Welcome back to weekend coffee chats, where we discuss different topics from life as a young professional in corporate all the way to businesses, social media, books, and coffee. We ask questions and dive to learn, so grab your favorite beverage and join us.
This week let’s talk about the dreaded elephant in the room, the workplace. We’ve all tried to relax and enjoy our year-end time-off, and reflect on ways to better our lives and existence in the coming year or years. However, one big elephant we aren’t talking about is our jobs or the workplace. You might’ve been hearing from friends and/or family about how the workplace has been changing in the past few years and how it’s gotten worse during corona. (or you might be suffering from it yourself) Regardless of the industry or role, the constant I’ve been hearing about is stress, unrealistic deadlines and workload, and underpayment and/or cost reductions. Long gone are the days of working a 9-5 and feeling secure in a yearly salary then going home to live a little. Now you constantly hear about people overworking, being burnout and still fearing for their economic security. It really gets you thinking what the hell has happened? Why does it keep on getting worse?
Now I’m a fellow complainer, so if you’re looking for solid answers here, you won’t find any. Speculation on the other hand or “scientific guessing” that we can try. Companies’ massive cost-cutting could probably be traced back to the 2008 financial crisis, and it seems that since some companies survived, the lasting trauma is when in crisis or doubt of crisis then cut costs. (their paradigm not mine) You see this in people being let go off, even if they’re doing great and adding value, or in overworking people and keeping their pay constant even though the extra work should be compensated with extra pay. People needed jobs though and this artificial shortage of jobs created psychological attachments to said found jobs in fear they can easily go away. So employees worked hard and complained less.
Now I know what you’re thinking, now come the so-called “great resignation” that’s been ongoing for the past few months in the US. Yes and no. See this is still ongoing mainly in the US, and only time will tell whether it can help reduce the artificial shortage of jobs. While now it’s obvious companies need more people, more than they are willing to hire basically. It is though a hopeful effort since things are truly getting out of hand, the issue though is that’s a phenomenon not seen in other countries, yet. Especially in countries where no financial support was given during the pandemic, workers found themselves accepting more work for the same or less pay, in fear of losing their jobs completely. In case you didn’t know, many countries had companies where people were working for 70% of their pay, (Whether the same work amount or less was there, depending on each specific case) The restaurants were severely affected were servers and cooks were doing the same work if not more to cover for ill colleagues or short staffing, and had to deal with these pay cuts on top of that. It’s frustrating, to say the least.
The song to this though has been, companies need to do what they need to, in order to survive. The problem is that companies are surviving but individuals are left on their own, and that cannot be right. This could be a post on its own, so back to the office jobs, the workplace turning into a black hole what do we do about it?
Well, I think first we need to admit that there’s a problem, yes it’s cliche, but no change can happen if we all keep this grand illusion that things will “eventually” go back to normal. We’ve just entered the 3rd year of this madness and throwing all issues under the blanket “it’s because of the virus” is not truthful. Yes, the virus has some long lasting damage, anyone who survived the damage of the 2008 financial crisis, knows that things didn’t get better in one or two years, it took many many years for households and individuals to stand on their feet again, and some sadly permanently collapsed. So, we have a problem, and it’s in our best interest to think about solutions and start pushing for them than have some half-cooked PowerPoint slides shoved down our throat. Now no I’m not blaming workers, I’m one as well, and we are holding the fort the best we can. The BS you hear about you can create change, is BS as we all know it comes down to “if you don’t like it here, then leave”. But maybe that’s the solution after all? I know that’s the last any of us wants to hear, we want to make things better, not harder for ourselves and our families. But the great resignation could be the solution after all, not a problem.
But leave to where? Many companies have the same issues, just with a different logo. I ask myself and my friends that a lot and I’d like to ask you, my smart reader, what do you think we can do? I think the more we talk openly and discuss this, the sooner we can find a decent solution, for us at least.
To leave you on a less negative note than we’ve started, I’ve squeezed my mind for some ideas to get the ball going:
- try to head for online solutions such as youtubers, tiktokers, podcast hosts, or such. Many of them are hiring and if there’s one you like that are not, you can still reach out to them. (Ali Abdal and Matt D’avella are few of the great ones) If you already have experience you can leverage that, if not then what seems to be in constant request is editing and design (photoshop or such tools for thumbnails and/or arts) Surely don’t stalk or nag your way, approach them as you’d approach a normal company in terms of respect but prepare something that adds value to them without being asked (like Gary Vee says basically)
- I know what you are thinking where the hell do I start? just google youtubers hiring or keep an eye on the videos of growing youtubers, they’d mention it usually in their videos directly.
- Where to learn? online. There’s a ton of resources to learn editing and design that already probably 2 or 3 brand names popped to your mind and for free trials
- post or search on twitter for opportunities in better companies and hear the feedback of people already there, some love to gush about their companies
- ask people/ friends/ acquaintances in real life for feedback about their workplaces and experience and how they’ve previously navigated tough times (you can learn a lot from listening to others)
- i’ve found this interview with Jordan Peterson very helpful, if you do end up having to look for a new job and I think not only is it helpful, but it gives us enough action and backup that takes away some of the uncertainty of what we’re going through. The whole interview is great, but if you only need that part then skip to minutes (8-14) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uLDin9A9pc&t=3053s&ab_channel=TheDiaryOfACEO
- I’m currently reading “becoming – Michelle Obama” and not only is the book fantastic, there’s a part specifically about being young and not enjoying your current career and how she herself moved to another industry. I’d recommend reading it, but seems the method she’s used is talking to people and openly asking them for advice about moving to a different industry which lead her to eventually meet people whom done the exact thing, and eventually interviewing with one of them.
- if you’re a manager though in these times, you need to start advocating for change. Plain and simple
I know the above sounds like a sponsored post, but it isn’t (I wish, YouTubers can we make something happen? just kidding, not really, ok bye). But truly it looks grim for companies and workers in them(including us in the long term of approx. 10 years), and it seems small online businesses are the ones now thriving and providing opportunities. (if you have a different experience though do let us know in the comments).
Anywho, that’s it for now, I’ll get back to you all if I come up with well-thought ideas, but know in the meantime it does suck, and you are not alone, and we’ll end up figuring this BS out. (just open TikTok and search millennial remote work or something and you’ll see, have a good laugh, and then maybe even a good cry)
Let me know in the comments what you think, as I love to hear from you all!
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Disclaimer: None of this information is to be used as advice, it’s just for entertainment purposes. Additionally, all information used is publicly available.
Weekend Coffee Chats 