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114 points domofutu | 5 comments | | HN request time: 0.538s | source
1. whatevsmate ◴[] No.44386949[source]
Tracks strongly with my perception of my own mental health during a sequence of bad jobs in big tech over the past decade and a half. Once a rumination started I would have zero awareness of near _anything_ else either in the room or on the computer. I'd go through some suffering while reliving a shitty experience or interaction in my head, and then feel extremely testy and frustrated with my work and colleagues. I often did nothing in a day and then smashed out a couple tickets at 4:45 before dragging my angry ass back to my family. Somehow this was still enough to get sterling performance reviews in that enshittification industry. Awful, just awful.

To anyone out there experiencing regular repeating ruminations over workplace bullshit, you are not alone. It might be the job, it might be your manager or colleagues, or it could very well be you, but it doesn't matter once you're losing days to that headspace - I would strongly advise you to just get out when you can.

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2. ElevenLathe ◴[] No.44387265[source]
I will add that in my opinion, white collar jobs increasingly /are/ this emotional labor. We don't need as many people to "do stuff" any more (at least not as part of our organizations directly -- it's mostly been outsourced to workers in the far east), but there is endless demand for people to "drive things forward". This is the case for management of course, but that's been their purpose since their position was invented some time in prehistory. Increasingly, this is also an explicit ask of workers, and some jobs are nearly-explicitly nothing but this (product/project/program managers, scrum masters, etc.), even at the IC level.

"Drive things forward" is shorthand for "stress about and take blame for". If you are being asked to "take ownership", you are being asked to earn your bread by conflating your own self worth with the success of some project, usually one whose success is mostly beyond your control. The paycheck is compensation for the sleepless nights and distant stare you affect with your family at the beach. This /is/ the job.

I think this dynamic will only get worse with AI tools doing more for organizations. Project managers are at least somewhat paid for their organization skills and executive function, even if they're mostly being paid for stress. If a machine can organize and coordinate, the only thing left for people to do is...have emotions, worry, absorb threats and abuse.

Another way to think about this is that the ownership class can probably find machine substitutes for most white collar labor, but these machines can't be motivated and managed in the ways that B schools have been teaching for 100 years. Yes, Claude can try to fix a bug, but you can't threaten it to squeeze more out of it. Alice has three kids and a mortgage. It's trivial to threaten Alice -- you don't even have to do it explicitly. If her productivity is enhanced with AI, and her bargaining position softened, this becomes even more attractive because the owners can pay her less to do more.

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3. dinosaurdynasty ◴[] No.44387665[source]
People definitely threaten AIs and find increased short term performance, they've been doing this for a while now.
4. tayo42 ◴[] No.44388064[source]
It's interesting this happens. I'm going through it now, and idk why. It's illogical. Feeling wronged by someone just irritates me and there's no recourse for it. Yeah leaving seems to be the only option, but idk if it's sustainable.
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5. whatevsmate ◴[] No.44388650[source]
I understand. When I came to the realization that my own brain was now operating against me I decided to head for the exits.

I assumed it was unlikely I’d be able to do the self-work needed while still suffering all the indignities of the employment.

It’s fucking hard work to dig out of that place mate but keep at it. You can and will get there.