I had heard Linus' anti-union remarks on WAN Show and was slightly weirded out, because I don't believe for a second that a company owner AND manager of a company much smaller than theirs has enough time and resources to really be in touch with what their workers need, even if they have the best intentions.

There once was a WAN Show segment about quiet quitting and his fear that people might do that and it came across as if he was more scared that his employees might do it and thereby "hurt the company" than him being interested in why people feel compelled to only work the minimum amount required. As if he was expecting people to always give him 110%.

Even 90% is enough, that's just reality. If you have people working for you full time, you can't just pay them for their most productive and focused time. There's also socializing with coworkers, taking short breaks and being creative without direct output. It's all part of being a team. A good and healthy team that feels appreciated can take up extra work and make short extra bursts as they become necessary, but that can never be the expected normal.

There was also some WAN Show segment about compensation, free time and the likes that was weird. Maybe it was part of one of the upper two, I don't quite remember. It's a bit fuzzy but I remember that I was a little surprised that they operated on the same scheme of low amount of days off + limited sick days system that many US/North-American companies seem to run on. I get that it's normal in that part of the world, but I still had this idea in my head that they were somehow different. It all felt so quirky, close-knit and best-buddy-like in the videos. That made me think that they were somehow more progressive and worker focused than it turns out after all.

Hearing these allegations is like finding that missing puzzle piece and suddenly it fits into a much bigger picture. I had a lot of respect for Linus and his company and really believed that they were "better". I really like their content, it is super entertaining and of very consistent quality. They are experts at making things accessible and interesting for a broader audience. But they are also running in a giant hamster wheel that is the youtube algorithm and several daily uploads.

Very sad to see how all this could happen. Even worse is how all of this is being handled. They need a proper restructuring because these problems seem to be structural and deep-rooted. I wish Madison all the best!

Edit: Typos