Honestly you'd think employers would get a clue sometimes, but they want their fearless, selfless workers who put on a gritty smile and make it happen at their own expense. Hello? An employee isn't paid to go the extra mile. You want work done, you pay for it. The great majority of employment ads out there require a free ride on the employer's behalf. They require that employees "care" about the work, which is another way of saying that they will only hire people who will do more work than they are paid for. They'll work at home, on weekends, gotta get that deadline or ... or what? They'll get fired? Probably. So in other words, you can get laid off from work simply because you didn't do more than they pay you for.
Take the analogy of a mill wheel. You feed the horse, and the horse walks around the track turning the mill wheel. But what happens if horses cost no money? Maybe you don't have to feed the horse as much: or maybe you can goad it into working harder, without feeding it enough! Sure the horse'll die, but that's not your problem: you're just a businessman and you can get other horses for free.
Gaining new employees is a cost-free endeavor. We're not slaves; we can't be bought. The only thing we have of value is the work we do. Our mere presence, unlike livestock, costs the employers little to nothing. The corporate world lies to think that we should invest some sort of personal importance to our job, as if the company were a "family" (families don't casually eject their members) as if the boss were your "friend" (friends don't judge each other) and as if you actually "cared" (worked overtime, 50 hour work weeks, required to keep cell phone on even in the bathtub) about the work.
I care about the work I do, and I will work to my greatest extent, within the guidelines I am compensated for. I will not however chase after the carrot of shallow sentimentiality that companies try to hoist off in their employment advertisments. They want "go-getters" but there's this thing called Newton's law that says things only go if you push them. They want "self-starters" but I got a little news for you: it's called Thermodynamics. The only thing that starts itself is failure. Everything else requires this almost forgotten commodity known as energy. Money. Food. A heated office. Benefits. Insurance. Given enough motivation from my superiors, I'll self-start anything. ;D
Starling Who's disgusted with employment ads right now...
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