Government Workers Feared Losing Their Jobs, So Their Supervisor Led A Malicious Compliance Campaign
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Imagine going to college and looking for a job in your desired career field. You settle, kind of, because everyone has to start somewhere.
What would you do if your supervisor led the charge of malicious compliance with some questionable decisions? Would you go along with it or refuse?
In this story, one person was in this situation and decided to comply.
Let’s read all about it.
Public Sector Employee With Questionable Bosses
Fresh out of college, I found employment in a field which broadly matched my field of study and of interest.
I viewed it as a reasonable stepping stone to one or more of the career paths that actually suited me.
The pay wasn’t excellent, but the benefits were reasonable and the structure was transparent.
Here’s some vague information about OP’s employer and coworkers.
My employer was, in an ultimate sense, the national government of my country. (I’ll spare details as to who it was in a more immediate sense.)
Though somewhat dismayed that my work was more clerical than what I actually wanted to be doing, I very much enjoyed the mutual respect and collaboration between coworkers, and our immediate superiors.
Suffice to say everyone in our little cul-de-sac was more progressive than the median citizen of [redacted], and far more than the governing party.
They suspected they might lose their jobs.
We got various signals that we were not long for this job (if you know, you know).
We got conflicting advice on how to respond to certain emails which (in varying degrees of explicitnes) brought the Damocletian Sword of termination over our necks.
I wasn’t willing to go out without some resistance.
My coworkers were way ahead of me. (Some people are tragically forced to comply with authoritarianism; we were gifted with the opportunity and ability to at the very least not pre-comply with authoritarianism, or inasmuch compliance was rendered, it was “malicious”, noting the real malice was from the people who caused the need for resistance.)
The supervisor led the way.
A series of capricious and mendacious directives came down all the way from the top to our humble little unit.
One had to do with the removal of references to certain ideas, institutions, movements, and persons which the governing party tried to scapegoat in recent years. (You can see where I am going with this.)
Our immediate supe fired the first volley.
They modified a website.
A request was made to authorize a change to a small section of a public-facing web site in complice with the directive in question. Names, images, and details regarding certain popular figures were removed.
Our sv explained that no one had to do any of this if they didn’t want to, and that it was indeed disgusting. But better for it to happen strategically if it is to happen anyway.
After some discussion, we all agreed (begrudgingly).
OP knows this might be confusing. He’s being vague on purpose.
If you’re a bit confused, that’s fair. It was a confusing time for all involved (and still is; if there is a divine force, I hope it is with those still stuck under those circumstances).
The base of the governing party, while not the most enlightened, still largely has a positive view of certain figures whom said base thinks deservedly and at long last enmeshed themselves in the cultural milieu.
Think of Russian Nationalists who tout Puskin as proof that Russian Imperialism has never been, is not, and never will be unfair… I am not Russian but hopefully the point was expressed quasi-coherently.
So out counterparts in Moscow would remove references to Pushkin first, drawing ire and questions from Putin’s base, leaving more complex and controversial figures last (the very people his base are riled up to fear and despise).
Here’s how it worked out.
And so on we went even as our team dwindled.
As news stories broke out, we realized we weren’t alone as “maliciously” complaint public sector workers.
In some small degree, we helped expose who the authoritarians really are by jumping to what they, in the end, wanted to be done.
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Oh by the way! The political appointees above us said nothing— the grape vine relayed that they even saw this as good, which woke more people up to how stupid and wicked they are
That was rather confusing. Let’s see what Reddit makes of it.
This person was confused.
Another person thinks it was too vague.
This person thinks OP could’ve been more specific and simply changed the details.
Everyone seemed to find this story confusing.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who found this story confusing. I agree with the comment suggesting changing the details but being more specific with fake information as a stand-in for the real information.
Overall, it sounds like the supervisor led the way, and the employees agreed to comply.
That sounds like a bumpy start to the working world.
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