Employers Don’t Seem To Hire Normal People With Normal Aspirations Anymore: ‘In a market this crowded, going "above and beyond" has literally become the norm’

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Olivia Arocena • Writer and Editor
Aug 22, 2026 1:45 PM EDT

Where did the habit of having reasonable aspirations go?

Some of us only want jobs that pay a normal amount of money and let us check out and go chill at our homes without worrying about anything work-related for the rest of the day. Some of us want to be clerks, cashiers, and receptionists; we want to do our jobs well, but we don't want to have major responsibilities, only little ones.

Is it so hard to understand that some people are not looking to become great entrepreneurs or CEOs, and actually desire to have close-to-zero impact in the company? Not in a negative way; I mean being a stable, kind-spirited, 'mid' employee.

For some of us, life begins the minute we clock out; and it's not because we're chasing this big dream outside our jobs. Maybe it's just because we enjoy the art of doing nothing, or the art of lying in the sun, or the art of spending time with friends, and we don't have many aspirations related to our careers, only the aspiration to enjoy the present moment, and the moment that comes immediately after it.

Where can those people get a job and be appreciated for what they actually are? Loyal, stable, not hungry for the next big thing.

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  • Cheezburger Image 10657810176
    via Annie Spratt

    The only normal workers left

    Not actual story subjects

  • The Job Market No Longer Leaves Room for Ordinary People

    The job market has become full of candidates who are more polished and prepared than at any point I've seen before, and because of that, I feel like there's no longer any space for ordinary people.
    via AnalystIntelligent22
  • New graduates aren't lazy or especially less competent. They're doing more than the classes before them: more years of study, side projects, student orgs, internships, online courses, portfolio
    via AnalystIntelligent22
  • work, and everything. In a market this crowded, going "above and beyond" has literally become the norm. There's almost no room left for someone with average intelligence, who
    via AnalystIntelligent22
  • needs a normal amount of sleep, has normal ambition, normal family circumstances, a normal work ethic, and a normal desire to have a life outside of work. Everyone is expected to be a unicorn
    via AnalystIntelligent22
  • superstar. Even cafés and retail stores act like you're supposed to magically have 4+ years of experience before they take you seriously. I used to think that
    via AnalystIntelligent22
  • Cheezburger Image 10657810432
    via Ali Morshedlou

    The 'above and beyond' employee

    Licensed media provided as editorial context

  • nonstop grinding was something people did because they wanted an intense career path, and honestly, that doesn't matter to me (no one is going to sit around talking about your amazing career
    via AnalystIntelligent22
  • at your funeral). Now I've realized that grinding seems to have become required just to find any random junior-level office job.
    via AnalystIntelligent22
  • ThrawnianBaller Facts, don't even get me started on how difficult interviews have become, asking entry level candidates to do complex case studies that should be learned on the job or during training.
    via ThrawnianBaller
  • _fallenangel _ After the mass layoffs in tech and related sectors, the competition for such jobs has been even fiercer than normal. As those people get rehired, I'm hoping competition dies down and us mortals can get jobs again.
    via ___fallenangel___
  • Any-Rabbit8099 You my man... Called it. But Imma tell you those try hard, super grinset, 25 certs, gets everything right, High IQ, wanna be Founder/CEO types are in for quite the shock.
    via Any-Rabbit8099

  • Hiring process

    e-re WE ARE HIRING APPLY TODAY
    via Eric Prouzet

    Who are they actually hiring?

    Image depicted solely for explanatory purposes

  • I understand this is not a popular way to think about jobs or life; we live in a world that’s oversaturated with recipes to optimize yourself, at the gym, psychologically, in your career, in your beauty, etc. Wouldn’t it be nice to redefine what seizing the day looks like? What a successful life really is?

    For some, not many, not the majority, life is still about desiring less, rather than always going for more. Do they have a place in this self-optimizing, financial-success-driven world? Or do they have to invent their own?

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workplace-stories toxic-workplace work workplace toxic-work-environment
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