Job Enshittification

The progressive deterioration of job quality, conditions, and meaning over time, while workers remain trapped by lack of alternatives. Job enshittification describes how positions that once offered dignity, security, or satisfaction are systematically degraded—responsibilities increase while pay stagnates, autonomy is replaced by algorithmic management, benefits are stripped, schedules become unpredictable, the work itself becomes meaningless or actively harmful. Each change is small, framed as "necessary adjustment," but cumulatively transforms decent jobs into traps. The job doesn't just stay bad; it actively worsens, year by year, until workers find themselves in positions they would never have accepted at the start.

Job Enshittification Example: "When she took the job, it had purpose, autonomy, and respect. Ten years later, with relentless 'optimization,' micromanagement, and meaningless metrics, she barely recognized it—not burnout, but Job Enshittification, the active decay of work itself."

by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Intentional Enshittification

The deliberate degradation of wages, jobs, products, or services by those who control them, as a strategy for extracting maximum value from locked-in users or workers. Intentional enshittification occurs when platforms or employers consciously decide to make things worse because they can—because switching costs are high, because alternatives have been eliminated, because workers are trapped, because users are addicted. Each degradation is calculated: how much can we cut before they leave? How much can we extract before they break? The process is not accidental but engineered, not inevitable but chosen.

Intentional Enshittification Example: "The app could have maintained quality, but once workers depended on it for survival, they intentionally degraded pay and conditions—not market forces, but Intentional Enshittification, the deliberate poisoning of your own product because you own the only well."

by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Systemic Enshittification

The pervasive, structural tendency of systems under late capitalism to degrade over time, embedded in the normal functioning of markets, platforms, and institutions. Systemic enshittification describes how quality decay has become the default trajectory—not because anyone chooses it, but because the system rewards extraction over investment, short-term profit over long-term value, and monopoly power over competition. Under systemic enshittification, everything tends toward worse: jobs, products, services, cities, relationships, life itself. Not because anyone wills it, but because the system's logic inevitably produces degradation.

Systemic Enshittification Example: "Everything seemed to get worse every year—jobs paid less, products broke faster, services cut corners, cities became harder to afford—not conspiracy, but Systemic Enshittification, the default trajectory of a system optimized for extraction rather than flourishing."

by Dumu The Void March 12, 2026

Theory of Global Enshittification

The theory, popularized by internet observers, that describes the inevitable lifecycle of digital platforms and, increasingly, everything else: first they're good to users, then they abuse users to benefit business customers, then they abuse both to benefit shareholders, and finally they become a hollowed-out shell of their former selves, optimized for extraction rather than utility. The theory of global enshittification explains why every app you love eventually becomes unusable, why quality declines as soon as a company goes public, and why it feels like the whole world is slowly getting worse in specifically annoying ways. It's not paranoia; it's capitalism.

Example: "He watched his favorite social media platform implement its thirtieth enshittification update—more ads, less content, features nobody asked for—and realized the theory of global enshittification was playing out in real time. The app had been good, then useful, then tolerable, and now it was just a slot machine designed to extract his attention and sell it to the highest bidder. He didn't delete it. That's how enshittification wins."

by Dumu The Void February 15, 2026

Exshitification

The process of going instinct or dying by horrific odor.

Root Word: Exshitify

Your Taco Bell farts are about to start a mass Exshitification.

by WilsonFist February 24, 2022

Enshitification

Enshitification (noun) or Enshitify (verb): refers to the gradual decline in quality of digital platforms and services, typically following a predictable pattern: platforms initially offer great value to attract users, then exploit those users to attract business customers, and finally abuse both groups to maximize profits for shareholders. This can also apply to organizations or individuals who premeditatively act with sentient malfeasance to make circumstances worse for themselves or for others.

The term was coined by journalist Cory Doctorow to describe how internet platforms become progressively worse over time. Examples include social media sites increasing ads and reducing organic reach, streaming services fragmenting content across multiple paid tiers, or search engines prioritizing paid results over useful information.

The process usually involves platforms leveraging their market dominance and user lock-in effects to extract more value while providing less utility, ultimately degrading the user experience in favor of short-term financial gains.

Example 1:

Wang: “Ashok, your LinkedIn enshitification KPIs are below expectations. Make them rise like your H-1B and RSUs depend on it.”

Ashok: “Wang, I will add videos of ‘Gen-Z Stare’ and ‘Marketing Tips from the Trailerpark’ to the feeds of everyone with at least twenty years of professional experience.”

Wang: “Very good. Now let’s ensure our enshitification KPIs and layoff some US citizens. That will get those RSUs up, too.”

Example 2:

SLC Station Owner: “I want to sell this here rim-shot signal with a loyal following and awesome deejays who know their stuff to Odd-Assy, IfartRadio, La Invasora de Culo, or K-Jeebus. Can you help me?”

Slick Radio Consultant: “Well, the first step in pre-sale enshitification is to take the music your loyal listeners enjoy, such as Stan Ridgway, Prefab Sprout and Ocean Blue and mix in some Coldplay, Evanescence and Linkin Park!”

SLC Station Owner: “That’s a great start there, sparky, but can you get me closer to sale? I need to retire to Mesquite!”

Slick Radio Consultant: “Fast-Track enshitifcation has you firing all of the beloved deejays, pissing-off the loyal listeners, and that check will clear in no time. Enjoy Mesquite!”

Example 3:

2024 American Voter: “I want to ensure rightful enshitification of 'murica for generations to come!”

2024 American Voter: Makes corresponding selection, belches, and goes for a Dairy Queen Hung'r'buster Meal afterwards

by Wing Lung and his Camry July 31, 2025

enquittification

The process of altering a jobs duties, pace, workload, benefits, compensation, or other factors which actively make it worse to the point where it seems as if the employer is actively attempting to drive their employees to sell other opportunities.

They're adding mandatory Saturdays to the schedule, just another notch alo g the enquittification track...

by Emperor_Cartagia April 30, 2024