In the U.S. we’re run by capitalism. Business exist for profit and all initiatives tie back to that purpose.
Some people give up and accept this fact choosing to separate their professional lives from their personal. I go to work to make money, and come home to find meaning in what time I have left. I don’t mind being a cog in the wheel, and really, I don’t see any other way things could be. And for many, they’re right, but we increasinly live in a world where highly skilled workers are a rare resource that companies need to fight for. Software engineers are in this bucket.
Others, however, enjoy working with other humans. They can ignore the profit goals of the company, find a niche or community within the machine, and humanize their immediate surroundings.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from the pandemic, it’s how important the ability to make those human connections is. People are leaving companies in droves because they thought they found their moral human niche but without the constant human interaction they’ve become keenly aware how much of a cog in the machine they really are.
But there can be a third option. If companies choose to define seniority as helping others, then the entire organization can introduce a moral human reason for folks at all levels to stick around. Post pandemic we’re seeing a huge shift and companies either need to build in these true caring traits through real investment and incentives, or risk losing highly skilled workers.