Has COVID caused "ERE" to go mainstream?

[Hristo Botev]

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/offic ... ket-newtab

Never actually heard the term "knowledge worker" before; seems a bit obnoxious and classist. So what do we call people who aren't "knowledge workers"--ignorant workers?

Regardless, this article raises some interesting issues to ponder.

1. As someone who is from one of these LCOL places that the New Yorkers and Californians suddenly think are so appealing, the anecdotal message I get from my friends/family that never left is: "We're full, thank you very much."

2. If "culture" derives at least in part from how a particular place makes a living--cowboys, farmers, coal workers, longshoremen, fishing, military, Hollywood, manufacturing, "Office Space" office workers, etc.--what kind of culture will we get when the people who live in a particular place can mostly be divided into (1) "knowledge workers" who work virtually at home for corporations and with colleagues located elsewhere, and (2) the non-"knowledge workers" who serve them?

3. This could potentially deal the death blow to localism generally.

4.

It’s unclear whether career downsizing will grow into a sustained movement.

If I had to guess, any "career downsizing" trends will be relatively short term, because I tend to think that once we figure out the new normal, we "knowledge workers" are not likely to give up our inclination to define ourselves by and seek affirmation from our careers; and when that's the most important thing we got going, that's where we're going to expend our time and energy.

5. But I wonder if this worker disbursement trend won't be more permanent, with mega-cities becoming less populous, but with the rest of the country more rapidly growing into one coast-to-coast suburban strip mall, where every place looks like every place else? (Again, no love for localism.)

[unemployable]

"Knowledge worker" dates back to at least the 1980s. Basically anyone in the office who's not entry level, shareholder class, or cost sink (HR/accounting/the lady who screws up your travel despite your giving her the exact flights).

None of your bullet points seem to be asking your original question. However, while the move to remote work should certainly facilitate ERE I don't think that's what's happening. Mostly people are moving to suburbs, and in general staying within easy driving distance of the physical office in case their presence is needed. Flying sucks for the most part, now more than ever. A few people have moved to "fun" places such as near beaches or mountains. None of these places were cheap to begin with. They're not moving to Akron or Jonesboro or Tulsa or whatever the cheapest places to live in the country are, not in abundance at least. But... that is certainly a much more viable option now than in the past.

The country started becoming a giant strip mall during the building of the Interstate highway system. I don't see anything that's not a simple continuation of a 60-year trend.

[2Birds1Stone]

Knowledge worker is a term I have heard used often since getting into the corporate world in 2014.

The fleeing of cities will reverse in due time. Once many of those same people get bored of going to the local Applebee's or Tractor Supply store for the 100th time and realize that their lives are meaningless/empty without the ability to buy distractions as easily.....

A lot of people got in over their heads too, my brother purchased a second home in the mountains with the intention to move, but had to change jobs which is keeping him in the city 2+ hours away. Now it's juggling rent AND a mortgage, and way more work than he realized. It sure seemed like a good idea when NYC was a zombie wasteland 12 months ago.

[Tyler9000]

I’ve heard “knowledge worker” plenty of times. I interpret it as the hipster version of “white collar” for Bay Area tech types who don’t want to be put into the same category as bankers, lawyers, and other people who wear ties to work.

Thanks for sharing the article. COVID certainly reinforced my own decision to eliminate unnecessary work, and anecdotally I’ve spoken to a few other former coworkers who recently voluntarily went part time themselves or are actively exploring early retirement. So yes, change is in the air.

There are lots of factors involved. But I do think that at least one was the phenomenon in 2020 of segregating every job by how “essential” it truly is. When you dedicate your entire life (with all of the stress and sacrifice that involves) to something that everyone agrees doesn’t make the list, that has a way of forcing you to reevaluate your priorities.

[Hristo Botev]

Maybe "knowledge worker" just isn't as much a thing in the legal world. If we have to distinguish folks, what's wrong with doing it based on what folks (historically) wore to do the job, as opposed to implying that everyone else doesn't use their brains or need any special knowledge to do their job. (Though, if we're talking about folks in the HR department . . . .)

But I do think that at least one was the phenomenon in 2020 of segregating every job by how “essential” it truly is. When you dedicate your entire life (with all of the stress and sacrifice that involves) to something that everyone agrees doesn’t make the list, that has a way of forcing you to reevaluate your priorities.

I definitely hear this. When they were saying lawyers were "essential workers," I knew instinctively that "they ain't talking about me"; turns out trademarks don't really need to be protected. Makes you wonder what the hell you're even doing.

Edit to correct typo

[Hristo Botev]

Personally, I've always liked "working class," because I think it puts office workers like me in my proper place; it's a well-earned badge of honor for the folks whose jobs actually are "essential." The rest of us are just moving papers around and making life generally miserable for ourselves and everyone around us.

Edit to correct typo

[unemployable]

The "essential workers" were basically people whose work product was non-optional in 21st-century society but which couldn't be automated or done remotely, no? Like you can't stock shelves over Zoom or hire a toilet-fixing robot.

[AxelHeyst]

Cal mostly uses the term knowledge worker to remind knowledge workers that their value is wholly contingent on their ability to use their brains at a high level, including structuring their own time because their employers don’t do it for them, which is a fact that many knowledge workers seem to have forgotten or never known. Many people who find his work are refreshed by the novel idea that if they focus and practice effective time management, they’ll do well. As far as I can tell, Cal has a very healthy level of respect and admiration for working class and others, and often uses anecdotes about how the working class has the decency to know they need to show up and work hard even if they don’t feel like it to motivate knowledge workers to not suck so hard. You’d probably actually like some of his stuff - he can be delightfully curmudgeonly about kids these days on his podcast.

[jacob]

It's a Peter Drucker invention, so bleeding edge management/business in the 1960s and by natural diffusion becoming mainstream since the 1990s. For example, the interweb was built by "knowledge workers". "Knowledge work" partially operates at the Create level of the CCCCCC scale. As such it requires managers who leave the [knowledge] worker to make autonomous decisions in solving whatever problems they're pointed at. This is much different from the Compute level of the "information worker" who moves data or paper around according to some fixed schedule. "Knowledge organizations" or later "learning organizations" (e.g. Peter Senge) also tend to have flat hierarchies driven by whoever is the most expert on a given problem. Also see yellow vmeme.

(Create is meant in a specific sense, specifically coming up with novel solutions to novel problems. E.g. I would not consider someone writing listicle farticles for a blog a knowledge worker because it's rather routine.)

It's conceivable that
1) While WFH knowledge workers realized that they were better off with even less management interference http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html
2) The practice in Create made it possible to reconsider their whole life and not just their job-life which had previously been separated from home-life once WFH forced these two together. "Knowledge workers" were uniquely capable of grasping the significance of this as one more creative problem to be solve. Not much different than the WL5->WL6 shift seen on the forum once lockdowns broke "comparative advantage".

I think both are important. In particular, it is indeed conceivable---although it sounds like hippie-talk---that this [lockdown] experience will drive at least some movement in overall consciousness from orange to yellow (cf the 1960s from blue/orange to green).

PS: I see nothing pretentious or highfalutin about knowledge work. It's mentally hard and exhausting in the same way that physical work can be so on the body---and it can be annoying how it's not recognized as "real work" just because you can't see it.

[Hristo Botev]

@AH: I didn't mean this to be a criticism of his use of the term knowledge worker; I suspected he hadn't coined the term, I just hadn't heard it before (and I think it's obnoxious). I think the article raises a lot of interesting issues about what is happening with the paper pushing workforce and what that workforce might look like in he near and more distant future. My own wife is making a similar move (from a 1.0 FTE to a .5 FTE), for many of the same reasons he mentions in the article. And when she's spoken with colleagues at other hospitals, through the various professional orgs she's on, the sentiment is almost unanimously the same (at least it is among those who are mothers). And I've seen a lot of the same thing anecdotally in the legal profession.

But if we are going to continue to define ourselves and find purpose in our careers, I have to think that this career downsize trend will not be permanent. And if we aren't going to define ourselves that way any more (as a trend), then what are we going to put on the throne in place of career? (Borrowing Kingsnorth's imagery: https://paulkingsnorth.substack.com/p/t ... f-the-rood)

[Lemur]

Good article and thanks for sharing.

This article is speaking to me. I just haven't had that final push yet to career downsize myself ... I'm almost there though. I am still grappling with what is stopping me but I did just recently put in applications myself for slightly lower paying jobs but hopefully better conditions, less stress and expectations, and less management BS. First time I've ever done that but only because I've achieved certain financial milestones. People who truly self-actualized and resigned did it without the financial backing I've .

Uniquely I feel like my employer recognized this knowledge worker gap trend and they've been accommodating a bit. Our culture is very up or out but they're not pushing the up so much lately. Never heard this before but they said "going for promotion" is "totally up to you." something I've never heard before but still don't 100% trust. I know business - and sorry for the cynicism. As soon as things normalize they will be right back to maximizing output and minimizing benefits as much as possible. On the non-cynical side, it is on the knowledge worker a bit to prove their knowledge. System is gonna system and accepting this reality has personally made it easier for me to think about I guess.

Generally this always leads me to believe that working class people should avoid conflicting with one another...blue collar, white collar, knowledge / no knowledge does not matter. We're all in the labor pool exhausting some form of energy. The categories are useful though for explaining concepts between the groups though. I will say though that the article touches on privilege a little bit and I found it to be true when discussing "The Great Resignation" with a blue-collar friend of mine or my generally poorer brother - their reactions boiled down to "ah must be nice" or some form of envy...they really haven't seen too much change themselves...just inflation.

There are only 2 real classes in this system...labor class or capitalist class. The latter own the means of production directly (through private business) or indirectly (through stocks, 401(k)). Paradoxically, most people are a ratio of one or the other by personal definition...for instance, if I am 50% of the way to my "FIRE #" then I'm 50% working class and 50% capitalist class. I became more of the latter class incidentally if I can reduce this requirement. By definition - through reduced consumption and better understanding of need / want.

I do enjoy reading about this potential paradigm shift in society. The COVID pandemic to me made me realize just how much slack a business has from roles that are completely pointless (David Graeber) to ones that can definitely be automated or dealt away with.

As a "knowledge worker" I definitely feel I've much more autonomy and power...my manager these days just checks in occasionally to ask "how is it going" and "well we received word that the client is happy so...keep doing what you're doing." At least the performance reviews have become a bit more objective but that doesn't stop certain people in the ladder from further exploitation - one needs to learn to set boundaries in a remote environment (it is very easy ...tempting even to be constantly plugged in) and if that is not possible then there is plenty of openings these days.

In a final analysis...I think the pandemic made a lot of labor realize they've more power then they thought they did. From either exploitation or just life choices in general. It made me think this whole concept of "work-life balance" is just silly...we've one thing and that is life. Better figure out how to maximize that because we only get one.

[7Wannabe5]

Where will the knowledge players live?

[jacob]

Between the gaps.

[WFJ]

Good article and thanks for sharing.

This article is speaking to me. I just haven't had that final push yet to career downsize myself ... I'm almost there though. I am still grappling with what is stopping me but I did just recently put in applications myself for slightly lower paying jobs but hopefully better conditions, less stress and expectations, and less management BS. First time I've ever done that but only because I've achieved certain financial milestones. People who truly self-actualized and resigned did it without the financial backing I've .

Be careful with attempting to "de-stress" with lower working responsibilities. In my experience, lower pay is correlated with worse employment treatment. The corporate world is full of these contradictions. Ask for a raise and better working conditions usually has a better outcome than "lying flat" in the US corporate world.

WFH and other employment trends will be determined by technological advances and changes in the economy, not the virus. WFH trends were accelerated by the virus, but were apparent in many fields far in advance of the virus. WFH tends to benefit those in specialized fields, those with analytical skills and those in the top 25% of their professions (where meetings and interactions with less talented colleagues is a drag on their personal achievements, but a cost to the organization).

Any "Work from Tulsa on Silicon Valley salary" will be short lived for more reasons than can be listed.

[ducknald_don]

@WFJ I've seen that with my own consulting clients. The more I charged them the nicer they were to me.

[Western Red Cedar]

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing @HB. I was a bit surprised to see Cal Newport was the author after I finished it.

But if we are going to continue to define ourselves and find purpose in our careers, I have to think that this career downsize trend will not be permanent. And if we aren't going to define ourselves that way any more (as a trend), then what are we going to put on the throne in place of career?

I see this as largely positive. The pandemic caused most of us to reassess our priorities and forced a Memento Mori reflection for many. I think it is important to find purpose in our careers, but defining ourselves by our careers is probably a bad idea.

---------

For those interested in the author's thoughts on FIRE: https://www.madfientist.com/cal-newport-interview/

[Hristo Botev]

Although I'm not typically prone to spend my time perusing the pages of Vox.com, this article https://www.vox.com/22621892/jobs-work- ... ket-newtab popped up in my news feed and its click-baity headline had its hoped-for effect with me. It's another interesting take on the whole "Great Resignation" trend. The "How Jobs Got Bad" section was particularly interesting, as was the brief discussion of "workism," and how COVID caused some folks to reconsider workism. Being Vox it not surprisingly concludes with a few top-down proposed fixes; though I wonder whether the writer accurately defined "the problem"--I'm not really sure. I think the author is suggesting that the sort-of mid-century idealized 9-5 factory or middle-management job that a stereotypical white male breadwinner might have had was some sort of ideal, and the problem is that this ideal job wasn't available to everyone, and now it doesn't really even exist at all, for several reasons. I tend to think that while maybe the "ideal" is/was better than what seems to be available now, to most everyone (including even that stereotypical white male breadwinner, who is now more likely to be slowly killing himself with "workism"), it's still probably not a natural way of living. I don't know what theme or tone the author meant to convey with her sub-headline: "What if paid work were no longer the centerprice of American life?" But for me, I read that and the headline ("The death of the job") and said "YEAH!!!".

To be fair, though, I spent more time writing this reply about the article then I actually spent reading the article.

[unemployable]

Everything old is new again. Cover from 22 November 1993 issue. Hey, that's the 30th anniversary of JFK!

[chenda]

Any "Work from Tulsa on Silicon Valley salary" will be short lived for more reasons than can be listed.

What leads you to think that ?

[white belt]

@Chenda

Well for one, the big tech companies have already started to tie remote worker compensation to the cost of living where an employee lives: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/05/how-sil ... r-pay.html

I suspect smaller companies will quickly follow suit once that becomes the industry norm.