The Spectator- Meet the Stepford Employees
The Stepford Employee is characterised by their conformity and submissiveness. Named after the Ira Levin novel and film adaptations The Stepford Wives – in which men in a suburban American town are married to docile female robots – these corporate drones have seemingly abandoned independent thought or action. Their passivity makes them afraid to speak up or offer any opinion. They suppress their individuality to fit in and avoid conflict or disapproval. As for banter, forget it – the office is now a fun-free, Puritan-like environment.
Psssssst….. “Medical Experts.”
And, it’s not just an inherent passivity. It’s reinforced behavior with repercussions if you take the less traveled path. “Stepford Employee” is just another way to describe a “non-player character” (NPC).
These folks are an absolute font of innovation and creativity.
There is some kind of communist element to it all too. Kill the individual while celebrating phony individuality.
All those silly team building excersises that the HR ladies and queers are so fond of… immediately identifies who’s willing to be a “team player.”
Amazon about ten years ago had everyone march in a parade around the warehouse showing their team spirit while HR filmed a video for corporate. Anyone not showing enough enthusiasm easily identified.
Did office work for 30 yrs and I’m proud to say that our floor was an HR nightmare. You had to have a sense of humor to work in our dept (union) and if you dished it out you had to be able to take it. It was a zoo like atmosphere, a high stress environment where meltdowns happened. If the meltdown was really good then our floor would get a course. If the meltdown was spectacular then the entire building got a course.
When I hear a company bragging about how innovative and “out of the box” they are, I always suspect that their corporate culture is one of stifling conformity.
Once upon a time, I worked in a software company that produced advanced symbolic computation software. Most of the developers had at least one PhD and had come to the company direct from grad school. There were Nerf gun battles in the hallways, a pool table, sandals and Hawaiian shirts were typical attire, developers were in the office at all hours.
And then there was James. James arrived at work at 8 am sharp every day, left at 5 pm on the dot, wore a suit and tie, his cubicle was neat and organized. He was quiet and polite. He worked at his desk the whole day rather than playing pool or shooting darts at the other employees.
James didn’t have a PhD; James had learned his trade in the CAF. He was also one of the most consistently productive developers in the company. He had a better work-life balance and higher job satisfaction than most of the development team, too.
It turns out that professionalism and discipline is a good thing. The mainstreaming of nerd culture means that everyone thinks that if their office doesn’t look like a Chuck E. Cheese they’re being terribly oppressed.
“The mainstreaming of nerd culture…”
Do not blame us nerds for your Normie problems. Nerd culture was stolen by Normies who wanted to wear the t-shirt but didn’t care about the lore. That’s why Star Wars became the dreck that it is. Disney disdains the lore, they think the fans are racist/bigot/homophobes, and treat the IP as a cash machine.
The truth about computers is that the people who actually -like- them and care about them are weirdos. Science nerds, math nerds, gamer nerds. They look funny and they act funny. Because they do not care about all the crap that takes up the Normie day. They care about the computer and what they’re doing with it.
And this is why the AAA game studios with thousands of employees are having their lunches eaten by fringe, fruitcake little independent studios with 20-50 nerds throwing nerf darts at each other in the hallways because they’ve been coding for 20 hours straight.
“So, let’s stick it to the Nurse Ratcheds of this world and bring fun and laughter back into the workplace. Throw off the shackles that restrict creative thought and encourage freedom of expression once again.”
Sure thing bro. You first.
Speaking now as someone who has been there and done that, it used to be back in the day that you were judged on what you -did-. Your results.
Now of course that is not the case. Now you are judged on DEI scales and on how well you fit into the corporate narrative of the moment.
Imagine being some guy that works at Harley Davidson Canada. Doing something at head office.
Once upon a time, probably 25 years ago, you were INTO IT in a big way. You rode a Harley, you knew everything about Harleys, you could field-strip and reassemble your points and ignition with a nail file and a rock. And so could everybody else in the place. And you loved your job.
But now, 2025, you display your pronouns and you drive a Prius or a Tesla. You dress and act like you might be a chick. You would never admit to knowing how to so much as change a lightbulb. You pretend to be quietly excited about the new corporate program of the moment, whatever it is, no matter how stupid it is or how much it damages the Harley Davidson brand. You are a liar surrounded by liars, and you live like your next step is going to be on a landmine. Never put your foot out farther than you can bring it back safely.
All those old guys who gave a rip from 25 years ago? They are -long- gone, and you can tell by how much Harleys suck these days.
Multiply by every bank, hospital, manufacturing company, brokerage etc. It’s a great time to be a psychopath.
Really insightful article. Reminds me of a past employer which started out as a family owned company where your job was actually fun and something to look forward to. Office parties around special occasions were a blast. Then the family sold it off to private equity. In came the HR person who had serious boundary issues and seemed to think that she was the general manager. Not so much as an ounce of booze at any office parties. Managers obviously got hired because of their ability to rattle off a rapid fire string of meaningless bromides and slogans and not for their skills. The corporate culture changed to an environment where staff could easily and often fail upward. I’ve since moved on. Four years after I left the plant was closed for good.