Working is, unfortunately, something most people have to do. While working may not be a choice, often who you work for is a choice. Though advice on finding the right employer frequently focuses on factors like work/life balance, pay, and opportunities to learn new skills, something that doesn’t often get talked about is who you’re working to make rich.
In our present late-stage capitalist hellscape, most organizations function to make someone or some small group of people rich.
If you’re working at a startup, it’s probably the founders. If you’re working for a company owned by a private equity firm, it’s their investors. If you’re working for a publicly-owned company, it’s the wealthiest 1% of Americans who own most stocks. If you’re working for a co-op or worker-owned business, it’s your fellow owners (though, chances are none of you are getting rich because that’s not the point of those ownership models). That’s a tough bunch of options!
Visibility into who you’re working to make rich also varies. Founders tend to be involved in the day-to-day running of a startup. It’s easier to get the ick about who you’re working to make rich when you see them fumbling around and messing things up everyday (Founder Mode FTW!). The invisible stock-owner who’s only connection to you is a line item in their portfolio, less so.
I don’t have a handy solution to offer (except to explore co-op models if they make sense for you!). But whenever you’re pondering a job offer, if you have options, while wading through benefits, pay, who you’ll be working with, job titles, WFH options, maybe also consider who is getting rich off of your work.
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