09 Aug This is total “buwahaha” evil laugh territory.
Photo by Rhett Wesley on Unsplash
I’ve warned many, many times on this blog and on my podcast: IMO, Corporate America wants you back butt-in-seat in the Digital Panopticon. If you haven’t figured that out yet, I dunno what to tell ya.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1125110/10708626
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1125110/10736331
And that’s just a small sampling!
Over the weekend, LI dropped some fresh new fun on us:
–https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/your-remote-employee-may-be-lying-5955306/
Jeez.
So in another attempt to push RTO, now the narrative has gone from Lord Elon telling us people can “pretend” to work elsewhere to “these people are thievin’ ya!”
The LI article references one from Business Insider:
“Scamming the boss: Some employees are outsourcing their jobs to other people. Here’s how companies are spotting the fraudsters,” which was published on August 3rd. (You can find it here: https://www.businessinsider.com/employee-fraud-how-companies-can-spot-employees-outsourcing-their-jobs-2022-8)
Am I saying that no one is doing this? No. Am I saying this scenario is totally impossible? No. Do I think everyone working remotely is a con artist? Also no. And I find it really galling that a handful of bad actors should be allowed to spoil the WFH situation for everyone. But hey: if Corpo America really wants ya back in the Cube Farm, they will use any and every justification for it.
Case in point:
“Data on people outsourcing their work is hard to come by, but anecdotal evidence from company execs suggests the practice is on the rise.”
–https://www.businessinsider.com/some-remote-workers-are-outsourcing-their-work-to-other-people-2022-8
Right, right, right.
So there’s actually not much data to support the assertion, but executives think it maybe might could be happening out there somewhere, so: git yer hind-end back in this cubicle, mmm’kay.
“Some observers say the fact that rogue employees are doing this could signify a bigger problem: This far into the remote-work revolution, employers do not have a good handle on managing their remote workforces.”
–https://www.businessinsider.com/some-remote-workers-are-outsourcing-their-work-to-other-people-2022-8
Yeeeah. Based on some anecdotal BS, we need to increase surveillance on those who refuse to RTO. Got it. Sounds totally legit. (Not.)
Under “Subtle Signs the Work is Being Outsourced” in the article, we get more anecdotal theorizing. And a lot of it, IMO, boils down to: if this person isn’t moving at the speed of light to please the feudal lords, they might be outsourcing the work. Oh the horrors. Because how dare you reject hustle culture. How dare you!
There will always be people who wish to game the system. And for the record, I have been quite clear that I do not believe that trying to game the system is a cogent recession survival plan. Everyone consuming Quiet Quitting content should be careful not to take that too far. In the follow-up episode I recorded, Quiet Quitting, Part 2, I talked about my friend who tried to quiet quit right after the Dot Com Bust because she didn’t want to go out on the job market. She hated her job but didn’t want to look, so she figured she could game the system. And it reached a point of critical mass where she was doing nothing productive. She was caught, of course, and was fired for it. I don’t want that to be you! If you’re stuck in a job you don’t really like but you need the salary and benefits, I get it. I can’t give you advice, but if it were me, I’d want to be super careful not to quiet quit to the point of nothingness.
A few slick people who try to game the system should not be used as justification to demand that everyone go back to an office. People running an angle = not new! Fortunately, this person gets it:
Pretending that people outsourcing their work is either a brand new phenomenon OR that it has become some giant epidemic is reaching into evil villain laugh territory for me. Can’t you just imagine Mr. Burns gleefully rubbing his hands together in impish delight?
***
For exclusive content you won’t find here, become a Patreon Patron!
No Comments