Do young people pretend to love work?
A New York Times piece by Erin Griffith posed a theory, in which a desire for success turns into the pursuit of a never-ending cycle. ‘Hustle Culture’ as it’s known, creates a scenario where work never ends. Further complicating things, a fusing of employee’s identities to their employers via social media.
The New York Times piece reads in part:
Welcome to hustle culture. It is obsessed with striving, relentlessly positive, devoid of humor, and — once you notice it — impossible to escape. ‘Rise and Grind’ is both the theme of a Nike ad campaign and the title of a book by a ‘Shark Tank’ shark. New media upstarts like the Hustle, which produces a popular business newsletter and conference series, and One37pm, a content company created by the patron saint of hustling, Gary Vaynerchuk, glorify ambition not as a means to an end, but as a lifestyle.
The piece continues, pointing to the blurring of lines between personal and professional:
Ryan Harwood, the chief executive of One37pm’s parent company, told me that the site’s content is aimed at a younger generation of people who are seeking permission to follow their dreams. “They want to know how to own their moment, at any given moment,” he said.
“Owning one’s moment” is a clever way to rebrand “surviving the rat race.” In the new work culture, enduring or even merely liking one’s job is not enough. Workers should love what they do, and then promote that love on social media, thus fusing their identities to that of their employers. Why else would LinkedIn build its own version of Snapchat Stories?
Read the New York Times piece by clicking here.
Discussing this story and topic – Josh Durso sat down with Maria Coleman. She works in the marketing space; and is involved in community theater throughout the region and state. Watch their discussion below on this week’s Sunday Conversation, or listen to the podcast in the player above.
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