The Aussie Corporate is a very serious meme establishment which is covering all corners here. Not only do they have an Instagram account with nearly 58k followers, they have Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and LinkedIn accounts as well as a website where they share the realities of being a white-collared worker in Australia.
On the website, The Aussie Corporate tells their story of origin and it turns out that they started during the scary times of the good ol’ pandemic, “Forged from the fires of resentment whilst working from home during the COVID pandemic, the Aussie Corporate started out as a humble meme page but has transformed into a community of so much more.”
When Bored Panda got in touch with the creator of the page, they added, "We started this page during COVID as we saw a lot of great finmeme/lawmeme content from the US but nothing really hit home for us as Aussie professionals."
Like every serious company, the meme page defines their vision on their page as well: “Our vision is that The Aussie Corporate will be a platform for Aussie Corporates run by Aussie Corporates, with the aim of bringing you community-driven insights, news and gossip to equip you for your climb and grind up the corporate ladder.”
While the Instagram page seems just like a collection of themed memes, it’s actually a community where people come to not only make fun of their jobs that they don’t necessarily like, but to talk about real issues and find some answers.
The community that formed is actually the thing that the creator of the Instagram account enjoys most about this project, "Everyone is in the same boat and so supportive of each other. Our favourite stories are those where someone had initially thought that they were alone in the trials they were facing at work, but realising that there's a huge bunch of us that have gone through the same thing. We also love that everyone is highly switched on and this has led to some really interesting and insightful conversations."
This is both the most fun part about having a meme Instagram page dedicated to a specific topic, but it was not was also unexpected, "What started as a meme page has transformed into so much more. We are really a community at heart and whilst we love to poke a bit of fun at corporate Australia, we ultimately want to make everyone's work lives a bit easier, whether that be through humour, providing helpful insights or even shedding light into poor behaviour that firms can sometimes get up to."
The Aussie Corporate administrators started a blog on their website and are answering some of the questions based on people’s experiences and research and that is when the connection in the community really shows.
The website says, “What generally starts as a simple question to y’all often blows up into a full-blown discussion full of helpful anecdotes and practical tips. This blog is about covering those topical issues happening in AusCorp and bringing together the wisdom of the masses to deliver you insights that you never knew you wanted.”
Not only that, but they provide information about certain firms and what it’s like to work there based on the experiences of people in their community. You can find out what salaries people who work in Aussie Corporate get and what are their experiences with after-hour and parental leave policies.
Although the fun part is still the memes. However, despite memes being a form of humor, corporate memes most often include the sad parts of having a job and are more of an outlet to complain about very specific things that others also find relatable.
LinkedIn made a list of 10 things that bring the most dissatisfaction for working people. Most often it’s not the job itself but what comes with it, which includes feeling ‘stuck,’ being poorly paid, fearing losing one's job, not liking the company or boss, feeling unappreciated or overmanaged.
Staff Square adds factors such as colleagues and commute as other reasons and explains why people won’t leave their jobs. Well, the most obvious one is that they have financial responsibilities like rent, mortgage, children, debts and bills.
It’s also not that easy to find a job once you decide that the current one is not good enough. It is scary to leave a safe space and you may not want to leave it if you worked your way up just to find yourself at the beginning again.
If you would like a more personal take on why people hate their jobs in the corporate world, Quora users shared their perspective. Most of them mentioned that it is because they don’t feel valued as people because they can be replaced very easily.
They also feel that it’s fake, based on unachievable targets and involves a lot of biting of your tongue when someone higher than you expresses their disappointment in your work or behavior without a reason. People online describe such work as “slavery” and a “transaction.”
The Aussie Corporate shared with us what they think the solution to making an office job more enjoyable could be, "I think in an ideal world, if every firm was well-staffed, that would make a world of difference. Realistically, this is always a tough balance as firms are focused on profit and so over-hiring is never in their interests."
People find peace of mind in sharing these problems with others with the same fate, which may be one of the reasons memes on the topic are so popular. Venting helps to get through another day with a micromanaging boss or annoying colleague because the job still gets the bills paid.
Do you find any of these memes from the Australian workers’ daily struggles relatable? Do you find that Aussie Corporate is in any way different from the rest of the world? Let us know in the comments!
