That’s kind of the trick. People who collected loads of capital then spent loads on developing an ecosystem of media, ‘academics,’ and political manipulation that has steadily chipped away at those unions, and the ideas and circumstances that make them possible. The glut of overpriced degrees with distorted prospects, the idea that schooling is for getting a job rather than advancing knowledge, the union busting activity, the system of HR, the mergers on top of mergers that build monopoly, all paid for by capitalists who already had more money than they could use.
‘Just quit’ is pithy, but misses out on the fact that survival without a job is not an easy prospect. It doesn’t even punish the management who are making their workplace awful. It all gets displaced onto the other employees and the company machinery. Hell, it can serve as a reward in some places. If they throw work at someone until they quit, the employee has been doing all that work until then, so no worries there, the work can be shoved off onto the other employees on the team, and most people aren’t going to quit over a small extra ask when the alternative is months of job searching with no unemployment. And for however long that manager can spin that out, they’re just adding to their bonus. And then, ironically, they can do exactly what you are talking about and quit, going over to the next company saying ‘look at this, I cut costs at my old job by XX%.’ and getting the job-switch payraise with a premium for doing things that harm their former team and employer.
That’s kind of the trick. People who collected loads of capital then spent loads on developing an ecosystem of media, ‘academics,’ and political manipulation that has steadily chipped away at those unions, and the ideas and circumstances that make them possible. The glut of overpriced degrees with distorted prospects, the idea that schooling is for getting a job rather than advancing knowledge, the union busting activity, the system of HR, the mergers on top of mergers that build monopoly, all paid for by capitalists who already had more money than they could use.
‘Just quit’ is pithy, but misses out on the fact that survival without a job is not an easy prospect. It doesn’t even punish the management who are making their workplace awful. It all gets displaced onto the other employees and the company machinery. Hell, it can serve as a reward in some places. If they throw work at someone until they quit, the employee has been doing all that work until then, so no worries there, the work can be shoved off onto the other employees on the team, and most people aren’t going to quit over a small extra ask when the alternative is months of job searching with no unemployment. And for however long that manager can spin that out, they’re just adding to their bonus. And then, ironically, they can do exactly what you are talking about and quit, going over to the next company saying ‘look at this, I cut costs at my old job by XX%.’ and getting the job-switch payraise with a premium for doing things that harm their former team and employer.