Employee appreciation after 20, 30, even 40 years of service apparently means cupcakes, cakes, certificates, balloons, snacks and an awkward photo for the company Facebook page.

One worker gives a company 27 years and gets a cupcake. Another works 34 years and gets cupcakes. Others spend 30, 35 or 40 years at the same company and get a cake, a piece of paper, a plaque, some balloons or whatever happens to be available in the store that day.

And once I started looking through these employee anniversary posts, they just kept going.

In this video, we’re looking at employee appreciation, work anniversaries, employee recognition, company loyalty, years of service, corporate culture and what companies actually do when someone gives them decades of their working life.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with cake, flowers, snacks or celebrating an anniversary.

The weird part is when a corporation makes a giant public spectacle out of how much it supposedly appreciates someone after decades of work, takes their picture, posts it online and talks about their dedication and loyalty… while the actual recognition feels completely generic.

Somebody who worked there for one year can end up getting essentially the same thing as somebody who worked there for 27 years.

At that point, is this really about appreciating the employee?

Or is it employer branding?

Because the company gets a nice Facebook post showing everyone how much it supposedly values its people.

The worker gets a cupcake.

If someone gave your company 20, 30 or 40 years of their life, what do you think meaningful employee appreciation should actually look like?

And what’s the cheapest, weirdest or most insulting work-anniversary gift you’ve ever received?

#EmployeeAppreciation #WorkplaceCulture #CorporateCulture

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00:00 The Corporate Anniversary Song

00:32 Employee Appreciation After Decades of Work

01:20 27 Years of Service — Here’s a Cupcake

03:00 Why Companies Love These Appreciation Posts

05:00 Walmart Deleted the Viral Anniversary Post

06:30 The Employee Anniversary Rabbit Hole

08:00 30+ Years for Cakes and Cupcakes

10:00 One Year vs Decades of Service

12:00 Employee Appreciation or Company Marketing?

13:55 40 Years of Service

15:37 It Somehow Gets Worse

18:31 The Anniversary Posts Never End

21:00 Decades of Work for Balloons and Certificates

25:00 Corporate Anniversary Videos Are Even Worse

27:17 They Lied Just to Get the Video

28:04 65 Years Between Two Employees

29:26 $15 Gift Card vs 27 Years and a Cupcake

30:49 The Search Gets Even Worse

32:48 25, 30, 35, 40 Years…

34:16 What Does Employee Appreciation Actually Mean?