Experience, Inc.

For millennia, workers toiled in harsh conditions under ruthless employers. Change came slowly with specialization.

Exploitative working conditions continued from ancient times through the Industrial Revolution and well into the 20th century. People worked for pay and did not expect to derive happiness or meaning from their work, though they would have welcomed it. Starting about five decades ago or so, circumstances began to shift as more and more workers moved to white-collar work, and cognitive capacity became more financially valuable than physical endurance.

Owners and management started to have more obligations to their employees as expertise and skills accelerated with the information economy of the 1990s and beyond. Today, an aging workforce, low birth rates and unprecedented demand for talent have put workers in a position to demand more from their work experience. 

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and the mass rethinking of work that accompanied it, employees are less willing to accept toxic work environments and expectations to be available 24/7 on their devices...