The fastest growing community on Reddit is r/antiwork. To the idle observer and the ardent capitalist, this is validation that people are lazy, don’t want to work, and are just looking for handouts. In fact nothing could be further from the truth. The antiwork movement, similar to the lie flat movement, echoes over a century of collective bargaining movements. It is made up of exceptionally hard working people who have been taken advantage of for years and hit a breaking point.
It’s well known in human resource circles and among seasoned managers that, although people leave their jobs for a variety of reasons, there are a few that consistently top the list: their pay is too low to justify the amount of work, their bosses are abusive, the company doesn’t respect work/life boundaries, or there’s no opportunity for advancement. It’s a common enough anecdote that new hires get paid more than existing employees while current employees aren’t getting pay increases to keep up with the rising cost of living. Long time employees who have been consistently loyal are asked to work extra shifts or forgo vacations without extra pay. We’ve hit a critical mass of companies taking advantage of workers across society, exacerbated by the pandemic.
For the first time since perhaps the Pilgrims, the American dream has changed.
