Silicon Valley tech bros are glorifying extreme overwork culture (again) and labelling it ‘grindcore’ – 19 top takedowns
In a Financial Times article by Hannah Murphy, which is behind a paywall – sorry about that – we learnt that the Silicon Valley tech bros have been glorifying overwork again.
Grindcore is the new hustle culture ft.trib.al/Yq5N8YC | opinion
— Financial Times (@financialtimes.com) January 28, 2026 at 4:58 PM
This is the piece of the day – please enjoy the absolute insanity of Grindcore or How the Tech Bros like to work 9am to 9pm and fill the rest with workouts, Paleo diets and Chinese peptides. By @mshannahmurphy.bsky.social as.ft.com/r/6da0e29b-1…
— Janine Gibson (@janinegibson.ft.com) January 29, 2026 at 8:48 AM
For ‘hustle culture’, read ‘no work-life balance’, which would make Nigel Farage very happy, but isn’t great for people’s health. Just look at Margaret Thatcher. She used to boast about only getting four hours of sleep per night, and where is she now? Exactly!
Quite apart from the abuse of people’s work-life balance, grindcore is already a thing.
I'm sorry but techbros don't get to coopt a perfectly good musical genre name. www.ft.com/content/d0b7…
— dan sinker (@dansinker.com) January 28, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Grindcore is taken guys
— Jason Wilson (@jasonaw.bsky.social) January 28, 2026 at 5:12 PM
If you’ve ever listened to West Midands band Napalm Death, you’ll have a good idea of what Grindcore sounds like, and even if you haven’t, it’s clear that the music genre coined the term first.
Music fans and other people who don’t want to slog themselves to death weighed in.
1.
Every article, reel or post about Grindcore of *any* kind makes me feel like this
— John C (@badsocialism.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 1:21 PM
2.
www.ft.com/content/d0b7…
No thank you.— Duncan Weldon (@duncanweldon.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 7:06 AM
3.
Ideology not results.
“There’s no evidence to support this approach to achievement. As opposed to improving outputs, it’s more of a statement."
We need a standard #FourDayWeek
@4dayweek.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/d0b7…— Natalie Bennett (@nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 9:32 AM
4.
I'm not taking life lessons from a 23 year old 🤣
5.
What do people always say on their deathbed? "I wish I worked 9am to 9pm, no wait 6am to 9pm"? Oh right, it's actually, "arrgh it hurts so much"
— Callistemon (@callistemon791.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 7:11 AM
6.
A form of masculinity so arid, so devoid of pleasure, so dedicated to the accumulation of capital (for someone else) that it subsists on 12 hour days 6 days a week, and workouts and rejuvenation and Chinese peptides the rest of the time.
www.ft.com/content/d0b7…
— Laleh Khalili (@lalehkhalili.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 9:44 AM
7.
— Luke Russell (@lukerussell.bsky.social) January 28, 2026 at 5:36 PM
8.
All of this could have been avoided if every STEM program had mandatory gender studies requirements
— Gam Silroy ❌️👑 (@gamsilroy.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 3:32 PM
9.
This is literally the capitalist lie: work like a dog and you will climb the ladder
What they don't tell you: The system is rigged. Your labour can't compete with handouts
I feel like post-2008 an entire generation learned this, why such willful forgetfulness in 2026?
www.ft.com/content/d0b7…— Patrick Galey (@patrickgaley.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 10:34 AM
10.
as someone who veers into this lifestyle from time to time, it is very much more self-distraction that aims to fill emptiness via structure than anything close to true self-actualization
— Luke Kawa (@ljkawa.bsky.social) January 29, 2026 at 9:58 AM