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In Severance, Office Perks Couldn't Be More Sinister

There's no such thing as a free (work) lunch.

At least for now, the perk works: we see Dylan promptly fall back in line, going from taking a literal bite out of Lumon boss Milchick (Tramell Tillman) last season to again becoming a diligent cog in the machine. “In Severance, where the finger traps are given out as rewards for the mysterious work of the Macrodata Refinement team, the meaning is clear: If you just stop questioning the corporation and struggling with your existential doubts, you will be free. Labour historians have described these types of perks as one of the features of welfare capitalism, a term that came about in the 1920s when American companies began offering employees subsidised housing as part of their job package, along with health insurance and retirement plans, with the point being to make workers more productive and dissuade them from joining unions.

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