I got dinged on my latest review for not participating enough in the team channels, and I feel like I’m back in middle school. Apparently, shipping clean, bug-free code ahead of schedule takes a backseat to not dropping enough memes in the #random channel. My manager literally told me that social presence is a core metric for our remote culture this year. Is this normal? I’m so grumpy about it.

If every employee had an AI assistant that doubled their productivity, would companies hire fewer people or expect twice as much work?

Does anyone else find it difficult to get another job while you are currently employed? Most people say that it's easier to get a job while you have a job, but that has never been the case for me. What normally happens is I go to an interview with the knowledge that I can mess up the interview and perform poorly. Sometimes I ask questions that I know are going to make the interviewer uncomfortable. This is probably both good and bad. Most jobs I have landed happened when I was unemployed.

I’m realizing that my coworkers who are being hired externally are making so much more money. I’m now thinking what’s the benefit at staying g at a company and rising the ranks?

Is there an ethical limit to how much wealth one individual should be allowed to accumulate, even if it was earned legally and through innovation?