Get to Work: An Apt Metaphor for the 2024-2025 Job Market

And now, for something completely different.

Those of you that have been following for a while know that I've been largely focused on AI tooling and implementation. Mostly poor implementation, but implementation nonetheless. So why are you seeing this man on all fours wearing roller skates jumping through hoops as the featured image?

Having been laid off twice in two years, I find this Get to Work game I saw on YouTube heavily relevant to my own life experiences. Video games have also been a prevalent storytelling medium growing up (if the blog name didn't give that away...). Finding a game that threads the needle between video games and life experience for me is not common, and I'd like to take the opportunity to highlight something like this while I can.

Get to Work is a Game?

Yes, it is! Here's a short trailer to give you an idea of the gameplay. It's available on Steam as well as the Xbox Series X to my understanding (I'm sorry, I genuinely don't know why the creator highlights being poor and bald as the tagline for Get to Work).

To summarize: In Get to Work, you are trying to jump up the corporate ladder from the very bottom. For some reason you navigate the world on all fours with roller skates. The game gets progressively harder and references several infamous experiences many job seekers have, like rejection letters, multiple interview rounds, company wine mixers, and much more.

Why care?

I think this game largely holds space (and defies gravity?) in my mind due to the sheer ridiculousness of the medium. You're basically shredding on half-pipes Tony Hawk style hundreds of feet in the air, and falling to the bottom and starting over. Constantly. Going back to my layoffs, that's what it felt like trying to find a job for me. From what I understand, I'm not the only person who feels that way. ResumeGenius claims that over 70% of job seekers say the search has negatively impacted their mental health this year.

Get to Work itself is notably of a genre built for streaming platforms called a "rage game," meaning the whole point of it being made was for popular content creators on platforms like Twitch or YouTube to create content of them failing continuously. This model then markets the game to other people watching their content creator of choice, generating sales via mass "word of mouth." I don't think you can describe the job search better than calling it a rage game, due to how frustrating getting a job is these days.

The commentary provided by the narrator, voiced by CDawgVA, and other guest voice actors through the games' parody podcast "The Grindset" really hit the target right on about some of the craziness of careers. Highly recommend giving them a listen for a good laugh.

Conclusion

Overall, Get to Work feels like both a love letter to those struggling with the job search, and a satirical commentary on the state of job searching and career advancement in corporate America. If you're looking for something that is just a little too relatable or real that can provide a challenge, consider picking up Get to Work and, frankly, getting to work on finishing it. It'll take time.