> General worker apathy is endemic everywhere I go
I have noticed a major increase in this in my day-to-day interactions
But again, I've stopped looking LinkedIn, disabled or deleted and stopped engaging on the majority of social media platforms (HN remains as a final crutch), and have taken up meditation, therapy, and art as well, so it's not just empty words.
The only thing I have really noticed that's different on a multi-year scale is some companies went fully remote that weren't prepared for it or didn't really want to, which made 2021-2022 my own personal hell with career stability.
e.g. in Best Buy the other day I walked up to a group of 4 workers chatting together about 10 meters from the checkout counter to ask if any of them could open another till so I could purchase the microwave I was holding.
They told me in an ultra-polite passive aggressive way to wait in line at the single checkout that was open.
Obviously no big deal: hourly workers in their teens and 20s have always been less than stellar. Except the worsening trend has been noticeable.