Burnout, endless meetings and colourful Post-It notes with empty marketing phrases have hijacked meaningful work. How did we get there? Based on a sabotage manual developed during World War II, John Webster’s wildly entertaining and deeply upsetting film demonstrates how modern work has become a monster that devours itself – and everyone else around it. Without losing sight of the system’s human toll, the film speaks directly to a current agenda about how and how much we should actually work. And fortunately for all of us, there actually is a solution. At the heart of the film, we sit in with a group of successful business people as they come together to share their stories of burning out – and how they got on in life. Most people will no doubt be able to relate to much of ‘The Happy Worker’, and have a good, much-needed laugh about how it got this far.
Burnout, endless meetings and colourful Post-It notes with empty marketing phrases have hijacked meaningful work. How did we get there? Based on a sabotage manual developed during World War II, John Webster’s wildly entertaining and deeply upsetting film demonstrates how modern work has become a monster that devours itself – and everyone else around it. Without losing sight of the system’s human toll, the film speaks directly to a current agenda about how and how much we should actually work. And fortunately for all of us, there actually is a solution. At the heart of the film, we sit in with a group of successful business people as they come together to share their stories of burning out – and how they got on in life. Most people will no doubt be able to relate to much of ‘The Happy Worker’, and have a good, much-needed laugh about how it got this far.