The Dark Side of Saying Work Is ‘Like a Family’
The analogy is accurate—in many unhealthy, manipulative, and toxic ways.
by Joe Pinsker
Feb 16, 2022
3 minutes
When someone says that their workplace is “like a family,” they want you to be impressed. We share a special bond, they imply. We look out for one another and are effortlessly in sync.
But as a journalist covering work and families, I can’t help but notice another, entirely unintended meaning in this common corporate metaphor: Work like family—in many unhealthy, manipulative, and toxic ways. When I hear something like , I silently complete the analogy: Many families are dysfunctional. Likening them to on-the-job relationships inadvertently reveals the ways in
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