Do you like to go to work every day, or do you prefer to stay at home And do you like the type of work you do or are you inclined to change it Do you like to have relationships with your coworkers or would you rather stay away from them Do you suffer from anxiety, stress and feel angry when you are at your job And do you feel that you are not valued at work and that your opinion does not make a difference And did you feel helpless and apathetic at work and become one of the individuals who prefer solitude

If you are one of the individuals who suffer from one or more of the above reasons, you may be suffering from a phenomenon called job alienation.job alienation is a human, social and psychological phenomenon that is one of the most common and widespread problems in workplaces around the world, regardless of the extent of development that exists in the country.

The phenomenon of alienation is not the result of the current era; it is as old as man, but the feelings of alienation have increased and multiplied, as man is currently suffering from a social and psychological crisis as a result of the transformations witnessed by the era, such as industrial transformation and the control of technology over work facilities, the change in the means of production, the great dependence on intellectual capital, the intensification of competition between organizations, which in turn ignoring the surrounding individuals in addition to the control of negative emotions on him.

What is career alienation

It is agreed in the social sciences and humanities that alienation arises from the existence of a defect in the individual’s relationship with other individuals and with his social environment in general, and functional alienation is a phenomenon that affects the worker while doing his work, so he turns from an active worker loving his work and what he does to an indifferent worker who loses attachment to his job and loves isolation and distance from his work environment.

“Karl Marx presented his opinion on functional alienation, describing it as a situation in which an individual becomes separated from his work because he does not have the freedom to act within the scope of his work.

Job alienation is a phenomenon caused by work that does not lead the individual to satisfy his motives and needs, as the researchers stressed that it is a feeling of isolation, loneliness, loss of confidence, a constant sense of stress, anxiety and suffering from work pressures in particular and from social pressures in general, as the individual tends to reject social values and standards, in short, it is a feeling of separation from oneself and not only that; but a feeling of separation from society.

Some people believe that alienation leads to two situations; the first is positive, through which the individual tries to innovate and create in an attempt to prove himself and rebel against his reality, and the second is mostly negative, caused by the loss of values and standards, and throws its weight on the individual, so he loses his efficiency and performance decreases.

Alienation is a psychological phenomenon that an individual suffers from and feels distant from the surrounding reality as a result of being exposed to a range of environmental and subjective influences, so that he becomes an individual unable to achieve adaptation, which leads him to frustration, depression and pessimism.

Reasons for career alienation:

There are multiple reasons that lead to an individual feeling alienated in his work and losing his sense of job belonging and social interaction, and generally the reasons for alienation are due to two types of reasons; the first is related to the individual, and the second is related to the organization or the place of the world.

1. Causes related to the individual:

Depression and frustration, when there are problems that stand in the way of an individual and prevent him from achieving his desires and goals, he feels helpless, weak, failed and disappointed, which ultimately leads to frustration and self-humiliation of the individual, and then his feeling of career alienation.
The exposure of the individual to various situations of deprivation, such as emotional deprivation, social deprivation or material deprivation, all of which lead to the failure to meet the desires and needs of the individual, and then be the cause of his sense of alienation.
The state of instability in the social environment, such as living in the shadow of wars or in the event of economic crises.
The cultural invasion to which the individual is exposed and the factors that destroy and destroy the values and standards on which the individual grew up.
Various social pressures and the inability of the individual to deal properly with them and endure them.
The inability of an individual to keep up with the rapid changes of the Times or not having the competence to keep up with them.
Family problems experienced by an individual that prevent him from concentrating in his work.
Failure to choose the right job for an individual that suits his ambition and potential.
Low wages and their disproportion with the effort made by the individual and with the time spent at work.
Boredom from repetitive work and the worker’s loss of his role in the productive process.

2. Reasons related to the organization:

Complex organizational structures that prevent the worker from carrying out any work without orders from the higher management level.
The leadership style that exists in the organization, the authoritarian authority that treats the worker with disrespect pushes him to boredom from work and unwillingness to come to him.
An individual’s feeling of loss of power as a result of extreme centralization or excessive decentralization.
The decrease in the level of social relations and bad relationships with work personnel that lead to the emergence of quarrels and quarrels, make work a tense and uncomfortable place.
Most organizations rely on the reports provided by the direct manager to the worker, which are often subject to the manager’s subjective opinions and mood swings.
The fact that a working individual plays more than one role in society, such as the role of an educator and caring for his children and the head of the family to a subordinate worker in his job, creates a state of dissatisfaction and alienation.
The absence of training in the organization and the lack of development of the capabilities and skills of employees.
The absence of moral values from work that determine what is desirable and what is forbidden.

Manifestations of functional alienation:

Loss of control: a functionally alienated individual cannot make a decision, cannot influence social situations.
Loss of meaning: one of the most prominent manifestations of alienation is the arrival of the individual to the state of meaninglessness, there is no clarity in the individual’s life of what he should believe in, he is a human being who is missing the essence of the things around him, and life for him is worthless in the absence of desire and purpose.
Loss of standards: loss of standards means non-compliance with the application of laws, regulations, rules and values that clarify both rights and duties; as the individual believes that the behavior that was rejected in society has become acceptable in the absence of social controls.
Social isolation: the individual clearly moves away from other individuals, and the individual lacks the motivation to engage in social relationships and reject teamwork, in addition to feeling lonely, psychological emptiness and the desire to remain alone.
Rebellion: consists in the individual’s rejection of everything that exists and not looking for new goals or means, and rebellion may be against his family, work or the group to which he belongs.
Self-alienation: an individual’s inability to communicate with himself and feeling disconnected from what he wants to reach, is the loss of his true self in the field of work and his separation from the essence of this work and its goals.

How to reduce career alienation:

Improving the relationship between the management of the organization and its employees: the management should meet the expectations of its employees from increasing wages and granting them bonuses and compensation, granting employees career promotion opportunities based on fair criteria and bases, not discriminating between employees based on their social and political affiliations, taking into account every additional effort made by the worker and giving him appropriate recognition.
Seeking to secure an appropriate work environment: the manager should not direct harsh criticism against employees, especially in front of others, and pay attention to the distribution of work according to the efficiency of the worker without increasing or decreasing workloads, and not forcing the worker to do work contrary to his culture and values.
Special attention is paid to Human Relations: these are relations that are based on cooperation and social interaction, promote trust between employees.
Building work teams: work teams based on cooperation, not competition, and the distribution of tasks according to the functional degree occupied by each of them in order to achieve justice, and they must be given the opportunity to creativity and innovation and achieve excellence in work and good coordination between them in a way that achieves their personal goals and the goals of the institution.
Holding periodic meetings in the organization, following up the progress of work and listening to the problems and concerns of employees.
The manager visits the employees ‘ workplaces to directly inspect their needs, overcome the difficulties facing them, give them self-confidence and praise for their performance.
The need to rely on dialogue methods when directing orders to employees.
Rely on clear laws and regulations and move away from double standards, so that equality between employees is achieved.
Developing communication methods within the organization and in different directions so that there is an opportunity to influence employees and change their behavior, communication is important not only in transferring information between employees; it is a major reason for creativity and excellence at work.
Motivate employees to work by delegating authority to them in order to get away from routine and bureaucracy, and push them to accomplish and perform work with all skill and happiness.
Encourage employees to participate in the decision-making process, as their participation will create an organizational climate in which problems are minimized as much as possible.
The organization plans the career path for each work within the organization and achieves compatibility between the job and the incumbent, the high expectations of employees and their failure to achieve them or the lack of opportunity to achieve them in the organization, the employee becomes frustrated because of his unrealistic expectations.
Continuous training for both managers and employees, training is good for managers, because they take over the task of supervision and giving orders, so it is good to know the best way in which they should do their jobs, as well as for employees, appropriate attention should be paid in training to develop their skills and abilities in line with the developments taking place in the field of work.

In conclusion:

Alienation is an individual’s feeling of meaninglessness, self-alienation, lack of strength, desire to be alone and remain isolated.in a clearer sense, it is the obedience of human forces to higher forces. this results in the breakdown of close relationships of the individual, the rupture of belonging to the group and the increase in the gap that separates social groups. it is a state of separation from the reality of the individual with all its values, ideas, habits, etc., and a state of non-adaptation to society up to the state of indifference.

Therefore, the organization must take all necessary measures and measures to alleviate the employee’s feeling of job alienation, and every person must have faith and insist on fighting in life, no matter how he is subjected to pressures at work or in his private life, the will to live remains above all.