Don't Be Grateful

More than once in the last couple of months I've seen or heard people using the phrase "I'm just grateful to have a job," as if employers are somehow paying them out of charity.

Bullshit. Unless you work for the government, the most likely reason you have a job, is because your labor makes more money for your bosses than you get paid. If for whatever reason this equation is reversed, then you are out on your ass. Some of these reasons you can control, like not being a fuck up. Others you can't, like a lack of customer demand for your services that your employers sells or the availability of cheaper labor in some country where human rights are more suppressed (or by workers here whose human rights are more suppressed than yours). There are no guarantees, but if you like your job then you can greatly reduce your chances of losing it by working hard and keeping your skills up-to-date. If you're already doing that then what do you have to be grateful for? That the company you work isn't stupid or evil or both? I think that should be a basic expectation. As much as you think you need your job, rest assured your boss needs you more.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad arrangement. Trade is not a zero sum game. When you create added value through your labor, there is more than enough profit to share between yourself and your employer. As long as you are paid enough to cover your basic needs, then I see nothing wrong with splitting the difference in profit with others in in the organization who help you to that end, and that includes those who provide needed management and capital. but never allow yourself to think that they are doing you a favor. You are doing them as much (if not more) of a favor than they are doing for you. And if that is not the case, then even if they haven't fired you yet, you'd better look for a new way to pay the bills, because the writing is on the wall.