Exhaustion: An Opportunity For Exploitative Employers

Why not just leave an abusive or overwhelming job?  Aside from it perhaps being most financially beneficial to stay rather than face homelessness or a replacement job with lesser compensation, there is a key reason why many employees might drift along in a role even when the company treats them harshly or wrongly.  Too exhausted from work to muster the focus or willpower to switch jobs, the worker has little free time and little energy.  Whether they think of this ahead of time of not, this directly benefits an exploitative employer because now the worker they might deeply rely on for their company to function does not leave as soon as they might wish.  They can maximize profit from the likes of underpayment and leave employees too tired to plan a departure.

I certainly do not mean that anytime an employee is exhausted from work in a way that spills over to the rest of their life, this specifically is the secret hope of their employer.  This does not follow logically, so it is not necessarily true.  It is just that employee exhaustion outside of the workplace due to workplace tasks and stressors can easily have this impact on someone's life, which benefits exploitative employers one way or another.  Thus, the worker lacks the energy to proactively escape the job that deprives them of free time and mental health in the first place, leaving them trapped in a cycle that will perpetuate until one of the factors changes.  The job or the company, however, is seldom likely to be the thing that changes if such change ever does occur.

Again, I emphasize that taking advantage of work-related exhaustion (from commuting, dealing with harsh managers/employers, or simply having to work) is not something that even an oppressive employer automatically practices.  This is a stereotype of employers and so is fallacious, as they do not possess any specific worldview or personality by virtue of being employers.  Still, it absolutely could be the intention of some employers to tire out their workers not only so that they potentially have less resolve to resist them during working hours, but also so that they are too drained to seriously pursue another employment opportunity outside of working hours.

A worker performing the roles of multiple employees after someone resigns (or is fired) indefinitely, without additional compensation or benefits, is already being taken advantage of, but such a person is an example of an overworked employee who might struggle with having the energy to merely survive outside of work, much less actively seek a new job.  While exhaustion never excuses personal lapses into philosophical errors, which are universally avoidable, it is not the worker's fault if they lack the will to escape their company as a consequence of such exploitation.  It by nature robs all but the most resolute and energetic of their mental strength for daily activities—for instance, when a weekend totally free of professional labor arrives, there might be no desire to apply to other jobs due to lack of sleep.

A tired worker is less likely to put up as much of a fight even against an overtly stupid, selfish employer.  A tired worker might become more desperate, and desperation can serve the interests of companies when people have too little time or energy to plan their exit.  Unless they are very financially secure already, they remain in need of their current job because they have not been able to explore other options.  This does nothing to alleviate the things about their job or company that feed into their desperation.  It is a vicious cycle, one that a malicious employer could intentionally promote or simply reap a dehumanizing reward from.  An employee who can leave easily and without financial or any other kind of significant stress has more power as a worker in standing their ground.