Candy Factory
This week, I shot a video in a candy factory.
Everyone in the factory seemed very happy. I had forgotten what it was like to work in a place like that.
Before the layoffs started, working at the bank was like that. My office was at the far end of the floor. I remember walking to the bathroom or to lunch, a smile on my face, past rows of happy cubicle-dwellers. Everyone seemed artificially chipper, except it wasn't artificial. It was cultural. Corporations must hire people that fit a certain psychological profile. Although it's not that systematic, I think, it means that when you enter a workplace, it has a vibe, like a club or a restaurant has a vibe. The vibe in the bank was industrious, busy, and happy-happy. The vibe in the candy factory was 'efficient, safe, funny, happy.'
One day, I came into work, and we had a staff meeting. The boss gave us the tip-off that very soon, a group of people would be let go, but that our positions were safe. I believe that lots of other people on the floor got the same tip-off, because that day, the vibe changed. It was never the same. People became cynical, self-serving, and backstabbing. Basically it turned into an ad agency. 28 people on our floor were let go that afternoon, and two weeks later, another 13 vanished. I left not long after.
But in the candy factory, layoffs have happened already, and there are more in the pipeline, everyone knows about it, and the morale there is still great. Everyone seems thankful to have a job. The people we interviewed were 10, 20, or 30 year veterans at the plant. Is the difference just that they make candy? Could it be the menthol fumes?
Everyone in the factory seemed very happy. I had forgotten what it was like to work in a place like that.
Before the layoffs started, working at the bank was like that. My office was at the far end of the floor. I remember walking to the bathroom or to lunch, a smile on my face, past rows of happy cubicle-dwellers. Everyone seemed artificially chipper, except it wasn't artificial. It was cultural. Corporations must hire people that fit a certain psychological profile. Although it's not that systematic, I think, it means that when you enter a workplace, it has a vibe, like a club or a restaurant has a vibe. The vibe in the bank was industrious, busy, and happy-happy. The vibe in the candy factory was 'efficient, safe, funny, happy.'
One day, I came into work, and we had a staff meeting. The boss gave us the tip-off that very soon, a group of people would be let go, but that our positions were safe. I believe that lots of other people on the floor got the same tip-off, because that day, the vibe changed. It was never the same. People became cynical, self-serving, and backstabbing. Basically it turned into an ad agency. 28 people on our floor were let go that afternoon, and two weeks later, another 13 vanished. I left not long after.
But in the candy factory, layoffs have happened already, and there are more in the pipeline, everyone knows about it, and the morale there is still great. Everyone seems thankful to have a job. The people we interviewed were 10, 20, or 30 year veterans at the plant. Is the difference just that they make candy? Could it be the menthol fumes?
posted by Jared at 1:32 PM
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