As the world recovers post-COVID (and a chain of other natural hazards and human madness) and we try to bring back a semblance of the ‘usual’ way of doing things, there has been much debate whether we should go back to the office or continue with remote work instead.
In this ongoing debate, the real unspeakable truth remains unsaid. Remote Work is Simply Work. Distributed work. In office work. Field work. Customer interfacing work. Clinic work. XYZ work. If work, as it was before, was so great … For the majority of folks … Then …
1. Job First Before Credibility, At Least For The Bosses.
And Trust First, for the rest of us. And Competence. And Integrity. Etc. Only for the rest of us.
Here is a video of Rishi Sunak’s first speech as a Prime Minister.
Sunak said “Trust is earned. And I will earn yours”. You are taking on the role of Prime Minister of the UK and not just any side job. The state and future of the country and the lives of millions of its citizens will be affected by your actions.
It is not a proving ground. The people should trust you already.
It matters not if you end up probably doing an amazing job; it cannot be simply purely a matter of faith. Can most of us just barge in swashbuckling in any big company proclaiming: “Give me the job first as a noob, and I will earn your trust after.” Even big companies have due diligence and vetting processes before appointing people at the top posts.
2. You Don’t Have To Be Competent To Get The Job
A few weeks ago, this video by Led By Donkeys of “MPs For Hire” caused quite a stir. Listen to the videos of ministers being interviewed:
For people of their supposed calibre, you would expect a degree of sophistication in their speech. But listen to them speak, this is how they speak. Too confident, too arrogant, so full of their so-called achievements. They can’t even get their Zooms right on the first try. If you are the HR manager interviewing them, even for a “low-level” job, would you hire them?
An insult to any dignity left in work. Junior staff, junior managers, tech folks, workers in retail, janitors, and the rest of us are subjected to orders of magnitude harsher standards.
3. You’re Just A Pawn In A Game
After laying off thousands and wiping off billions of dollars in market cap because of aggressive decisions by leadership to prove something and cover their incompetence, they are rewarded like this:
Google is just one of many examples, we are just highlighting them because they are one of the biggest and most prominent companies.
Do you really believe that the world cares that after laying off thousands, these people care about those who lose their jobs?
Do you really mean to say that there is no one else who can do this job for this amount? No one else in the whole world at half the price for a non-founder?
The real reason why we should be worried about remote work is the abusive, incompetent, unaccountable bosses that run countries and companies. Idiots are leading countries and companies and you should be worried.
The New Normal. Is. Simply. The Old Normal.
plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
This is our world today. Goodness, meritocracy, hard work, grace, love? – none of these matter anymore. These are just feel-good values that we use to fool ourselves. We’re all being played, used, and then disposed of. It doesn’t matter how good or honest you try to be in this world, in the end you’ll only be measured by the money you make. And if you are poor and left behind, you’re as good as dead.
