You should definitely try hard in your life and your work. Google is not your life, however, and you don't own your work for them. They only deserve the dedication they demonstrate towards others, which is none.

Still, kinda sad to be spend such a big portion of your time on earth doing something nobody gives a shit about, not even you.

Me, I’d sooner take a job where I’m contributing positively to society, even if I could make a bit more in adtech.

Don't think about the time you waste. Think about the time you actually can use.

Every surplus ounce of effort you put towards work is an ounce of effort you deprive your spouse, your children, and yourself.

Why would you do that to your family, all to help some shareholders who don’t give a rat’s ass about you?

Without work, you might find yourself deprived of a spouse and children, so you probably better try and run the rat race at least a bit faster than the slowest rat. Take it from a slow rat indeed.

Time, maybe, but not effort.

You're no good to your family as a zombie drained of all energy by work.

If anything, soul-crushing boredom is likely to achieve that more thoroughly than being engaged with your work.

YMMV but no, that's not how energy works for me. If I'm bored, I can take a nap. Literally just sit there in front of the computer with my eyes closed and fall asleep.

It might be surprising to many but there is a life outside of the office...

Yes but most people work at least eight hours a day each weekday (Monday through Friday) and it’s incredibly painful for those that don’t want to waste 40 hours a week of their life to have to deal with people that do the absolute bare minimum to get by at work.

If people don’t like the job they’re doing; they should quit and find something else to do.

> to have to deal with people that do the absolute bare minimum to get by at work.

Not my problem

We designed a system that's actively hostile to life and well being to profit the top 0.1%

No contract states you have to give your best, and there is no way for anyone to enforce that anyways

>We designed a system that's actively hostile to life and well being to profit the top 0.1%

And your proposed solution is to personally be actively hostile to the well being of those around you for your own benefit?

this is exactly what companies going through mass layoffs while distributing record dividends are doing.

And as they say, two wrongs always makes right.

If you want to be abused feel free to go ahead no one will stop you. I hope you're confident with your choices because death bed regrets don't sound like fun, especially when it comes to grinding for big brother

Behaving like a sheep won't change their behavior tho. What's the point of leaving only them the option to abuse?

One party is a multinational megacorp with billions of dollars and the other party is a worker. Whether the worker does a "wrong" or a "right" or is even exceptional at doing "right"s, their behavior will never invite more favor from the megacorp, as evidenced by the many layoffs at many megacorps over the last 4 years.

What is funny is that in my insides I'm 100% sure the type of people that spout that crap about "not my problem" and fuck their co-workers are the ones that would act the most dictator-like and dystopian-capitalists if given the chance. They just reveal their true way of thinking- the fact they chose "the worker" cause they have no power doesn't mean they wouldn't flip if they had power.

Imagine acting in the most anti-communal way while thinking you have a moral high ground and fuck the little guys around you because you think you're sticking it to the man.

I never said it was your problem. That was the whole point of my post. It’s a problem for people that don’t want to waste eight hours a day, that want those hours to be meaningful and work with other motivated people.

And that is 8 hours a day. 12 hours long shifts are extremely common around here, with only 1 weekend free in a month. Sure, office jobs are mostly 8 hours long, but the rest are 12 hours, and there is a LOT of those kind of jobs. Overtime hours are typically not paid either.

Why would you not want to do meaningful things instead of work for a huge corporation, even if you think you're "sticking it" to them? Why not give it your full effort and work with good people you respect?

Doing the bare minimum at work isn’t “not trying” in your life. It’s not even “not trying” at work. It’s just trying the agreed upon amount.

Thought experiment: tell the interviewer you “plan to do the bare minimum at work”.

If that harms your chance to be hired, that’s evidence that the status quo agreement isn’t that.

I tell the interviewer that "I will go above and beyond to fulfill my duties". For me "Above and beyond" means that I will try to show up for work and will at least pretend to be interested.

“Oh yes, we value work-life balance. We’re like a family here!”

Both parties lie in an interview. It’s a dance.

I often hear and also tell people “take vacation when you want, we will work around it. Don’t work on vacation.” That’s the bare minimum, no gold star for that. But also “working the weekends should be the exception, not the norm.”

This seems normal at most FANGs/big companies. People also have a lot of choice around when to come in, leave, and have a hybrid in office policy. Where are the lies?

As if companies were straight with you lol, they're experiencing their own poison

A job interview isn’t an exchange of true statements. It’s a game with each player having different goals. Whichever side you’re on, your goal is to win.

And as an interviewer, winning means not hiring the sort of person who's going to do the absolute bare minimum, because then you'd have to suffer through working with them.

Hiring someone who works competently and efficiently for eight hours a day could be better for the company than hiring someone who works twice as long but is not as competent or focused.

Of course!

My experience is people who have the attitude of doing the bare minimum do not have “works competently and efficiently for eight hours a day” as a target in mind when they say that.

For a lot of engineering work, competent and diligent for 30 hours per week could easily out-perform 40.

Yes and your goal also isn’t to hire a person who’s so ambitious and such a go-getter that they’ll hate your dysfunctional organization and leave super fast.