The early 2000s saw a boom in office and campus benefits for tech startups; companies filled their offices with games, skateboards, and assorted toys that wouldn’t be out of place in a game room or summer camp. Meals, snacks and craft beer on tap ensure that anything a person would have to leave the office for can be had on the spot. In the name of wellness and morale, some companies offer trivia nights, yoga classes, and sleeping booths.
The pandemic reminded workers that what’s new in the office is also available at home. If you really miss unlimited bags of SkinnyPop White Cheddar popcorn and a short break on the PlayStation, you can enjoy both without leaving home. Suddenly, things that seem nice because they are small dabs of delight in what might be a sterile work environment are relatively banal in the context of working from home.
The broader context is also important. We are still suffering from a pandemic; the war in Ukraine has made everyone more aware of the fragility of global stability; we are facing a possible recession. Most workers don’t have the option of leaving their jobs, but when the stakes are so high on all significant fronts, they’re less likely to trade their health, family time, and autonomy for superficial or fleeting rewards.
Workers are also demanding more from their employers and other institutions. They want inclusive workplaces where all races and genders are welcome. The pandemic has forced many of us to become caregivers, and school and daycare closures have placed a burden on families in unsustainable situations and have exposed the problems resulting from low wages, paltry labor policies in what regarding leave and lack of support for working parents and health care options. Immunocompromised people and people with disabilities are speaking out regarding what they need to thrive in a pandemic-era office. Employees are tired of being offered little perks to make up for big shortcomings in their well-being.
And that is really the point of these superficial and often infantilizing incentives: they are shiny things designed to divert attention from the ways that focusing on productivity and profits can be detrimental to workers. So when the company pats you on the shoulder and offers you a tote bag for your groceries or an occasional employee happy hour, it starts to feel like an insult.
Chinese finger traps Severance they are an apt metaphor for the culture of corporate perks. If you didn’t know the name of those children’s toys, you’ve probably seen them: they’re woven tubes, usually made of bamboo, and when you insert a finger into both ends and pull, the tube tightens up, preventing you from getting the fingers out. fingers. When you loosen the tube, the tension relaxes and you can do it. These traps are used as a metaphor in certain types of acceptance therapy, which conveys the idea that when you stop resisting a problem and accept it, its power over you decreases. In Severance, where fingercatchers are given out as rewards for the mysterious work of the big data refinement team, its meaning is self-evident: if you stop second-guessing the corporation and wrestling with your existential doubts, you’ll be free. In this sense, finger catchers are not just a toy, they are a kind of corporate indoctrination.
In the real world, the pandemic deprogrammed employees from some of this indoctrination. They are beginning to realize that toys are no longer an acceptable substitute for meaningful work, fair pay and adequate benefits.
Elizabeth Spiers (@espiers) is a writer and digital media strategist. She was editor-in-chief of The New York Observer and founding editor of Gawker.