In the ever-evolving world of technology, where innovation once promised endless prosperity, a darker trend has taken hold. Cory Doctorow, the prolific author and tech critic, has long sounded the alarm on what he calls “enshittification”—the gradual degradation of services and products as companies prioritize profits over users, workers, and quality. This phenomenon, Doctorow argues, isn’t accidental but a deliberate shift in corporate strategy, particularly in Big Tech, where monopolistic practices squeeze value from every corner.

Doctorow’s latest call to action targets the heart of the industry: its workforce. In a recent piece published in Communications of the ACM, he urges tech workers to unionize as the primary defense against this downward spiral. He points to the mass layoffs that have rocked Silicon Valley, from Meta to Google, leaving skilled engineers and developers feeling as disposable as gig economy drivers.

The Roots of Enshittification

Enshittification, a term Doctorow coined in 2022, describes a predictable cycle: platforms start by wooing users with superior experiences, then pivot to extracting maximum revenue from suppliers and partners, and finally turn on their own users with ads, paywalls, and diminished functionality. As detailed in his book “Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It,” published by Verso Books, this process is exacerbated by lax antitrust enforcement, allowing a handful of giants to dominate without fear of competition.

For tech workers, the implications are profound. Doctorow highlights how companies like Amazon treat employees as interchangeable parts, with grueling conditions and minimal protections. He draws parallels to historical labor struggles, noting that without collective bargaining, workers bear the brunt of corporate greed—evident in the recent waves of tech layoffs that have eliminated tens of thousands of jobs since 2023.

Unions as a Counterforce

Unionization, Doctorow contends, offers a bulwark against such exploitation. In the Slashdot coverage of his ACM article, he emphasizes that organized labor can enforce fair wages, job security, and ethical standards, preventing companies from “enshittifying” their internal operations. He cites successes like the Alphabet Workers Union at Google, which has pushed back against unethical projects and discriminatory practices.

Moreover, Doctorow argues that unions empower workers to influence product decisions, potentially halting the enshittification of user-facing services. Imagine engineers collectively refusing to implement invasive surveillance features or predatory algorithms—this collective power could realign corporate priorities toward sustainability rather than short-term gains.

Broader Industry Implications

The push for unions comes at a pivotal moment, with antitrust actions heating up against tech behemoths. As reported in The American Prospect‘s review of Doctorow’s work, deregulation has fueled this “brown stage capitalism,” where platforms decay into profit-extracting machines. Tech workers, often siloed in high-paying roles, have historically resisted unionizing, but Doctorow warns that the era of golden handcuffs is over.

He envisions a future where unionized tech labor collaborates with regulators and users to dismantle monopolies, fostering interoperability and competition. In his Democracy Now! interview, Doctorow stresses that without such bottom-up resistance, enshittification will only accelerate, eroding innovation and worker dignity alike.

Challenges and the Path Forward

Yet, organizing in tech faces hurdles, from anti-union campaigns to the freelance nature of much work. Doctorow, drawing from his Medium post on “The Enshittification of Tech Jobs,” notes that companies exploit legal loopholes to misclassify workers, denying them benefits. Overcoming this requires solidarity across roles, from coders to content moderators.

Ultimately, Doctorow’s message is one of empowerment: tech workers hold the keys to reversing enshittification. By joining unions, they can demand accountability, ensuring that the industry’s future benefits creators, not just shareholders. As tech continues to shape society, this labor resurgence could redefine power dynamics for generations.