Comment by stuxnet79
> To me, that feels like a failure of the deeper social system. I want to be loyal to the people I work for/with, not treat our relationship like a transaction that is socially acceptable to end at any minute.
Great comment. The confounding variable here is culture.
American cultural norms devalue stable relationships in favor of personal fulfillment and self-actualization.
It isn't like this everywhere. There's a reason why business culture is different in Asia. The underlying attitudes there regarding social norms and how people can relate to each other i.e. what's acceptable and not acceptable, are very different. As a result, commerce there is conducted differently as well. Richard Nisbett wrote a book that goes into detail on this topic [1]
I will not make a judgement on which approach is better, or tie it into economic metrics but the bottom line is that attitudes towards work such as this one are highly influenced by the underlying behavioral norms. Without acknowledging this I don't think you can have a productive conversation on the topic.
[1] The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently...and Why - Richard Nisbett
Thanks for the book suggestion.
I would push back on the notion that this is purely a geographical phenomenon though, because in the very recent past, it was totally normal for Americans to work for the same company for decades. You could say that recent developments are just an inevitable consequence of underlying social attitudes, but I’m not so sure it’s that simple.