I thought it was a joke, and then saw the actual post on LinkedIn this morning. That place is something else.

At last, a truly unpopular opinion here.

What are they to do?
Shrinking discretionary budget, more and more responsibilities at work (multiple roles condensed into one), and a looming sense you are easily replaceable with layoffs and AI tools.
On the other, if you are taught your only worth is your job, there is no point in exploring outside of that, and spending your energy on things that won't make you a good worker.

I took one month off on unpaid leave. Not only did it confirm that I didn't miss a thing from my bullshit software dev job, those were 4 busy and productive weeks, with many projects I had left on hold. Plus, I felt much better in terms of health. It allowed me to taper off an SSRI. And I lost weight too!

Downvoting not because it is unpopular - I actually agree with parts of it -, but because it's an incoherent rant fueled by anger against some "undeveloped" country where magically everyone can fix engines with a piece of string. Big "hate the global south" vibes from this one.

I love the sentiment: "just don't die because it's awkward AF". If "joie de vivre" doesn't make you cling to life, there's always social anxiety even after death 🤣

Nice misogyny you got there

Yeah, they would be making decisions under too much pressure.

I don't disagree with the sentiment of your comment, but I feel it lacks some nuance.
First of all, where are those empty houses located? A lot of the pressure is in larger urban areas: Lisboa, Porto, Braga, Coimbra. If the houses are away from an urban centre, they might as well not exist.
Portugal also has a huge emigrant community, and it's common for emigrants to have a house back in the home country, usually in more rural areas, but not always. These houses are a little retirement plan, and tend to stay unoccupied for months or years, only used when that owner goes to Portugal on holidays, or when/if they decide to return.

An Irish mad lad

Or maybe, hear me out, he has enough time and money to dedicate to taking care of his body. This article is a super petty attack.

I agree with your last point so much. I also used the official app and had a 12 year account, but fuck if I am going to just stand by and watch another corporate board make our world a bit more miserable for the sake of their profit. Let them have dust.