Hi all. Thought I'd put this idea out there. For context I've been in the full time workforce for 15 years, of which 11 have been as a manager of various types. I'm about as sceptical as anyone of our current hustle and work culture, where a lack of free time or healthy habits are seen as a flex.
However, when I read comments here of redditors doing the absolute bare minimum they can get away with, or even less than that, I often think they are actively harming someone else.
It could be a customer who really needs the service you directly provide or support others to provide; it could be your coworkers who now need to do your work for you. There is usually enough work to go around, so if you're not doing your fair share, someone else is probably doing it for you. Sometimes a lack of work also puts others at risk of physical harm. I recently had to advise someone who works for me that his lack of effort on a risk assessment was not efficiency, it was reckless disregard for others' safety.
I've encountered many, many coworkers who claim to be “efficient” while forcing others to pick up the slack. When people who work for me don't do their job, someone else ends up having to step in and work late – generally their peer.
The behaviours I'm describing are not antiwork. They are anti-colleague and anti-employee. They are the antithesis of organising as a labour force to better everyone's conditions.
To sum up: objecting to current work practices should not cause you to lower quality of life for other workers or put their welfare at risk.
Thoughts? Do you, personally, take into account the welfare of your colleagues when your decide what to do or not do in your job?