All of the measures in this article to increase morale about work aren’t exploitative unless they’re being used to exploit workers. I don’t think the author made a really good case for this; instead they argued on the snuck premise that employers naturally want to squeeze their slaves dry and used that to conclude these measures are evil attempts to propagate “burnout culture” (look! A shiny new Term for us to use).

In reality, this is easily explained as an attempt to merely increase positive feelings about work. I like the work I do, but a negative working environment is infectious and is usually a big productivity sapper for me. The tech industry has plenty of managers attempting to juice their slaves for as many hours at the keyboard as they can get, but I think carved cucumbers encouraging people in their work is mutually exclusive to that issue.