“It Was A Culture Of Fear”: People Over 50 Reveal What Work Culture Used To Look Like

Bored Panda got in touch with LightningStrikes818 and they were kind enough to answer some of our questions. Firstly, we were curious to learn why they asked this particular question to the internet. 

“It's a topic that I have had on my mind for a bit. I feel like young and old generations are clashing on a lot of things in general right now, whether in the workplace, politics, general cultural and social values, etc. I'm a 28-year-old man. As much as I can complain about things in the modern workplace, I didn't experience what work was like for people who are 50+ years old who started their careers and first jobs in a very different world. I feel like old people love to say how much easier younger people have it now and only complain while young people love to say how much easier older people had it and only complain about us!”

“The truth is I wish both generations actually talked to each other and could have more honest conversations with each other about their experiences at work. I feel like more common ground could be found than people realized. I loved reading the comments on my thread. It was truly fascinating and my question truly struck a nerve with a lot of Redditors. I'm glad I was able to give people who have been working way longer than me a voice, to be honest about what they've been through at work and how things have changed over time, for better and/or for worse,” he shared with Bored Panda. 

Given the nature of the question, we wanted to know what he thought about more modern workplaces. “I appreciate that the younger generation is raising the cultural voice of mental health in the workplace and work/life balance. I was in a career for the first 5 1/2 years of my professional life that was absolutely brutal. My work/life balance was horrible, to say the least, and I grew extremely depressed and burned out for a while in my mid-20s because of it. I only got out of that rut by finding a new job that I really like now that values me as a HUMAN rather than a number on a spreadsheet or a number of hours on a schedule. It's demoralizing and exhausting.”

“I also personally love the ability to work from home. That really changed my life for the better. I used to go into the office sometimes 7 days a week (yes, 7 at the worst). I had no energy to do anything else after doing this. I'm so thankful remote work has become normalized.”

“Lastly, from my personal experience, I feel like workplaces have become a little less tolerant of bosses/people in general who acted really horribly towards others. This is a problem that won't ever fully go away but I do think there's a little more accessibility to calling people out who blatantly harass, bully, and create hostile work environments. People are more highly aware of "toxic work environments" and won't put up with them nowadays - job hopping is more common than ever. People are demanding more and better from their employers, and I say good for them! If you're surrounded by a draining and poor work environment - it's best to leave. I've done it before and never regretted it, not once. It seems like employees have more of a voice now for their workplace concerns and more opportunities to find better out there. Job hopping is totally normalized.”

On the other hand, we were also interested to hear what he thought we could learn from workplaces of the past. “I think companies should read my thread, honestly. I saw comments about how careers used to mean you were supposed to stay at a job for years and years and develop your craft solely with them. That is not the case anymore. Companies need to ask themselves why employees are less willing to stay longer now. My personal experience with job hopping is that I often found I could get paid more by job hopping every 2 years in my old career path. That shouldn't be the case, but it is. It seems like in-company raises are underwhelming people and companies aren't giving enough other reasons for people to stay.”

“A big theme of the replies seemed to be that how much work we get done in a limited amount of time along with less resource waste along the way is hugely improved, but the wages and what we as a society get out of work has not kept up accordingly. Which is sad, in my opinion. Think of how much more work people would do if they actually felt financially, emotionally, and professionally fulfilled. Corporate greed killed optimism in the workplace, in my opinion.”