Rivian employee comments suggest morale issues

[Inkedsphynx]

I find it interesting how it's 'mostly' (sure, not all) the younger (Gen Z, Millennial - whatever they're called) generation who are quick to jump on social media to complain about work stress/mental health etc etc. just because things in life get a little tough and they're asked to do a bit of graft.

Jeez, talk about a generation of snowflakes who have been brought up in an easy world of quick likes', everything on demand and thinking that they can make easy money like all faddish folks they follow on social media.

Mental health/stress ... are you kidding me??? Just look at what our grandparents and parents did/built? I recall twenty-something's putting pieces of their buddies in bags after a roadside bomb blew up their patrol (again) and still they put their hand to serve. After leaving the Army I remember working 100hr+ weeks as a young analyst at an investment bank (along with loads of other young kids) because we believed in hard work and effort = reward.

Where is the resilience in today's younger generation? And many companies (esp. after Covid) are quick to pander to this because they are afraid of the social media/PR blow back.

Kids, its not hard - working down a coal mine is hard. This is life, sometimes it's just difficult.

While I don't disagree with some of the underlying truth to what you say (I'm an elder millenial), at the same time I think this is a really toxic perspective on mental health. Strong work ethic and a desire for strong mental health are not mutually exclusive.

For a long time, here and in other places, we employed children in factories and many other dangerous occupations (https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/a...stry grew in the,and in home-based industries) and I doubt you'd sit here and complain about 8 year olds not participating in the workforce.

Using the abuses of the past to justify the tortures of the future only prevents us from becoming a stronger and healthier society. The idea that you should just 'tough it out' in all situations when faced with adversity denies our individuality and the ways in which we all process and approach trauma, whether incidental or long-running.

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[Gerolsteiner]

While I don't disagree with some of the underlying truth to what you say (I'm an elder millenial), at the same time I think this is a really toxic perspective on mental health. Strong work ethic and a desire for strong mental health are not mutually exclusive.

For a long time, here and in other places, we employed children in factories and many other dangerous occupations (https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/article/history-of-child-labor-in-the-united-states-part-1.htm#:~:text=As industry grew in the,and in home-based industries) and I doubt you'd sit here and complain about 8 year olds not participating in the workforce.

Using the abuses of the past to justify the tortures of the future only prevents us from becoming a stronger and healthier society. The idea that you should just 'tough it out' in all situations when faced with adversity denies our individuality and the ways in which we all process and approach trauma, whether incidental or long-running.

Glad you wrote this. Was clicking on the last page of comments taking a deep breath like “ah, how do I phrase a sensible argument in favor of valuing mental health in the workplace” and found you did my work for me.

Also an elder millennial, fwiw. I’m very quick to burn the candle at both ends when a project has a hard deadline, board meeting, etc but as for habitual blurring of work-life boundaries, boiler room hustle and grind culture? Nah. That’s for people without kids, inner happiness, or both.

 

[messinator]

PS - Don't get my 35yo brother who works in private equity started on "kids these days." Completely different cultural expectations for what work should entail now vs even 10 years ago.

Chiming in on the above - as a zoomer myself I do think that there is a cultural shift. We're slowly entering a post-scarcity economy where our productivity is so high that there really is enough for everyone. The point of life isn't to work - I don't think there should be a cultural requirement to kill yourself at work (e.g. Japan) doing menial office bullshit. IB gets into the realm of "you should suffer because I had to when I was your level".

Sure, if you work harder you should see fruits of your labor. But this isn't Jamestown where idle hands will starve us all.

 

[Atlrivian]

Chiming in on the above - as a zoomer myself I do think that there is a cultural shift. We're slowly entering a post-scarcity economy where our productivity is so high that there really is enough for everyone. The point of life isn't to work - I don't think there should be a cultural requirement to kill yourself at work (e.g. Japan) doing menial office bullshit. IB gets into the realm of "you should suffer because I had to when I was your level".

Sure, if you work harder you should see fruits of your labor. But this isn't Jamestown where idle hands will starve us all.

This argument doesn't apply to medical training. Medical training is so many years (in my case 8 years post-college) because thats how long it takes to gain the textbook and experiential knowledge to take good care of patients.

Given the ever increasing quantity of data we are expected to incorporate into daily practice, it just isn't possible to decrease the relative proportion of hours worked in training by 20% and still put out good doctors.

An unpalatable alternative would be to lengthen medical training (this is being discussed by governing bodies). I already have friends who were past 35 when completing training. Couldn't imagine tacking on 2 extra years in the name of work life balance.

One last thought is that it is easy to argue for 30 hour work weeks when the most life or death decision you make is what zoom background to use. But 30 years from now, I want to rely on physicians who put in the time and effort, not a generation of people always looking for a way to do the bare minimum.

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