is a buzz kill, especially when the chickens came home to roost with respect to results (revenues) vs ballooned valuations.

Re: Ask HN: Widespread Apathy?

#15

Post by glorpsicle »

My observations parallel those of many in this thread. Another thing I've noticed, but wasn't able to properly "name" until someone I work with did so, is the idea of a "pocket veto." [1]

There are two people on my team who have become extremely disengaged of late–and I think one has good reason–and one way this manifests is in their agreement to do or fix something, but those changes never actually being implemented. I find myself having to follow up many times to ensure things don't get lost in the shuffle. But I don't directly manage one of the people, and it seems like they just DGAF what I say–no matter how I approach them. "Strong suggestions" really don't go anywhere. Pretty apathetic, if you ask me.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_veto

edit: fixed typos

Re: Ask HN: Widespread Apathy?

#18

Post by lkdfjlkdfjlg »

bm3719 wrote: post #8

Maybe it's because money doesn't buy as much as it did 4 years ago. Since most employees have limited control over their mostly-static salaries, they've scaled down output accordingly.

> they've scaled down output accordingly.

It's easy to dismiss this as just a smart ass comment, but it's 100% real for me. My employer pretends to treat me fairly and I pretend to work hard.

Re: Ask HN: Widespread Apathy?

#19

Post by mewpmewp2 »

spudlyo wrote: post #6
ilrwbwrkhv wrote: post #3

I recently heard from someone at stripe that their whole internal comms is dead. People are extremely unhappy and disengaged. Something surely is going on.

What is meant by internal comms in this instance? Stripe had probably the most vibrant Slack environment of any place I've ever worked. It'd be very strange indeed if somehow people stopped communicating that way.

If they had, but not anymore then this highlights the trend in the OP. But usually these things would also happen when successful start ups become more corporate like and original leadership changes. At certain point it's really difficult to hold the culture that initially existed.
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