Careerism vs Stockholm Syndrome

Originally posted by catfoodtim
I am ashamed to admit that when I first moved to Ireland I took a temporary job in a large call centre for a very big American IT company until I could find a job in my proper sector of work.

What interested me during my stay is that ...[text shortened]... he two?

Anyone know enough about Stockholm Syndrome to comment?

There are other possibilities. Perhaps you really didn't have enough work to do. Perhaps all the other employees were right and you were wrong. Perhaps the guy in the next cubicle was a regular human being and not a drone after all.

Originally posted by Delmer
There are other possibilities. Perhaps you really didn't have enough work to do. Perhaps all the other employees were right and you were wrong. Perhaps the guy in the next cubicle was a regular human being and not a drone after all.

Hi del. You sound like you are making only theories here, you might
want to consider the case where what he is saying may be true.
If you look at companies like IT consultancies, the people must
be more like ants, that is to say, treated like drones, than if you were
at a manufacturing plant with a real union where the management
team knows the worker class has some backup. In a situation
like he described, can you imagine there actually being a functional
union or even an ombudsman for the workers side? That kind of
company will form from basically one person getting some kind
of funding, then hiring staff who hires staff and you get a mindless
monolith where everyone is new, there is a lot of turnover because
the soldiers on the floor are surely getting minimum wages and so
considered by management as cattle. How could it be any other way
with such a set-up?
When the guys says "you don't have enough to do" it sounds like
he is saying "you are a whiner, if you don't like it, you can quit"
But can you imagine what the stress level must be like for the slob
on the floor in a situation like that whether the individual worker
realizes it or not, there will be a detrimental effect on a workers
wellbeing and health. I know that for a fact. I was in a job that, at
first, seemed lke a great place to be but later turned out to be the
worse job I ever had the misfortune to aquire. I have had blood
pressure readings before and since regularly in the 70/120 area
even though I am 63 but at that job, only 4 years ago, it was so
stressful my blood pressure shot up to 100/160 and I was on
blood pressure medicine. I didn't even know at the time it was
job related till I got (yeaaa!) laid off, actually had another job
lined up that turns out to be THE job of my career, by far better
than anyone I had before with maybe the exception of my days
on the Apollo moon shots in 69 and 70. Blood pressure back down
to my normal norm. Places like he described are killing machines.
They deride the employees in so many ways and so subtly it adds up
and you don't even know its there. So don't make snap judgements
ok?

Originally posted by sonhouse
Hi del. You sound like you are making only theories here, you might
want to consider the case where what he is saying may be true.
If you look at companies like IT consultancies, the people must
be more like ants, that is to say, treated like drones, than if you were
at a manufacturing plant with a real union where the management
team knows the worker ...[text shortened]... nd so subtly it adds up
and you don't even know its there. So don't make snap judgements
ok?

LOL! I just outlined some other possibilities, SH. Perhaps you know him well enough to know that my possibilities are not possible.

Originally posted by Delmer
There are other possibilities. Perhaps you really didn't have enough work to do. Perhaps all the other employees were right and you were wrong. Perhaps the guy in the next cubicle was a regular human being and not a drone after all.

LOL.....rec'ed......😵

Originally posted by catfoodtim
well you're right delmer... coming up with half-assed theories like this does kind of prove your point.

I think there's a grain of truth in what you said, tim, even so. Having worked in a call centre myself...cold calling people to tell them about the lovely prize they'd won (a free makeover!) and what they had to do to claim it (drive from your country home to London!) and what the catch was (you have to pay for the photos!)...people were being fired all the time for not making enough sales, but nobody ever quit of their own accord...because, I suspect, they, like me, were absolutely desperate for work. Very exploitable people (I was fired after a few weeks).