When your coworkers are people you have to compete with to get a raise or bonus (as most companies have some quota system for that), then your performative work becomes a marketable asset. Even if the work is properly 'measured' to filter performative busywork, the market is the promotional system and you are the product. I don't think this is unique to big corporations; brown-nosers, back-stabbers, and sucking up has existed in orgs of any size.
In the workplace you should consider your coworkers your teammates; not your competition. A rising tide should lift all boats. Where there is competition there is inequality. This is what the person you're replying to is most likely getting at. Unfortunately, we do not live under such a system today. We are penned against one another to compete until we retire or die.
In the workplace you should consider your coworkers your teammates; not your competition. A rising tide should lift all boats. Where there is competition there is inequality. This is what the person you're replying to is most likely getting at. Unfortunately, we do not live under such a system today. We are penned against one another to compete until we retire or die.