

The Assistant Economy - sergeant3
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-assistant-economy

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6stringmerc
_One problem is that the assistant’s diligence cannot lead to a promotion.
Technically, promotions don’t exist. You can’t become the person you assist,
and so the strategic assistant curries favor, an especially fickle and
undignified form of wage labor._

This pretty much sums up my experience in the US corporate working world,
where the vast majority of senior employees are (or are nearly) senior
citizens, who, for whatever reason, can't afford to (or simply refuse to)
retire from the labor force. They will churn low-level employees on a two-year
basis, give or take, as the employees realize to get a meaningful raise means
leaving the firm. I've witnessed this in health care, finance, and other white
collar environments, both first and second hand. YMMV.

~~~
hamitron
I worked for a talent agency for four years, and the problem in that world is
that promotions were a possibility, yet rarely given. The agency would
generally hire junior agents from outside the company rather than just
promoting those who had 'paid their dues.'

