Men should avoid corporate America at all costs. Really both sexes should, but it is especially detrimental to men these days wanting to build a more successful life. One shouldn’t run out and quit their job based on this post (not like I have that much sway over people). If you are young and just entering the workforce, it is essential to build skills and side businesses until you no longer rely on corporate hacks for a living. Use them for all they are worth and get out with dignity. As someone who has been in corporate America for going on 25 years, I know it is time for me to leave. Men need to avoid corporate America.
Corporate America always was a terrible existence. The mundane work, the arse kissing, all of it is depressing. In the last five or so years it has gotten outright toxic for men. Discrimination is rampant, it is either totally ignored or outright encouraged by the DEI specialist (who make 6 figures). In the last two companies I worked for, men are treated unfairly. A strong reason why men should avoid corporate America is because success is less about how hard you worked and more about your identity. If you would like a tedious, unimportant life, where you will be quickly forgotten, ignore this post.
#1 Reason Men Should Avoid Corporate America: Your livelihood is outside of your control
While it is true that many men have made a great salary and a career in the corporate world, I have seen many more that have had the rug pulled from under them. I started this blog when my life imploded on itself. People way above my pay grade made terrible decisions and the company was forced to lay off 10% of its workforce. I was one of them. After 4 years with the same company, I clawed my way back making about 30% more than before. Well, now I am at the mercy of other hacks. A new round of job cuts due to “cash flow problems.” Meaning everything I accomplished in the last four years was meaningless.
Who will they be picking to fire? Well, they say it is performance based, but it seems all the males have the worst performance. My department has been changed, from 60% male to less than 10% male. The two males are the ones on the chopping block… what a weird coincidence.
Hard work doesn’t matter in corporate America. Looking like you’re doing something with useless PowerPoint slides and box checking is what gets you ahead. You can break your back for a year and then due to things outside your control (like your penis) you are not promoted. Your salary will inevitably be increased by 2% and you can be tossed aside by people who add no value. Companies can get away with that since they are usually living off past successes. Men should avoid corporate America because hard work doesn’t equal success.
It is Terrible for Your Health
Working in a corporation is terrible for your fitness. First by nature you sit all day. Some people even work at their desks while eating lunch, so that is 9 hours of chair time. The job itself is so mentally draining that exercising after work is difficult. It takes the life out of you. I have worked in construction and yes, my body was tired, but in corporate life my mind is shot. That is worse.
Then there is the utter unhealthy environment you are dealing with. Candy at every other desk and donuts in the breakroom are the norm. Every time management wants to give their employs a little treat it isn’t cash… no it is a pizza party, that you gobble down while talking about SAP. The breakroom is not much better. Look at this selection of goodies, nothing but crap. If they do sell a yogurt, it is usually $5- and six-months-old. Us cattle that work in corporate America love our treats. We will be humiliated and abused if there is a Supermarket cake at the end of the day.
Another reason men should avoid corporate America is the stress it brings. It is unnecessary. People screaming about reports that no one reads or arbitrary deadlines that the elites set up just to feed their own egos, it all is slowly sickening us. Waking up with dread is the worst kind of death. Stress is a huge killer, yet people will make you fear for your livelihood, for almost no reason. In corporate life we sit all day, fuel our bored minds and inactive bodies with foods meant for kindergarteners, all while stressed to the max. Is it a wonder why people in this country are so unhealthy?
Corporate work is unfulfilling
No one ever dreamed as a kid that they wanted to work in corporate marketing or finance. Yet somehow thousands of Americans do it. I spent most of my day working on a presentation no one cares about, setting up meetings to go over topics I went over 50 times and did some mundane firefighting that shouldn’t have needed to be done in the first place. It is all so unfulfilling.
People are burned-out and disconnected from their job. They don’t see how they are creating any value. Too many times, our hard work goes unnoticed and forgotten. Even if it does move the needle no one cares. I can save the company 1 million dollars but use the wrong font in a PowerPoint and get dinged. You are better off not finding and solving problems, it only causes you work and you get blamed.
Compare that to a plumber. He sees a problem, he fixes it, he gets instant results. People see the fruits of your labor when working in any skilled profession, you aren’t just a cog in the wheel. In my job, I get paid pretty good money, but I feel like I did nothing. No work is easy, and it is true the primary goal of work is to pay the bills. The soul crushing life of going day after day, year after year feeling like nothing you did matters takes its toll on you.
Corporate Life is discriminatory
Men should avoid corporate life because discrimination against them is commonplace. It might be getting better with the most recent elections, by I can’t count on it. The damage has been done. Companies clearly brag about the number of women managers they have. Even going so far as to openly state that being a woman gives one a leg up. Of course, the men at the top would never give up their jobs for a woman. if someone earns the title of manager, great… but it should be based on merit alone.
Men are treated like secondhand citizens in a corporation. Hard work and competency come second to gender. It kind of shows just how useless these higher positions are. People are not hired on merit; they are hired on what is between their legs. Not always of course, but the push is more women in leadership, another way of saying we discriminate against men,
Finally, it created Weak Men
Look around at your fellow coworkers, how many can you honestly say lifted a weight in their life? Maybe a portion are runners, but skinny fat, not healthy. The vast majority of men in corporate life have giant bellies and skinny arms. Do you know why the bathroom stalls are filled with dudes that don’t mind shitting where other people can see them through the cracks? Because their wives won’t let them shit at home. They are bossed around all night and weekend by their wife and kids and then told what to do by their manager during the week.
Honestly the higher ups need weak, dependent men. “Yes sir, no ma’am, no it is ok I will work late”. All the cries of a weak corporate hack of a man. There are exceptions (me) but they usually run into roadblocks in their career. More likely than not the ones that succeed have he/her next to their name and play the game better. Most of these corporations fail eventually because of weakness in leadership. Someone far superior to them built the business, then these guys swindled their way to the top to eventually ruin it.
Men Should Avoid Corporate America
Don’t be the guy (like me) who spends 25 years figuring out corporate life is a scam for men. Spend a little time if you must, using them for the benefits and an income, but always be building something else. Develop a skill that will give you multiple streams of income. Don’t waste the pennies they give you in a bar, invest in Real estate, dividends stocks, knowledge or whatever else will improve your life.
If I can go back in time, I would tell my younger self to spend every extra dime developing cash flow (not wasted it on women). Spend every extra hour building skills and a side business. Yes, try to advance in your career, by being so valuable they can’t fire you. That is not the end game. This is how I would have spent my twenties and possibly my thirties. Friends, dating, the wrong people, marrying the wrong people all set me back. I am doing fine, now, but I am still in the trap. Time is not your friend, act like the rest of your life depends on it. It does.