Wage Slave Update

There was an interesting incident at my new wage slave consulting job. My boss was fired! I still have a job (for now).

My boss was the typical parasitic middle manager. He seemed to be playing the corporate politics game well. The most likely explanation is that my boss' boss has a friend who needs a job. My boss was removed to create an opening.

Usually, I don't get along well with parasites. However, my ex-boss didn't seem to mind that I was competent. He probably was too busy with other things to notice or feel threatened. Another explanation is that, even though he was a parasite, he wasn't skilled enough of a parasite to notice that I was competent and feel threatened. My direct coworkers have the "abused productive" personality type and I'm getting along fine with them.

My coworkers seem to live in a state of continuous fear. They are concerned that some powerful superior will object to something they do, and reprimand/fire them. Now, they're worried about the management change. Interestingly, the least skilled people are the ones most afraid.

I've been laid off enough times that it doesn't bother me. I'm a consultant/contractor, so a short-term assignment won't look bad on my resume. I figure I'll wait and see what happens. I won't have much better information until I see who's the new boss.

I did get some information from my coworkers. They are hiring someone externally, rather than promoting someone. Allegedly, the new boss will hire more people and double the size of the group. That was a red flag to me. The new boss might hire his friends, wait for them to learn the work, and then get rid of the current employees.

It is practically guaranteed that the new boss will be a parasite. I'll probably be forced to find a new wage slave job. I'll wait and see what happens. The economy is lousy now anyway.

Does this potential inefficiency matter? It really makes no difference if the risk reports my coworkers calculate are accurate or nonsense. They're really just evil fnords providing the illusion that someone is watching for problems.

The reality is that my employer has an explicit State-backed monopoly. I can't compete with them, other than creating an agorist financial system. If their risk reports are wrong, then they'll just get a bailout.

It was amusing to tell my pimp/headhunter about the incident. He said "Don't worry! As long as you're doing a good job, they'll keep you!" I'm no longer dumb enough to fall for that. It's irrelevant if I do good work or lousy work, because my corporate employer has an explicit State-backed monopoly. In fact, it might be dangerous to be very skilled, because people would feel threatened by you. Ironically, my coworkers are relatively unskilled parasites, so they don't notice me. A really skilled parasite with connections would work as a hedge fund manager, where he could steal millions/billions of dollars a year. My current coworkers only make their base salary and a small bonus. Bernard Madoff would not work for my current employer. The high level of bureaucracy and corporate controls would make it impossible for him to steal, other than his salary.

Yesterday, my boss' boss was asking everyone for a current resume! That's a sure sign of impending layoffs.

My boss' firing will probably lead to me and many of my coworkers losing their jobs. A replacement probably has already been picked, but won't be announced for a few weeks. If they announce the replacement right away, then it's be obvious "Current boss fired to make room for new guy!" If they wait, have the illusion of interviewing several people, and have a superficially fair search, then it won't look bad if they hire their friend as a replacement.

They have a State-backed monopoly. It makes absolutely no difference if they do a brilliant job or an incompetent job. I do the best job I can, because if I'm going to do something I might as well do my best. (I guess I'm still stupid that way. However, I agreed to work there and I should do my best as long as I'm there. Besides, making an Intranet PHP server is good experience.) Ultimately, it's irrelevant.

The trend looks bad, but I'll wait and see what happens. Maybe I'll be lucky and the replacement boss won't be a parasite or won't desire to eliminate me. I doubt it. Anyway, losing a job has happened enough times for me to not be concerned. My current wage slave job is decent, but not super-awesome. I'll wait and see, but I have low expectations.