The Dark Side of Saying

Work Is ‘Like a Family’

By Joe Pinsker

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 is like family—in many unhealthy,
manipulative, and toxic ways. When I hear something
like We’re like family here, I silently complete the
analogy: We’ll foist obligations upon you, expect your
unconditional devotion, disrespect your boundaries, and be
bitter if you prioritize something above us. […]

To be momentarily compassionate to this poor, misguided bit of

rhetoric, it is understandable that when trying to describe a
group of people with whom we spend a lot of time, we reach for
the concept of family; the terms work wife and work
husband resonate widely because they capture a genuine sense
of connection that people feel with their closest office allies.

[…]

But many critics have—rightly—argued that the workplace-as-

family metaphor endorses unhealthy norms. When a business is
presented as a family, its workers may feel pressure to pledge
an unreasonable degree of loyalty to their employer, putting up
with long hours, mistreatment, and the erosion of work-life
boundaries, all in the spirit of harmony and a shared purpose. In
other words, when a workplace resembles a family, it’s
frequently for reasons that would make you want a different job
(which is more easily fixed than wanting a different family).

Full text:
https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/02/work
-actually-is-like-a-family/622813/