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> "work on themselves", not as selves but as objectified means to sell in pursuit of ends, simply to eat, And on top of that the hypocrisy, when you are expect

> "work on themselves", not as selves but as objectified means to sell in pursuit of ends, simply to eat, And on top of that the hypocrisy, when you are expected to pretend that you like it, that it is the true meaning of your life. At one of my previous jobs, we had to set up some "self-improvement goals" every year. But obviously, it had to be something job-related. Not just generally job-related, but something closely related to the specific project you were currently working on, or some role you currently had, that kind of stuff. It drived me crazy, because I am usually the kind of person who talks a lot about self-improvement. The concept actually means a lot to me. But the aspects of my life where I feel that self-improvement would be most desirable, those are unrelated to my job. I would like to be a better person, to improve my skills, to find more meaning in life, to help others more, to spend more time with my friends, to do some of those things I always wanted to do because I am not getting any younger, to learn new things that are completely fucking unrelated to my daily job, and maybe even learn something completely different so that I could try a different kind of a job. But instead, someone was trying to gaslight me, to make me believe that the true meaning of "self-improvement" was to close tickets faster, or to become a manager, or that kind of stuff. I already spend a large part of my time working for the corporation, to pay my bills. If you need me, then pay me; and if you don't need me, then fire me. If you want me to become a better tool for your purposes, feel free to offer me more money, or reduce the amount of work so that I can spend a week or two studying the thing you want me to learn. But don't call if "self-improvement", if it means nothing to myself, other than becoming a better tool for your ends. Be honest, and call it "tool improvement", or maybe just "training". Sorry for the rant, but I really resent the implication that I am not "self-improving" if I focus on my personal life and goals.

nonrandomstring 5y ago
Ultimately anything a company does is for its own benefit. But there are shades. In some smaller firms you'll get to work on things that set you up for the long run, way after you leave. Those companies actually "invest in people". It happens in smaller industries where there's churn and the same people may come back as employees, customers or even employer/suppliers several times in the their life. Making and maintaining relations with good people is a canny investment. Dehumanisation of working relations, giant companies and globalism have driven that out. While the original form of the "corporation" was almost a mini welfare state, financialisation has actually turned that care into hostility. Today, especially in tech, companies not only want to control every thought and action, but to make sure you don't take any value beyond their door. This is evidenced by the rise of draconian employment "agreements" such as non-compete, non disclosure, no rival employment clauses, intellectual property land-grabs into your private life and personal data, and so on. These are cults that want to own you, make no mistake. This is actually another reason they eschew standards. Someone who learns open tools and protocols can migrate in their career. But if you can keep employees working with obscure, proprietary workflows, and keep changing them, then the dizzying torrent of make-work "re-training" means they will never gain enough independence to fly the nest.

nonrandomstring 5y ago

Ultimately anything a company does is for its own benefit. But there are shades. In some smaller firms you'll get to work on things that set you up for the long run, way after you leave. Those companies actually "invest in people". It happens in smaller industries where there's churn and the same people may come back as employees, customers or even employer/suppliers several times in the their life. Making and maintaining relations with good people is a canny investment. Dehumanisation of working relations, giant companies and globalism have driven that out. While the original form of the "corporation" was almost a mini welfare state, financialisation has actually turned that care into hostility. Today, especially in tech, companies not only want to control every thought and action, but to make sure you don't take any value beyond their door. This is evidenced by the rise of draconian employment "agreements" such as non-compete, non disclosure, no rival employment clauses, intellectual property land-grabs into your private life and personal data, and so on. These are cults that want to own you, make no mistake. This is actually another reason they eschew standards. Someone who learns open tools and protocols can migrate in their career. But if you can keep employees working with obscure, proprietary workflows, and keep changing them, then the dizzying torrent of make-work "re-training" means they will never gain enough independence to fly the nest.