I found this to be true too. 16 years old minimum wage supermarket job: had to work every second of the shift and was micromanaged to hell.
Now a professional engineer earning almost 10 times minimum wage and I have to pace myself so that I don’t run out of work during the 3 days I’m in the office, followed by 2 days WFH where I rarely have any work left to do.
You’re not paid for how hard you work, you’re paid for how hard you are to replace.
Only if your bosses are careful, and most aren’t.
True. If you get yourself an interesting skill set, either your employer will pay accordingly or you won’t have difficulty finding one that does.
“Act your wage” is just a poor excuse to normalize laziness.
In theory, yes.
I’ve painted myself into a corner with the skills I’ve acquired. The job isnt common so the few of us in these roles have to leave completely in order for a vacancy to open up.
In theory I have transferable skills, but in a job that’s more common there will be more people with those exact skills competing for those roles. So by comparison, I become a risky hire in a sea of perfectly qualified candidates.
You’d think this means my “lucrative skills” are fairly compensated, but I assure you they are not. If I don’t get a raise and I complain, they remind me that I can leave if I’m not happy.
It’s in my nature to work hard regardless of my salary or working conditions, so I’ll never “quiet quit” or “act my wage”, but I understand why a lot of people do.
True. If you get yourself an interesting skill set, either your employer will pay accordingly or you won’t have difficulty finding one that does.
The entire video game industry would love a word.
I’d argue that the skills required to work in the videogame industry are easily repurposed for other IT or creative jobs.
Act your wage.
Take your exployer as an example. They want to get the most return for the least investment. This is “good business.”
You just want to do “good business” for yourself. Since your return (wage) is essentially fixed by what the company is willing to pay you, the only way for you to maximize the equation for yourself is to work as little as possible.
Seriously, nobody gives a damn how hard you work. Just be extra clear about what people want, what they actually notice, what you can do to get that done and what makes sense for you to do.
I learned that the hard way when I worked my ass off and nobody noticed but even worse thought I was arrogant and whatnot.
Nobody givea a damn about how hard you work especially if you make mistakes.
Yes. You either be a hard worker and you get exploited by an increasing workload without an increase in pay. Or you do exactly what you are paid for and no more.
That’s why I do only what I deem necessary or interesting.
