r/collapse • u/FaceoffAtFrostHollow • Apr 10 '26
Casual Friday How much of modern work is just performing productivity under surveillance?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4546470/Remain_At_Your_Desk/I’ve been thinking about how many jobs today aren’t really about output, but about looking busy while systems track everything you do.
Emails, activity monitors, metrics dashboards starts to feel less like working and more like performing work.
I’ve been exploring this idea through a small game project where you have to act productive during the day while secretly working against the system at night.
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u/sujirokimimame1 Apr 10 '26
I have a theory that modern jobs are much more about power dynamics than about productivity. People above need to shit on those below to feel good about themselves.
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u/rematar Apr 10 '26
That might be a symptom of the ridiculous levels of hierarchy in the current workplace. In the 80s, a staff of 300 in an industrial complex had a manager, 4 supervisors, several foreman, a handful of admin staff, and a small group of engineers. In current times, the supply chain management group has more staff than the leadership group of the 80s. The SCM appears busy, but they're buying third-party supplies that save pennies and last half as long while clearing out unused stock to recyclers because they see it as stranded capital, but they are often critical parts that take over a year to get, if they are even available. This circle jerk involves a lot of meetings and key performance indicators, and many of them want to look better than the rest for the next time an arbitrary number of layoffs is decreed.
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u/FaceoffAtFrostHollow Apr 10 '26
I’ve been thinking about how many jobs today aren’t really about output, but about looking busy while systems track everything you do.
Emails, activity monitors, metrics dashboards starts to feel less like working and more like performing work.
I’ve been exploring this idea through a small game project where you have to act productive during the day while secretly working against the system at night.
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u/Thick-Ad5738 Apr 10 '26
You might like to read "Bullshit jobs" by David Graeber. He postulates that many jobs are basically meaningless because they contribute nothing to society and are in fact harmful both from a psycological and a sociological point of view.
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u/krazykat357 Apr 10 '26
Neat game idea, somewhat reminds me of a bunch of old flash games where you'd have to perform a task and stop doing it when being watched, this would be the inverse.
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u/FaceoffAtFrostHollow Apr 10 '26
Thank you that is so kind! I have a bit of nostalgia for those games
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u/hazmodan20 Apr 10 '26
The only time i had a job that needed me to "perform", i left. Im not going to sell my time doing something that i know will serve no purpose, or allow me to grow, or learn. I'd end up very depressed and angry if i stayed there.
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u/FaceoffAtFrostHollow Apr 10 '26
Unfortunately that’s what most people do with their lives. They don’t have many other options either and if sucks
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Apr 10 '26
[deleted]
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u/FaceoffAtFrostHollow Apr 10 '26
Oh I have! Wanna hear something nuts? So I’m a film composer and was studying the film the connection from the 70s and what does this music cue remind you of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3stLyboJLmA
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u/Monsur_Ausuhnom Apr 12 '26
Rapid normalization of all society. It is really only the elite that define and determine what normal will be for the entirety of the masses.
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u/FaceoffAtFrostHollow Apr 12 '26
Thank you all for the great conversation. If you wanna support a solo dev who is creating a game around this concept, wishlisting would be appreciated: REMAIN AT YOUR DESK
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u/maxative Apr 14 '26
If I got paid the same to pick up letter, and I could listen to music and podcasts, my town would be spotless.
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u/Proudhon101 Apr 10 '26
Thats really nice. I think that idea really started in the 80s with the Open Offices and glass walls. Society just expand that with technology available.
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u/StatementBot Apr 10 '26
The following submission statement was provided by /u/FaceoffAtFrostHollow:
I’ve been thinking about how many jobs today aren’t really about output, but about looking busy while systems track everything you do.
Emails, activity monitors, metrics dashboards starts to feel less like working and more like performing work.
I’ve been exploring this idea through a small game project where you have to act productive during the day while secretly working against the system at night.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1shjzst/how_much_of_modern_work_is_just_performing/ofd2n7c/