For the last year I’ve been working a regular 9 to 5 schedule (or, depending on how you look at it, a 7:30 to 7:30 schedule), going to an office every day, and the whole rat race. That’s something I haven’t done for nearly 30 years. One of the things that has jumped out at me is how grim the workplace has become. It’s not just that it’s Dilbertland although that’s part of it. Nobody smiles or laughs or appears to enjoy what they’re doing.
When I’m in a workplace on a regular basis it’s different. I crack wise. I tell jokes and stories. At first people react with a sort of guilty horror, secretly enjoying my lack of discretion and decorum. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I spread joy wherever I go but I do lighten the mood.
When did the workplace become so grim? It wasn’t like that when I started my working life (gasp!) a half century ago. And it wasn’t like that 30 years ago when I at least put in an appearance in conventional offices on a regular basis.
It seems to have happened in the last fifteen years for a lot of the people I know. By 2005 several of the companies I knew first or second hand had become very nasty towards employees. They went from reluctantly & regretfully firing people when absolutely necessary to being positively gleeful to fuck their employees in the ass. And they then salivate at the terror of the remaining employees.
Add to that the shitty economy of the last seven years, and people are fearful for themselves & their families. (Looks like my wife’s job isn’t going to be eliminated after all. That had us a wreck for several months.) People generally know that if they lose their current position the next one is going to be worse. And years & years of that sucks the joy out of people, and eventually even the idea that joy is possible.
Of course, that’s all anecdotal. But looking at the overall numbers I think it bears out.
(Example: I’ve got a friend who still works at the financial services company I worked for in the early 2000s. He has been absolutely miserable with his job since 2005. But he’s been there so long he’s planning in putting in two more years, then retiring at 55 and seeking employment elsewhere. He considers himself one of the lucky ones!)
This is not the general rule at the places where I work. The one place where it is absolutely true is where a big chain bought up the place. They found reasons to get rid of nearly all of the senior nurses (the ones being paid more), cut benefits, etc. They are so cheap they even managed to find syringes I have never seen before (pieces of crap). We will be leaving there soon.
If you look at the stats, people change jobs much more frequently now. Workers don’t know each other as well. The results of increasing productivity largely go to management and owners. We are just past a period when there were massive layoffs, which has to lead to uneasiness about future job security. I am not surprised that things aren’t as bright and happy as in the past.
Steve
In my experience such workplaces are the result of bad management and leadership. I’m fortunate that I’ve been with organizations that are not like what Dave describes.
“secretly enjoying my lack of disgression and decorum”
Funny that use of “disgression” in place of “discretion.”
Thanks for the correction. I must have been drifting off.