The cursor blinks. It’s the 11th minute it’s been blinking, a tiny, rhythmic accusation on an empty white page. The pressure isn’t coming from the screen, but from a conversation an hour ago. It was one of those ‘catch-ups’ that are really gentle, smiling mandates. ‘Your work is fantastic,’ he’d said, leaning back in his chair with that practiced casualness. ‘We just think you’d get more visibility-the whole team would-if you were a bit more active online. Share some of our wins. You know, build your brand.’
And there it is. The phrase that feels like swallowing a mouthful of sand. Build your brand. It’s served up as an opportunity, a generous gift of corporate-approved self-actualization. But as you stare at the blinking cursor, trying to rephrase a press release about Q3 earnings into something that sounds like a human being having a spontaneous thought, the truth feels colder and simpler. This isn’t empowerment. This is the second shift, the one you don’t clock in for.
Let’s be brutally honest for a moment. The corporate push for employee ‘personal branding’ is one of the most brilliant, insidious cons of the modern workplace. It’s a masterclass in repackaging unpaid labor as a professional development perk. They’ve managed to convince an entire generation of workers that spending their evenings and weekends crafting LinkedIn posts, engaging with industry hashtags, and polishing a public-facing persona is a vital part of


















