I’ve spent the past couple of years jokingly referring to this man as a modern-day Willy Wonka. I realize that even though I’ve always meant this comparison, I’ve never really understood the creeping dread I felt around his “eccentric” behavior. Now I do.
I think a lot of us have sat in stunned silence while this man’s careless actions have very visibly:
- Destabilized massive company stocks
- Effortlessly cost thousands of people their livelihoods
- Created uncertainty within a company that very much has a “too big to fail” vibe
Those things are in our face with article titles and expert opinions weighing in left and right. But I’m concerned about the invisible cost of these actions. The cost to #people and #mentalhealth.
We are knee-deep in end-of-year holidays. A time of travel, or not traveling. Of seeing family members we may have put off for months, if not years.
We’re also at the time of year where Seasonal Depression is the worst. Both personal and professional stress are at an all-time high. Budgets are being reworked across the board, not just at these huge companies but at dinner tables across the world.
And let’s be honest, we’re still not recovered from the COVID apocalypse we just lived through–are still living through.
And this is the time that Musk wants to force his fork in the road? When the entire world is looking at the tech industry with choppy breaths? Mind you, this is an industry we’ve been told is “safe.”
An industry an entire generation has been told to major in and pursue in order to catch that ever-elusive American dream.
#twitterlayoffs aren’t the only big, sweeping Ls in the industry right now. But Musk has done what he is “good” at and drawn so much attention to himself and the situation that it’s all anyone can talk about. He’s created a situation where his mess feels like a line in the sand.
#thegreatresignation feels like it was just a few minutes ago. Really, what even is time at this point? But here is a massive kaiju of a company trying to bully its indentured servants back into submission. These scare tactics aren’t new. We’ve seen them before–only the companies who pull them usually have enough guile to pull them behind closed doors. Musk doesn’t need guile. He thinks he’s untouchable and why shouldn’t he? The way our #societyandculture and #economy is structured reiterates to him every day that the only safety in business is led by dollar signs.
I hope he’s in for a rude awakening. I hope the market and the people from Twitter show him and the watching world that this kind of archaic business model is failing and will fall.
Let’s all remember what happened to the kids in Willy Wonka, y’all. Augustus Gloop is us. The Oompa-Loompas are us.
Let’s not drown in chocolate. Let’s do better. 📣
Originally posted, here on LinkedIn.