I was just thinking…as much as capitalism tries to turn us into mindless machines void of need and emotion, a lot of our decision to stay at jobs we hate are strongly influenced by emotions and caring about others.
How many of you have held on to a job longer than you should have (or come in when you shouldn't have), especially in “team” roles, because you felt scared, guilty, and sympathetic about how your absence would affect your coworkers and customers/clients? Moreover, how many of you chose to keep pushing though BS because you knew management would use your absence to not only emotionally manipulate you but your coworkers as well with “X let us down; not being a team player; only looking out for themselves” rhetoric, knowing that a lot of us are programmed to blame the individual and not the system that contributes to poor staffing and excess labor in the first place? Bonus points for anyone who ironically only got enough emotional strength and mental clarity to leave a job following an emotional breakdown triggered by work stress and burnout.
It really brings a whole new meaning to “emotional labor.”
And the thing is, I don't think it's healthy to completely turn that humanity off. Working in an environment where no one cares about or looks out for each other is not good and sometimes even incentivizes workers going with the status quo.
There has to be a middle ground…