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I did no work for a year and no one noticed

leylakazim.substack.com

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Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#11

Post by evklein »

GuinansEyebrows wrote: post #9
evklein wrote: post #7

Something the author sorta neglects to mention is that this makes you feel like shit, if you have any sort of conscience at all. Corporations largely don't care about individuals, and so maybe you shouldn't care about loyalty to your employer, but if you pride yourself on a skill or being able to do your job competently then doing mass time theft comes up with a nasty side effect; the time you spend planning trips or…

maybe. i think the types of environments that foster the culture of bullshit jobs are bereft of conscience (ymmv as far as how you react to that in your own job). additionally, many people within those environments feel that scrutiny or lack of job security even when they play by the rules. something i've been thinking about a lot lately is that i don't feel very bad being cynical about these kinds of systems when th…

I don't disagree with your idea at all, just with the approach. I think if you exist within an environment where you can still thrive leeching off of an ineffective organization, and you're okay with this because you understand that they view you as an expendable asset, then the right thing to do isn't to just keep doing that; the right thing to do is find a better spot to work.

All of this is easier said than done, and there's lots of reasons to stay put and half-ass a good thing while you can. I can't fault anyone for making that choice, and I don't even really view it as particularly malicious. Just not something I can do and simultaneously go home feeling good about my place in the world.

Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#12

Post by graybeardhacker »

evklein wrote: post #7

Something the author sorta neglects to mention is that this makes you feel like shit, if you have any sort of conscience at all. Corporations largely don't care about individuals, and so maybe you shouldn't care about loyalty to your employer, but if you pride yourself on a skill or being able to do your job competently then doing mass time theft comes up with a nasty side effect; the time you spend planning trips or…

Came here to say exactly this. Every interaction becomes a lie. I can bullshit with the best of them but doing it every day is not a path to satisfaction for me personally. Trying to do a side hustle at the same time only makes it worse.

Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#13

Post by heathrow83829 »

evklein wrote: post #7

Something the author sorta neglects to mention is that this makes you feel like shit, if you have any sort of conscience at all. Corporations largely don't care about individuals, and so maybe you shouldn't care about loyalty to your employer, but if you pride yourself on a skill or being able to do your job competently then doing mass time theft comes up with a nasty side effect; the time you spend planning trips or…

not at all. the author, said he was getting his obligations done and making his boss's life easier. that's a win for both the employee, the boss and the company.

why do you think it's morally acceptable for an employee to negotiate as toughly as possible for his/her salary but not for their time? It's all a negotiation process. the key thing is, he's meeting his agreed upon obligations. whether or not you do it efficiently (like him) or inefficiently wasting all your time is up to you.

Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#15

Post by dasil003 »

I get that working in the corporate world is often alienating, and also that one might have to accept a bullshit job in order to put food on the table, so on some level I say do what you gotta do.

But beyond that, man this is such a depressing way to live. I've worked a lot of jobs I don't like and put in varying degrees of effort based on how I feel about the people and the situation. But generally one value I live by is that if I'm paid to do something I'm going to try to do a good job at it. That doesn't mean burning myself out or going above and beyond for a boss or company that doesn't deserve it. But for my own integrity and self-worth I have to at least put in a baseline professional effort. If I can't stomach even doing that then it's a clear sign I need to be planning my exit, anything less is disrespectful to my basic self.

Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#16

Post by jakobnissen »

jbxntuehineoh wrote: post #10
tim-tday wrote: post #3

Congratulations you had a bullshit job, insufficient oversight and not enough personal and professional pride to do the work you were paid to do (a job is a promise, they promise to pay you and you promise to work. The fact that I have to say this kills me a little bit inside) You broke your promise and lied about it every day for a year. You proved that your career (that you presumably worked hard to build) was a fa…

> waaaahhhhh you broke your promise!! to your employer!! my current employer broke no fewer than two promises they had made to me within a few months of my starting there. they did this simply because they could: it was cheaper for them and they knew there was little I could do in response. so you'll forgive me if I don't give half a fuck about these people, and do as little work as i can get away with

When people treat you badly, you confront them. If they won't change behaviour and you don't have any recourse, you avoid them. You *don't* compromise your own morals, and you *absolutely* don't advocate cheating in general.

Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#17

Post by AbbeFaria »

If you have the self-awareness to realise that your job is BS and is deleterious to your well being the path of least resistance is to simply quit and find another job hopefully that is more relevant to what you’re skilled at.

All this chicanery to escape work would only eat at my conscience. I don’t believe for one moment that I should be emotionally attached to my employer but at the same time I am a professional and am paid to do a job. I should hold up my end of the bargain. Being deceitful 24X7, 365 days a year will eventually wear me out because there’s always the chance I will be found out. There’s also the reputational risk of being found BS’ing which is non-trivial and could ruin chances of future employment.

The path of least resistance is simply to quit.

Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#18

Post by sir0010010 »

tim-tday wrote: post #3

Congratulations you had a bullshit job, insufficient oversight and not enough personal and professional pride to do the work you were paid to do (a job is a promise, they promise to pay you and you promise to work. The fact that I have to say this kills me a little bit inside) You broke your promise and lied about it every day for a year. You proved that your career (that you presumably worked hard to build) was a fa…

> I’m glad you finally quit and I hope you never apply for or are offered a job again.

Never is a long time. Do you not think it's possible that this person could end up in a different environment and be very successful as an employee and be a great asset to her employer? Is there a reason you personally wouldn't want this to happen at any point in the future?

Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#19

Post by cindyllm »

tim-tday wrote: post #3

Congratulations you had a bullshit job, insufficient oversight and not enough personal and professional pride to do the work you were paid to do (a job is a promise, they promise to pay you and you promise to work. The fact that I have to say this kills me a little bit inside) You broke your promise and lied about it every day for a year. You proved that your career (that you presumably worked hard to build) was a fa…

[dead]

Re: I did no work for a year and no one noticed

#20

Post by hyperhello »

AbbeFaria wrote: post #17

If you have the self-awareness to realise that your job is BS and is deleterious to your well being the path of least resistance is to simply quit and find another job hopefully that is more relevant to what you’re skilled at. All this chicanery to escape work would only eat at my conscience. I don’t believe for one moment that I should be emotionally attached to my employer but at the same time I am a professional a…

The thing is that it’s not polar. You can actually take a wider view and learn to optimize for selfish reasons, and once you’ve figured out the program you can go back to what you’re most comfortable with having a new perspective on how to do your job more efficiently.
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