Post-COVID, employees all over the globe are tired. Tired of low ages, tired of being overworked, tired of no opportunities for advancement, and tired of feeling disrespected. This has become apparent with the ongoing “Great Resignation” followed by the now popular “antiwork movement.” Subsequently resulted in kellogg’s ‘Antiwork Fake resume’ applications.
With the Great Resignation, the countrywide “quit rate” reached a record 20-year high by the end of 2021. While the ripple effects of the pandemic are still shocking the US labor market, the anti-work movement has added to the conundrum.
The AntiWork Movement - What Is It?
“Anti Work,” largely rooted in anarchy and socialist economic critique, argues that most of today’s jobs are unnecessary and lead to worker exploitation. This movement is largely centered around the r/antiwork subreddit online, where you will be greeted by the slogan “Unemployment for all, not just the rich!”
This subreddit started back in 2013 when a group of job haters got together and decided to vent about their work-related grievances and frustrations on Reddit. Since then, the subreddit has gained traction, particularly after the Great Resignation rolled into action.
By October 2020, the movement comprised 180,000 people and has since then grown exponentially, now having over 1.9 million subscribers!
The subreddit describes itself as a place for those “who want to end work, are curious about ending work, want to get the most out of a work-free life, want more information on antiwork ideas, and want personal help with their own jobs/work-related struggles.”
So Do People Not Want To Work Anymore?
Actually, no!
People very much do want to work; however, it depends on the work you are referring to. The Antiwork movement does not claim to be against “effort, labor or being productive” but is against jobs structured under capitalism and exploitative in nature.
This movement aims to explore challenges that societal standards have placed on workers. They believe the modern workspace shouldn’t be leaving employees burnt, overworked, and underappreciated.
The subreddit is filled with hundreds of posts and comments from employees sharing their experiences with harsh work conditions, toxic and even threatening behavior in the workspace, relentless unscrupulous bosses, and all kinds of eye-opening stories.
One look through the subreddit may show you why workers are tired and why corporations are now receiving a backlash for their poor workspace conditions and work policies. These very same policies have strained employees’ chances of well-being; emotionally, physically, and mentally.
Let’s Go Over Some Statistics Now
A study conducted by Microsoft just last year, March 2021, revealed that over 40% of the global workforce was considering quitting by the end of the year. At the same time, 54% agreed they felt overworked, whereas 39% said they felt exhausted.
Workers are being crushed under the work-life balance motto because, let’s be fair, there is no work-life balance. This is precisely why individuals have now decided that quitting is a far better option than being stuck in a meaningless grind.
According to Forbes writer Barnaby Lashbrooke, “Those who are quitting their jobs, are for the most part, neither lazy nor looking to be unemployed, they are simply looking for kinder, more supportive employers and a better work-life balance.”
What Started This Movement?
As mentioned earlier, the movement subreddit was created in 2013 but is only now seeing a boost in popularity. Many give credit to the last few years in which people had to work themselves to the bone to survive during the pandemic.
Now, people are looking to a change of lifestyle, where you don’t work for the sake of work, but also value your own happiness. It is a change from the idolization of workaholism, which wants you to constantly work harder, into a healthier way of working.
Did Employers Have It Coming?
Elle Hunt, a columnist for the Guardian, captures this notion quite effectively when describing her own switch from a careerist to becoming a part of the antiwork movement.
“By forcing me into my home, freeing up every hour of my day to devote to work, the pandemic swiftly revealed it (my job) to be unsustainable, unhealthy, and ultimately unrewarding. In two years, I have gone from an out-and-proud careerist to actively cultivate a mindset that might be called ‘anti-work’.”
She is among the hundreds of others who realized how badly we need to change our approach to work.
According to Heidi Sherholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, “We have seen four decades of rising inequality and wage stagnation, with working people not getting their fair share of economic growth. That has laid the stage for this.”
So if you are thinking, “the employers had it coming,” you are probably right.
The Case of The Antiwork Fake Resume
In response to factory workers striking for better wages and working conditions, Kellogg’s decided it would be replacing all 1400 workers. The workers demanded significant raises since they were routinely working over 80 hours a week, even during the COVID pandemic.
“We don’t have weekends, really. We just work seven days a week, sometimes 100 to 130 days in a row. For 28 days, the machines run, then rest three days for cleaning. They don’t even treat us as well as they do their machinery,” said Trevor Bidelman, a fourth-generation employee at the Kellogg plant.
Soon after the announcement, a post on the r/antiwork subreddit went viral urging users to submit fake resumes to their application receiving platform.
They had users sending Kellogg’s fake applications pretending to be residents of the cities with Kellogg strikes, adding made-up addresses and phone numbers, and using specific zip codes/area codes so their applications wouldn’t be filtered out.
The post saw a massive 62,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments from members sharing tips on how to submit applications.
The strike finally came to an end when Kellogg submitted, and a new union contract was formed outlining wage increases, breaking the two-tier system and a significant increase in pension multipliers.
Wrapping It Up
The entire case of Kellogg’s fake applications has strengthened one belief among the antiwork community and is known as one of the best antiwork fake resume examples. They can collectively turn their shared beliefs into real-world actions. The movement has provided workers with an opportunity for change; even if it may be short-lived or incremental, it will lead to greater things.
