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The way we work ain’t workin’, right? So far workforce resistance has been mostly passive. But what if it turns active … thus stinkbombing.
Let’s do a quick review.
Great Resignation
- I can day trade, speculate on crypto, gaming, drive an uber; I can downsize my lifestyle; I can retire or retire early; I can work somewhere else; I can consume less and work less (and crash at my parent’s house); My job is a bullshit job, etc.
Quiet Quitting
- “Quiet quitters” make up at least 50% of the U.S. workforce — probably more, Gallup finds.
Lazy Girl Jobs
- Meet The Latest Version Of Quiet Quitting: Lazy Girl Jobs (Forbes via TikTok ) [Note: this is not gender-specific, as men can have lazygirl jobs too.]
Lying Flat
- Not just the US. This is the Chinese version of opting out. ”Lying Flat: The Demise of the Chinese Workforce and Its Impact on the Chinese Economy” (Berkeley Economic Review ) opting out of the pursuit of traditional economic success and unrelenting hours.
I think workers are trying to tell us something, namely, the current approach to work is not working. A common element of all these forms is they are passive. It certainly isn’t unthinkable that this resistance moves from passive to active – to actively putting monkey wrenches in the works. My sense is that it hasn’t happened yet because we’re too afraid. In the US at least, the system is too cutthroat and losing your job, despite all its faults, is a really big problem. The different context of the pandemic showed us, in a strange way, that jobs are not the end-all, be-all. Work went to the backburner. Sure, there was a cost, but we managed to last for two years without our rise-n-grind work ethic in full force. Maybe there was some hope that things would be different, and then disappointment when they went right back to normal. One might argue that more is being asked of workers than ever. So, we have become increasingly irritated. Again, so far, mostly passive, but …
I thought of stinkbombing as the opening salvo or more active resistance. I’ve noticed the practice of workers lobbing complaints into conversations, meetings, or any work activity, but then being “too busy” to work on solutions. Show up at the endless zoom meeting, drop your stinkbomb, and then log off when it comes time to do the work. It deflates the group and effectively stalls any progress – that’s success in terms of resistance. I’m curious. What are ya’ll seeing in terms of more active workforce resistance? – Andy Hines.
Really nice compilation of trends Andy. Yes, I’m hearing about dissatisfied workers leaving “stinkbombs” on Tiktok, right after they quit. If you have a stinkbomb, you don’t want to be in the room when it goes off! It’s a one-and-done situation. No staying or going back.
There are also purpose-specific venues of complaint, such as Glassdoor.com.
But I feel that the real source of discontent is that such a large portion of the profits from productvity gains has gone to the investor class.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, net productivity rose 61.8% from 1979 to 2020, while the hourly pay of a typical worker grew only 17.5% (adjusted for inflation).
Spot on Jim! Thanks for adding in the examples.
It sure does look like greed, or maybe it’s more like uncaring, is going to drive the unraveling.
the vast majority of large companies (100+ employees) are run by people over 50. the Fortune 500 are run by people over 60. the nation is run by people over 70.
as the younger people become leaders they will change how organizations operate. this just seems like another generational struggle, exacerbated by a major shift toward automation and automation related to work. however, if the US pulls back from the global scene, or maybe i should write that as the US continues to reshape its global influence, expect industrial and manufacturing jobs to return to North America. this will enable younger people to structure businesses using their vision, and it will potentially lead to a resurgence of unions.
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