N/A

Myra's inbox was cluttered with numerous emails from various employment platforms. She had not received any substantial job offers in over a month. She was becoming borderline desperate and even cynical. The elusive promise of any supplemental income from the state didn't help the situation either.

Today as she reviewed her inbox two possible invitations looked promising. They both read that pending interviews would be contingent upon completing the prospective employer's assessment first.

As Myra adjusted her glasses and scrolled the laptop screen, she sighed heavily. Breakfast would have to wait and her morning workout too.

The first employment post mentioned the need for flexibility on all weekends and also mandatory overtime could be required on short notice. The daily commute would be approximately 25 miles away.

"No way, no thank you people," she uttered while deleting the post.

The other post seemed far more reasonable. It indicated it was a remote position that required only 40 hours a week, no weekends. The following disclaimer was also listed in bold black letters:

"Due to the sensitive nature of the organization's work, all employees activities are recorded the entire work day excluding breaks. In addition to lap top surveillance, a facial recognition software application will be used before and after each shift. This is non-negotiable."

Behind the wordy disclaimer, a virtual "okay" button appeared.

Reluctantly Myra clicked it. She felt no other options were available since her 401K had been slowly depleted. Her groceries were fading pretty fast and her gas tank was near empty.

A screen appeared with another disclaimer advising any candidate "N/A" was acceptable to use in any portion of the assessment modules. It further claimed it would not impact a candidate's score or eligibility for consideration.

Myra was surprised to see the organization's assessment included five sections. They were aptitude, educational level, a workplace attitude profile, vocal sample recording, and consent to upload a valid and official photo I.D. for facial recognition purposes. Once everything had been submitted by Myra, it would be reviewed and scored for "further consideration" and "eligibility" would also be determined.

While completing the workplace attitude profile, Myra decided to use the "N/A" method. "This is kind of odd, but I really need employment soon," she mumbled while reading the questions.

The first one read "WOULD YOU DUMB DOWN YOUR KNOWLEDGE TO AVOID (Virtual) CONFLICT IN THE WORKPLACE? This ALSO includes Managers, HR, Talent Acquisition, Engagement Team, etc.

"WOULD YOU CHANGE YOUR HAIRSTYLE OR LOOK IF ASKED TO DO SO BUT NO GOOD REASON WAS GIVEN?"(Remotely and/or In-Person Work Applies)

"WOULD YOU IDENTIFY AS NON-BLACK, NON-WHITE, A BLEND OF BOTH GROUPS, OR THIS IDENTIFIER IS UNIMPORTANT?"

"FACIAL RECOGNITION SOFTWARE AND SURVEILLANCE WILL BE UTILIZED, WOULD YOU ATTEMPT TO TURN OFF THE LAP TOP CAMERA DURING SCHEDULED WORK HOURS?"

"DO YOU THINK VOICE CADENCE AND TONE INFLUENCE OTHERS PERCEPTION OF YOU?"

"PLEASE RECORD YOURSELF SAYING NOT APPLICABLE OR N/A TO COMPLETE THIS ASSESSMENT."

Myra complied with the instructions and hit the final "submit" button. Immediately she received an email and it instructed her to click it for the "results of the assessment."

The brief email read: Dear candidate known as Myra, you willingly consented to our social experiment. Thanks for your time. A ONE TIME payment will arrive via the PAYYOURPARTICIPANT app within 48 hours. The app was automatically sent while we, (our organization) listened and watched you complete our social experiment.

No further action is required of you Myra.

-In Science and Social Experiments Do We Solemnly Trust

The Mental Mind Benders Group LLC

(This in an Auto-Reply email-there will be no further interaction)

Myra sat motionless while staring at her laptop.

-THE END