> Does this mean that employees should not be loyal to their employers? No. Those companies pay the salaries of their employees which should demand a certain amount of loyalty.
As I see it, companies try to get the most from you with the least from them, and your job is to try to get the most from them for the least from you. If you go beyond the minimum that you have to do, then you're setting yourself up to be taken advantage of.
If you think working harder's going to get your more money, then you should totally do it if you want more money, same for job security, same for you just find it an interesting problem, but morally you don't seem to owe them your best - they set out to screw you in the first place. That's their job, that's how people who own companies get rich: By not sharing the wealth equitably.
Well said. Those are the two opposing sides of labor in capitalism. As Marx pointed out, a company does best by commoditizing labor. To make a worker as replaceable as possible is in the best interest of the company: They can pay less and hold his replace-ability over his head. "I demand a higher pay or I'll quit" is met with "Fine, your position will be filled tomorrow morning" and realizing his replace-ability the employee feels it's better to at least have a job, thus creating the illusion of employee loyalty.
Now with companies like Google you see what happens when the pendulum swings toward the workers' favor. Google employees are top-notch. They are much harder to replace, so the company offers amazing things on top of great pay to keep them. Again, it appears to be loyalty but it's always in their own interest. Keeping and taking care of these amazing employees is how they create great things.
It seems that the best option as an employee is to find an industry/position that requires a unique, hard-to-replace set of skills and dominate that position.
As I see it, companies try to get the most from you with the least from them, and your job is to try to get the most from them for the least from you. If you go beyond the minimum that you have to do, then you're setting yourself up to be taken advantage of.
If you think working harder's going to get your more money, then you should totally do it if you want more money, same for job security, same for you just find it an interesting problem, but morally you don't seem to owe them your best - they set out to screw you in the first place. That's their job, that's how people who own companies get rich: By not sharing the wealth equitably.