In HR circles, the term’severance package’ is often associated with huge financial packages given to directors who are leaving under a cloud. This is not the focus of the TV show.
Apple’s Severance will intrigue HR circles about what our work lives are like. This second-series psychological sci fi thriller follows employees who work on highly classified, incomprehensible biotechnology projects at Lumon Industries, a fictional corporation.
The term “severance” refers to the medical procedure whereby a device is implanted, causing the person to forget all of their memories from the outside while they are working in the basement. In the opposite, they do not remember their work when outside and not working. Each employee has two distinct personalities: one “Innie”, who works for Lumon and another “Outie”, who lives their normal life and interacts with their family and friends. There is no lunch break.
Drama arises because of the inevitable bleeding between the two lives of the terminated employee; an event, person or thing that somehow links the personality at work with the one after five o’clock. Then, all hell breaks loose.
One could say that it’s a brilliant production with many resonances for the work-life harmony.
YouGov survey shows that 1 in 8 British people are willing to undergo “memory-splitting procedure” like the one featured in Severance to obtain a high-paying job. (3% would “definitely” do it, 9% would “possibly” do it).
This is an alarming statistic. Perhaps it was the result of people being asked late at night, when they were confused. Unusually, 12% of respondents didn’t have a clear idea whether or not they were willing to undergo the procedure. It might have depended on how much they would be better off.
What would entice a patient to undergo this procedure which is essentially triggering a traumatic response in your brain? – David Rice People Managing People
YouGov reports that the figure for “definitely” increased to 5% in Wales. Let’s put that aside.
The gender aspect is also important: women are more opposed to the idea than men (53% vs 60%).
Severance is the sci-fi equivalent of Brave New World in an age where AI may be on the verge of taking over the world, including jobs and businesses. If the pessimistic viewpoint holds true, AI could even destroy mankind. Only the coldest HR specialists – or robots themselves – could welcome such a change, on the basis of increased productivity.
David Rice, an HR expert with People Managing People is surprised by the YouGov findings: “I believe this reveals a very low sense of quality of life and value of life,” he says. This is not to suggest that people in Britain are living a poor quality of life. But how they perceive it might not be very good. What would make someone want to undergo this procedure that essentially triggers a trauma response in the brain?
He says it will appeal to some people because they “may have difficulty emotionally regulating or reconciling their work and private lives, and want someone else to do it for themselves.” It is likely that they are unable to establish boundaries between their work and personal lives and deal with the demands of today’s work. It would seem that they do not see personal and professional development as being part of the exact same journey.
Some people seem to think that separating their personal life from their work life will lead them to a well-paid job. Do they believe that their personal lives are limiting their earning potentials? I was reminded about a friend of mine who is a commercial diver.
He spends many weeks in an immersion tank, hundreds of meters below the surface, inspecting and repairing pipes. Once he is brought to the surface, his personal life will seem like a distant past. He is very well-paid.
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