this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2024
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Antiwork

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A community for those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life, want more information on anti-work ideas and want personal help with their own jobs/work-related struggles.

The new place for c/antiwork@lemmy.fmhy.ml

This server is no longer working, and we had to move.

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Subscribers: 2.1k

Date Created: June 21, 2023

Library copied from reddit:
The Anti-Work Library πŸ“š
Essential Reads

Start here! These are probably the most talked-about essays on the topic.

c/Antiwork Rules

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1. Server Main Rules

The main rules of the server will be enforced stringently. https://lemmy.world/

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Off topic comments that do not pertain to the post at hand may be removed if it is deemed they contribute nothing and/or foster hostility at users. This mostly applies to political and religious debate, but can be applied to other things at the mod’s discretion.

3. Post must have Antiwork/ Work Reform explicitly involved

Post must have Antiwork/Work Reform explicitly involved in some capacity. This can be talking about antiwork, work reform, laws, and ext.

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It is impossible to list every example or variation of the rules. It is also impossible to word everything perfectly. Players are expected to understand the intent of the rules and not attempt to "toe the line" or use loopholes to get around the intent of the rule.


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[–] NutWrench@lemmy.ml 57 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Having a work ethic is a fine thing. Just don't let sleazy employers take advantage of it, because you'll get nothing in return.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Providing labour for free is a clown exercise

[–] Klowner@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

Can confirm

[–] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 17 points 23 hours ago

Every damn job where I tried to do this did not end well for me. I got treated like absolute shit and the people who abused me were praised for their actions even when they got fired after I was for trying to do the same shit to other people. It brought only harm to me and did not even benefit my employers all that much.

This advice makes you an exploitable schmuck and they will do that simply because they can.

[–] Wirlocke@lemmy.blahaj.zone 47 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Repeatedly devalue workers through layoffs and never promoting

Workers give up trying to climb the corporate ladder and do the bare minimum

surprised pikachu

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 24 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They taught me this shit as a kid when my dad got laid off. "This quarter" thinking can have very long-term consequences.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 9 points 1 day ago

Nobody wants to work 🀑

[–] enbyecho@lemmy.world 22 points 1 day ago

I have a work ethic. My work ethic is to be paid fairly for my labor.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 18 points 1 day ago

That's a year old article by a bootlicker

[–] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

No, no, this is good advice, actually. I mean, it is a pain to go to the office twice, but flipping a switch only takes seconds, and you have the rest of the day to fuck around.

[–] knacht1@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I used to get paid four hours showup time to drive fourty five minuets in to the plant to push a reset button on a motor control station. Usually at two in the morning. Shift operators were not allowed to do this task as there may be a reason the the reset tripped. Drive back home, catch more sleep. Then show up for the regular shift at seven thirty..

[–] smeenz@lemmy.nz 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So get woken at 2am, leave home at 2.30, arrive back home at 4.15 (15 mins to get to the button and check things) , fall asleep if you're lucky by 5am, get woken by your alarm at 6 in the middle of REM sleep, shower, dress, leave at 6.45 for 7.30 arrival at work

I would be coming in late that day.

[–] knacht1@lemmy.world 3 points 23 hours ago

Often I did. 24/7 oncall made me a lot of cash. Sometimes I was the only one on the maintenance crew that was sober...

[–] GeeDubHayduke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 35 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This made me far more angry than your frying pan, just gotta say.

[–] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Aww I'm glad I stir your emotions sweet friend.

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[–] wfh@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

Lemme put my work ethic in the dishwasher first

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 40 points 1 day ago (3 children)

So you turn on the lights, get your coffee and read your newspaper/browse your phone until someone else is actually there.

Then you do the same thing once you are the only person left.

Congratulations. Flipping on and off lightswitches is the shittiest metric a company can seek and is evidence of bad management.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

It's stock-in-trade Boomerism. As though the social contract hadn't already been obliterated by parasitical corporations and rampant nepotism and Peter-Principled middle management.

To say nothing of the capability trap that most large corps are in, after a decade plus of finance junkying themselves into a hole, because free debt was more profitable than their actual business ventures.

Fuck these zombies. Let them implode- the way an actual free market demands.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 3 points 1 day ago

Boomers know this ain't sustainable but they only got 20 years left so they need this bitch to feed their retirement... Fuck every one else

Hence, why owners will cater to boomers needs some but mostly to fears in practice

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Congratulations. Flipping on and off lightswitches is the shittiest metric a company can seek and is evidence of bad management.

There's an economic i enjoy reading names Richard Wolfe who bemoans the capitalist mentality of counting towards on productivity.

You clock in and you count up the hours. You get on the factory floor and you count up the widgets you've made that day. You check your portfolio and count up all the money you've made.

There's no concept of an upper bound. No idea how much you actually need or benefit from. One more is always desirable.

But what if, instead of counting up, we counted down? Know we need 10 widgets every day, so we count down until they're finished. Know we need 10 tasks done so we count down until they're completed. Know we need $100 to pay our bills, so we count down until we've earned it. Then we go home and enjoy our lives, rather than grinding endlessly at the millstone to build a surplus nobody asked for.

Even if you are productive from the minute you walk in to the minute you leave... who does that even benefit? Are you doing anything genuinely useful or just doing bullshit jobs to look busy? Are you reducing the workload of your peers or creating extra work for other people?

Because in the latter case, you're not a hard worker. You're a ballooning expense. Everyone behaving like you would be a disaster for your employer and your community at large.

[–] CileTheSane@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 day ago

There's no concept of an upper bound. No idea how much you actually need or benefit from. One more is always desirable.

They expect infinite growth.

In biology they call that "cancer" and if not stopped it destroys the host system.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 day ago

Look, a company makes money by not giving you, the worker, the surplus the company made.

[–] deaf_fish@lemm.ee 5 points 1 day ago

Isn't this how Japan's work ethic started?

the only people who want to put in longer hours at the office have absolutely nothing to go home to.

they should be pitied instead of being vilified. drop them a "get well soon" message in social media should you encounter them.

[–] dutchkimble@lemy.lol 12 points 1 day ago

So, become the office janitor?

[–] bokherif@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago

Yes! Pretend that you feel like this but do your own thing man. Show up to work excited but only do what you’re paid for or what they deserve.

[–] Rooty@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So if the same person is opening and closing, what is everyone else doing? If you're going to saddle one employee with an important duty, you better have adequate compensation and opportunities.

[–] Flocklesscrow@lemm.ee 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

There should be one person doing those tasks for most companies - the owner- who retains a lion's share of the surplus value created by their workers.

Employees don't owe the business anything other than their contracted labor. We are just still suffering the inertia of class traitors in the enormous Baby Boomer cohort, who made the work their entire identity, and who frankly love the taste of boot.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 100 points 1 day ago (2 children)

"Should we promote Bob?"

"Hell no, he's the only one here who does any work! We need him right where he is!"

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Cries in Bob.

That said I'm a Bob who loves what I do and gets paid handsomely for it so que sera sera.

[–] booly@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 day ago

In a good organization (and this includes nonprofits and government agencies), there should be two paths to climb: a managerial track where you get responsibility for larger and larger units, and a technical/specialist track where you get entrusted with more and more difficult technical work.

For some roles, it's even common for specialized workers to make more money than the people who manage/supervise them.

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[–] Dkarma@lemmy.world 51 points 1 day ago (2 children)

This is not satire.

It's called being pigeon holed and that shit is real depending on your company. Some hard workers get promoted some just get more work.

[–] FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 40 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Indeed it is not.

I once worked at the new office of a company that just opened in the state, one of the first who was doing the job while the construction workers were still terminating wires and tacking up drywall. When a new supervisory position was created, all of my coworkers assumed I’d be the first one picked but I was told my experience and wisdom would be better served on the job and teaching new hires the ropes.

Didn’t take long before I stopped giving a shit about promotions and left for a different company soon after. Telling someone their hard work has been rewarded with more work and not more money for rent is a good way to drain the motivation right out of people you manage.

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[–] Stern@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

making yourself irreplaceable cuts both ways, sadly enough.

Totally worth it. You get the real raises from new jobs. If you were so irreplaceable, then they'd pay you for it.

Never accept a counter offer. They'll just keep you on long enough to find any replacement. The counter offer is just so they lose less money over the next few months.

[–] AI_toothbrush@lemmy.zip 8 points 1 day ago

You know thw thing is all the tales of really successful people arent about going to the office early and grinding down some stupid task a superior gave you but about following your dreams and putting effort into those. Quitting your job and taking out a loan to build a racecar or start helping people with pc repair or whatever your dream is, is better advice than putting any effort into something you hate. Its not work ethic but being a mindless slave.

[–] TheDemonBuer@lemmy.world 175 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Work ethic never went out of fashion. Many, many people work very hard everyday. Always have. Work is a part of life, always has been, always will be. It's the incentives that are the problem. Paying people just enough (or not enough, in many cases) to just keep their heads above water, for taking on more and more work, so that owners, investors, and executives can make ever increasing profits, just doesn't motivate people to work very hard. Much of the hard work in the current system is motivated by fear. That is not positive or sustainable.

[–] Norin@lemmy.world 106 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Hard work feels great when it benefits you, your community, folks you care about, or even just real people.

It feels fucking awful to work hard when the only people who will benefit are some rich assholes who exploit you.

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[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 73 points 1 day ago

I've learned to be the one to turn the lights off. It pisses the boss off but ensures everyone knows the shift is over

[–] Sc00ter@lemm.ee 77 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Shit when im the first one in, i leave the lights off. Then i get mad at the person who eventually turns them on. If i have to be in that early, i dont also want to be miserable from the bright lights

[–] FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world 50 points 1 day ago (4 children)

β€œWhy are you sitting here in the dark?”

Uhh, my computer is lit up and I can hear the damn fluorescent lights when I’m sitting there alone, piss off and let me drink my coffee in peace.

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[–] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 45 points 1 day ago

Fuck you. Pay me.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 9 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

Not just on the Americas side of the pond, apparently.

I'm applying for dozens and dozens of jobs right now in the UK, so I expect to get plenty of rejection emails, but today, Monday, two days before Christmas, 11 rejection emails so far, which is a record (I'm not upset, I am aware I will get far more rejections than interviews). Obviously people are working like crazy to get everything done right before Christmas, but I thought at least the UK was more relaxed on this stuff. You really couldn't wait until January to send out rejection emails? Gotta grind right up to Christmas?

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[–] cultsuperstar@lemmy.world 31 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Hahahaha talk about corporate propaganda. I feel sorry for the poor schlub that reads this and is like "yeah, I'm gonna do that".

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[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 69 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If I turned the office lights off at the end of my workday, it'll just annoy the people who are still working. πŸ€·πŸ»β€β™‚οΈ

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[–] TechnicallyColors@lemm.ee 62 points 1 day ago

If you pride yourself on being a hard worker just know that everyone else is in a group chat without you.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This article was published more than six months ago. Some information may no longer be accurate

Hehe.

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[–] letsgo2themall@lemmy.world 29 points 1 day ago (4 children)

I turn the lights on in the morning and make coffee. Because I'm the only one that knows how to make coffee that doesn't taste like dirty water. Has nothing to do with work ethic and everything to do with coffee.

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