The Cult-like Behavior of Corporate Jobs

Following a conversation I recently had with my spouse, we started wondering if corporations actually require cult-like behavior. That is, do workers trapped in a capitalist corporate job act like members of a cult?

We stumbled on this idea after discussing the many ways the corporations expect you to fall in-line for a job. You must dress in a suit or dress - expensive! - for interviews, and come with a resume in a certain format. You're expected to work the same hours as everyone else (for white-collar office work, typically 8am-5pm). You're expected to never take a day off except if you're lucky enough to have paid leave, and even then there is immense pressure to return to work as soon as possible, even if feeling sick.

There's many rules on the employees, but unless you have a union backing you, it's very hard to put such stipulations on the employer. And despite the huge amount of rules that make me feel sub-human, many other employees I've met at least avoid criticizing it, if not outright claim to enjoy it!

Are they lying? Are they in denial? Does the work environment indoctrinate you into some weird workaholic cult?

I found an interesting article on cults and how to avoid "unhealthy groups". The author essentially outlines a top ten list of signs that you are involved with a cult. Let's review those signs, and see if the work environment fits. I don't claim to represent every job below -- every workplace and boss is different -- but I am speaking from personal experience and experiences of my spouse, and friends and family.

1. The leader and group are always correct and anything the leader does can be justified.

This is pretty clearly true, as one's manager (or particularly the CEO) can do no wrong. Businessmen are just smart like that and know what's best. (I'm not even making that comment up, I've heard many people claim someone was smart solely because they were a manager or owned a business. In fact, my old university had promoted a businessman to run the university despite the fact that this particular guy had previously run six different failed businesses. Despite evidence to the contrary, he was still considered a very smart person until he messed up the university budget so badly that he was finally ousted, but not until after damage was done. There was a cult that insisted "running it like a business" was the best way to tackle the university's problems.)

2. Questions, suggestions, or critical inquiry are forbidden.

Again, questioning your boss is a great way to get yourself fired in most environments. But even if you make simple suggestions, often the answer I heard in the corporate environment was "Well it costs money to change so just do it the way we've always done it". There's a huge collective inertia to never question, never change direction, and simply keep working as we've always done it, regardless whether it makes sense or not anymore.

3. Members incessantly scramble with cramped schedules and activities full of largely meaningless work based on the leader’s agenda.

This one is amazingly true. From my experience, many jobs in the corporate world are "paper-pusher" type jobs -- people filing paperwork that is general meaningless other than to have a paper trail that makes the CEO or lawyers or whatever happy. While I understand some paperwork is necessary to comply with laws and be transparent to the public, firstly, much paperwork I saw was internally required and not due to any law, and, second, being required by law doesn't make it automatically meaningful either.

Life in a corporate job starts to quickly feel like such a long slog, every day you wake up and follow the same cramped, boring schedule. It psychologically drains you, making you more prone to just accepting it to get through it (questions will slow you down and cause trouble!).

It makes complete sense why cults tend to encourage non-stop work to prevent you from thinking too deeply. If you are always too busy or too exhausted, you're less likely to have the energy to challenge the system. We see this in politics pretty often, which is partly why I advocate for building a new system with the Greens rather than trying to keep up with every minutae of the major parties. They are purposely trying to exhaust grassroots movements, don't let them. Similarly, we need to be aware of our jobs doing this to us, and refuse as much pointless work as possible to focus on work that actually improves our lives.

4. Followers are meant to believe that they are never good enough.

Typically speaking, corporate jobs have a good way of putting into you that you are "trash". Between the big set of rules that control your work life (and sometimes your home life, depending on your job!), lack of raises, bonuses, or any other encouragement, it's easy to start thinking of yourself as just a lame cog in the wheel. Toss in that society immediately labels you a "bum" if you ask for anything outside of the typical checklist (such as requesting different work hours, or time off, or even a raise), and you find yourself feeling very down about yourself just for wanting a normal human life.

Again, that "business owners are superheroes" mentality seeps in here. You're not good enough because you don't own your own business, and you never will, is basically the attitude management tends to exude. It is a very much a feudal class-based hierarchy where some low-level workers are practically "untouchables".

5. Required dependency upon the leader and group for even the most basic problem-solving.

Fairly often have I run into simple "problems" where everyone in the office starts throwing their hands up, saying "Oh I don't know, I have to ask my manager". Not everything requires a manager, sometimes you just make a quick decision and it's over because it was not a serious problem and doesn't really matter, but many jobs drill into you that you should never think or ask questions and instead wait for a directive from management. When thinking and deciding might get you fired, most decide to wait, which of course holds up the work and meaningful progress while everyone waits for a decision.

6. Reporting on members for disobedient actions or thoughts is mandated and rewarded.

I don't know how often workers are rewarded, but certainly disobedience is to be reported. I once worked a teaching job where I was technically required to wear a tie. I HATE ties (it feels like it is choking me, it is a pointless expensive piece of clothing, sets up a class hierarchy in the classroom, etc.), and so I stopped wearing it. A few days later, my boss called me into a meeting to say that someone had seen me without a tie and told Human Resources that I wasn't wearing a tie. HR then contacted my boss and was told to talk to me about it.

I'm not sure why whoever that person was reported me. Perhaps a twinge of jealousy that he was suffering with a tie, when I wasn't? The corporate workplace focuses on punishing those that do no obey, and unfortunately many would rather punish than ask "Well, maybe NO ONE needs to wear a tie?". My students told me privately that they enjoyed the fact that I was more "down to earth", treated them as peers with respect and didn't dress fancy, and they wished other instructors did the same. Naturally my boss was not interested in that viewpoint when I tried to bring it up, only that HR required ties and I was in trouble.

Needless to say, I quit that job shortly afterward once I was able to secure other work. I knew I wasn't going to last long in that work environment. I know that many do not have luxury and are stuck in the job, however.

7. Monetary, sexual, or servile labor is expected to gain promotion.

All of these are possibilities. The typical person "worthy" of a promotion is painted as someone that works very hard, works overtime on weekends, and brings in more money to the company. Plus, higher positions typically require more expensive clothing -- rarely have I seen management not in a suit! -- and so spending money is also often a requirement of gaining promotion just as much as working hard and making money for the company.

While illegal, no doubt some management also settle for sexual favors. Not even for the sex itself, but for the feeling of power and control that goes with it.

8. The ‘outside’ world — often including family and friends — is presented as rife with impending catastrophe, evil, and temptations.

While stretching a little bit, I think this one can and does exist.

Firstly is the fear that the outside world is tough. I've heard managers that basically threaten that people will never find another job out in the world, the job market is too scary (especially right after the 2008 crash!), so might as well put up with this job despite being terrible. Some industries are smaller and more tight-knit (i.e., management of the companies all know each other and go golfing together), so I know of people that were threatened to be "black-balled" so they would never find a job in that industry again.

Secondly, family and friends can sometimes be labeled temptations. Think how often you are guilted or ordered to stay in the office on nights or weekends; saying you want to go home at a regular time (heaven forbid requesting time off to go home early!) to see your family is seen as "weak".

I once interviewed for a job that would have required me to travel regularly -- a few weeks a month! -- and for not even a very great salary. When I said I wanted to stay home and see my family, the men on the interview panel made faces and laughed, with one of them saying something to the effect of "Well I never see my daughter, but that's just how work is", sort of implying that it wasn't a good excuse, and that I was lazy for not accepting it too. Needless to say I was not offered the position, but I wasn't going to take it even if they did offer.

9. Recruitment of new members is designed to be purposefully upbeat and vague about the actual operations of the leader and group.

Getting Human Resources to tell you anything about the job before the interview or even on your first day of the job is often like pulling teeth. Lots of talk about it being a great company and great people and great benefits, but very little talk about what you'll actually be doing once you start working. Job ads these days are so vague as to be nearly worthless.

Plus, the interview might send you to lunch with the team, or some other nice event, as if the company will everyday pay for you and the team to get pizza for two hours. Nope, upbeat to lure you in, then it's the daily grind. I think this one does often apply to corporate positions.

10. Former members are shunned and perceived as hostile.

It depends a bit on your industry and manager, but people that leave jobs (especially if they leave to go to a competitor) are often treated as traitors and "black-balled" in the industry, making it difficult to find jobs ever again, as I mentioned earlier. This has happened to family members of mine in smaller specialized industries.

Conclusion

Having answered all of the questions, I think at least 8 or 9 strongly apply, and honestly, all 10 sound like they apply in at least some manner. So I'm going to call it that your typical white-collar office job very strongly resembles a cult trying to indoctrinate you. Which makes sense: the typical corporate job, to be able to turn maximum profit on you, has to ensure you will never leave the system and continue generating money for them even though it is a losing proposition for you. Almost by definition, the capitalist cannot make money without exploiting someone, without paying someone less than they are worth to generate a profit, and guess who that is? You. A cult mentality is required to get workers to accept the exploitation.

Keep that in mind next time you apply for a job. I don't want to join a cult, I want to do meaningful work for the community while retaining a personal identity and life. The Green philosophy is exactly that: people and planet over profits. We can create a better world. It is important that we reach out to our brothers and sisters stuck in this capitalist cult, educate and support them as much as possible. I believe part of the Green Party's role is to do that education and provide that vision for a better world.