I need to exist; therefore, I am virtue-signaling
I get headaches from so much “virtue signaling.” It seems that even LinkedIn has become a favorable environment for that. But, of course, it is different from Facebook or Instagram, where the” signaling” happens differently and for various reasons. This is mainly about the dragon’s two heads. One belongs to the corporations/employers/recruiters, and the other is the employee/candidate.
Both ends converge on the same idea, that work is (or should be) something extraordinary, your second family, where you the job with passion, in which you pour your soul into, empathy, you become a team member, you continuously improve yourself, blah, blah, blah, etc. By the way, if we were to count how many times the word “team” appears on LinkedIn, in the articles people share, in the comments, etc., in one day … pfff, I think it would beat the number of searches for “sex” on Google.
Returning with our feet on the ground, especially when talking about large corporations or companies, everything is about making a profit. I might seem cynical to some, but I’m not. I’m just pragmatic. The corporations benefit from the employee’s work (x times as much as the costs, you replace x with the correct number), the employee goes home (relatively) to his wife, happy that he could provide food. Most of the time, it’s an exchange (contract) that is correct, so why does everyone hide behind so many fancy words, slogans, organizational culture, visions, values, and inclusions? If the employee does not like the place (the boss, the salary, the colleagues, the office, the coffee, the free fruits, etc.), he can go elsewhere. Likewise, if the company doesn’t like the employee for not spending four hours a day on schedule to prove their loyalty (or “team” membership, or to be grateful that they were “included”), they kindly ask them to do their job elsewhere.
I don’t think we need to waste our time, either as employers or as employees. Time is the most precious thing, if I may say so, that we have. It would be simpler if we each did our job and had civilized relationships without claiming anything else.
Yes, but in this case, quadrillions of human resources departments, employer branding specialists, consultants, and speakers of all kinds would starve to death. Then, we are going to talk about unemployment and how the labor market suddenly revitalizes. Globally, I would say, in my estimation.
This text is not a pamphlet; it’s just my opinion.