4 ms·

I'd shorten that to "Maybe it's time to admit corporations went too far pressuring the average worker". It took me a long time to realize it, but work/life bal

by twh270 4y ago

I'd shorten that to "Maybe it's time to admit corporations went too far pressuring the average worker". It took me a long time to realize it, but work/life balance in the U.S. is weighted far too heavily in favor of business, at the expense of the individual and their family and community.

BlargMcLarg 4y ago
It's not just the US. Without going into the nuances of the US, things like burnout are severely on the rise among the younger crowds all over the world despite some of them working as much or less than before in several countries. Most of these countries are adopting American office concepts. More statistics, more pressure, more management / talks with management, more "work family", tighter interviews, you name it. All stuff that pressures the Average Joe who just wants to make a living. For SE, the majority of these jobs are best described as "gluing APIs together", nowhere near the prestigious "you really gotta want it!" jobs they are sold as. Now add to that while SE does earn above average in all of these countries, it isn't so luxurious as a non-senior that you could pick your nose and live super comfortably no matter which city you live in. So the pressure got worse and both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are down. Add onto that a bunch of other societal problems. If anything, it's more surprising people aren't expecting half the populace to burn out at some point in life.
- outworlder 4y ago
  You start by arguing that it's not just the US, and then continue by saying that the rest of the world is adopting american practices, which is causing the issue. I'm confused.
  - BlargMcLarg 4y ago
    The former was referencing location, in that other western countries are already having the same problems. Partially due to adopting the latter culturally. However, American office culture is not the sole problem: a lot of people in EU wouldn't object to these office politics nearly as much if there was a luxurious total comp attached to it or an interesting job. They go through worse hoops just for those. That said, maybe it'd be more apt to say "Silicon Valley office culture".
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
PolygonSheep 4y ago
Is burnout a major problem in Asian countries which are famous for their long working hours? I'm thinking China's 9-9-6 system, Japanese salarymen, and South Korean gwarosa.

by twh270 4y ago

BlargMcLarg 4y ago

It's not just the US. Without going into the nuances of the US, things like burnout are severely on the rise among the younger crowds all over the world despite some of them working as much or less than before in several countries. Most of these countries are adopting American office concepts. More statistics, more pressure, more management / talks with management, more "work family", tighter interviews, you name it. All stuff that pressures the Average Joe who just wants to make a living. For SE, the majority of these jobs are best described as "gluing APIs together", nowhere near the prestigious "you really gotta want it!" jobs they are sold as. Now add to that while SE does earn above average in all of these countries, it isn't so luxurious as a non-senior that you could pick your nose and live super comfortably no matter which city you live in. So the pressure got worse and both intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are down. Add onto that a bunch of other societal problems. If anything, it's more surprising people aren't expecting half the populace to burn out at some point in life.

outworlder 4y ago
You start by arguing that it's not just the US, and then continue by saying that the rest of the world is adopting american practices, which is causing the issue. I'm confused.
- BlargMcLarg 4y ago
  The former was referencing location, in that other western countries are already having the same problems. Partially due to adopting the latter culturally. However, American office culture is not the sole problem: a lot of people in EU wouldn't object to these office politics nearly as much if there was a luxurious total comp attached to it or an interesting job. They go through worse hoops just for those. That said, maybe it'd be more apt to say "Silicon Valley office culture".
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

PolygonSheep 4y ago

Is burnout a major problem in Asian countries which are famous for their long working hours? I'm thinking China's 9-9-6 system, Japanese salarymen, and South Korean gwarosa.