This just shows how utterly sickly job environments are nowadays, when lying and mindless self-promotion are considered “virtues…”
Yeah exactly. To be a “good employee”, you need to either harm yourself or just be a shitty person
At my last job, I fulfilled my contractual obligations as well as I could. That’s all I did. I did it as best as I could without wringing myself dry, I didn’t pull the social butterfly act to ingratiate myself with my colleagues for social leverage, I just minded my own business and tried being polite and friendly when someone wanted to interact with me.
I became an essential piece of the process without my wanting to do so, and then everyone started expecting me to work after hours and take on responsibilities which were not even related to my job (I was QA, had to pull PM duties more than I’d care to remember, and that was just a fragment of everything they expected I would do). Same pay, of course. I still don’t understand how the hell they didn’t see my resignation coming…
Edit: and, no, I didn’t even want a management position, as I’d had one before and it was heartbreaking - I told them both of these things, outright and repeatedly. I just wanted to test apps…
…nowadays…
Oooh boy. I hate to tell you this but as bad as it is now, it is also the best it has ever been.
Honestly, I kinda’ disagree with this. My first job was nowhere near this messed up, nor did anyone have such expectations.
Started off as QA in a large game producing company 13 years ago. This Agile bullshit was still half a decade away from being adopted as IT’s religion, we worked Waterfall. We had at least 2-3 days per build, a team of 20-30 people testing at once, and a couple of months per update. Procedures were clear, we had to pester management if anyone wanted overtime for whatever reason (and always had to justify it with concrete risks), nobody expected anyone else to kill themselves over the job. Hell, you didn’t even have to speak to anyone as long as you completed your tasks…
To add, every single project on which we worked received top ratings, users praised the stability and reliability, the company never had to internally boost app ratings for anything.
Edit: and this benefitted the Devs as well! They had so much time to work on figuring out bugs and to develop mind-bogglingly complex features which actually worked!
Hell, I remember being called over by one of the Devs, so that I would repro a nasty math logic bug with them and we could both work on figuring out the cause. My guy was patiently looking for flip-flops on the internet when I got there, and told me to chill, go grab a coffee, smoke a cig, because “this’ll be our task for the rest of the day.” Sat down with him after 30 minutes of chillin’, bug was fixed and the fix deployed to Staging within an hour and a half after that… No pressure, no stress, no anger, just two people calmly working on fixing a problem together.
I hear what you are saying but that’s not an example of a systemic degradation of corporate culture, that’s an example of one company vs others. I have been working since the mid-90’s and there are a lot of rules, processes and procedures that are now widely adopted by default across the industry. These rules were not always there and from conversations I had in my early years it used to be much worse in the 70s and 80s. Don’t get me started on how bad it was for women, queer folk and minorities.
Well, I saw that systemic degradation with my very eyes, in every company I’ve worked… Quit my first job because they reduced team sizes, started demanding more speed, and basically told us “you’re on your own.”
Same happened at my second job, a start-up. Then, at my third, these unhealthy dynamics were already present, then got even worse…
I find it very hard to change my opinion that things have been getting worse and worse and worse over time. Capitalism may not have changed in itself, but people’s approach sure has… Faster for less money, always. And with every iteration, the goalposts keep being moved farther and farther from anything sane…
I have come to learn that in corporate America trivial things like physical restraints, functionality, laws of nature, and honestly reality as a whole can be completely ignored. They love this mentality too!
What you actually accomplish and the feasibility of your goals are irrelevant, the only thing that matters is if you can blow enough smoke up the asses of those above you.
Truth and humility simply aren’t compatible with american style business which is why silicon valley conmen are so successful, they can fool the ignorant wealthy
Truth and humility simply aren’t compatible with american style business…
This is 100% correct. Unfortunately it often works against non-American companies. One of our clients is a very large European company and they drive me crazy sometimes. For example, when we help them with bids on projects we analyze the feasibility of the project while taking into consideration the ability to deliver at the time of delivery. Basically we determine if we will be able to deliver. Our client determines if they can deliver…as in today. Because they don’t have the resources necessary to deliver today, they are reluctant to bid because the truth is that they cannot deliver. Our response is always that it’s only something to worry about after they have won the bid, but they resist. So their competitor, a ruthless American collection of hustlers comes in, bids even though they have NO resources, win the bid and proceed to hire what they need to deliver…and they do.
To be clear, the European company was the better choice but potential clients want the warm and fussies. They want to feel that if they hire you, they will be taken care of. They DO NOT want to hear about your shortcomings or the challenges of the project. They are well aware. They want you to look them straight in the eyes and tell them “I’ve got this” so that weight can be off their shoilders.
“I’ve got this” today and “sorry we got a 6 month delay in your 2 month project” one week later. Very smart, big brains.
Profit.
Decency and capital don’t mix well
Work is more a play than an actual thing.
I have a friend (using the term loosely for an ex-colleague I am friendly with and have stayed in contact with for 20+ years) who has always said that his work is his entertainment. It is literally his fun.
I personally hate work, but I understand what they want to see from me so I provide it.
Definitely do not treat your boss the same way you treat your lover.
You’ll quickly see the truth when you have abusive parents.
In this world, its kill or be killed. Flowey was right.
No mercy to nazis.
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