When I used to work in a fine dining restaurant, everybody wanted to be the next big hotshot chef. Sabotage was more common than cooperation and you would feel lonely in your work environment.

As part of my job, I plan and run events such as kids’ clubs, holiday events, bingo nights, campfires, and more. Customers and cottage owners often complain about event times, demand prizes, or direct negative comments toward me, even before opening hours. Since I am currently the only events staff member besides my busy supervisor, this pressure can become overwhelming.

This relates to Marx’s idea of alienation from other people because workers and customers are separated by class and economic power, creating unequal and transactional relationships instead of authentic human interactions.

I can relate this to experiences in part-time customer service work where the main focus was speed, efficiency, and meeting company expectations rather than enjoying the work itself. Tasks became repetitive every shift, and there was little opportunity to be creative or feel personally connected to the job. According to Marx, this is alienation because workers lose control over the labour process and may begin to feel disconnected from the work they are doing.

In this role, I often had to follow a very strict schedule created by the supervisors, including set times for activities, snack breaks, and outdoor play. Even when I had ideas for more engaging activities or different ways to support the children, I usually couldn’t change the plan because everything had to follow the program structure. Over time, this made the work feel less creative and more repetitive, since I was mainly just carrying out instructions rather than making decisions about how the day should go.

According to Marx, alienation from the process of labour happens when workers do not have control over how their work is done and instead feel like they are just a part of a system where tasks are assigned and must be followed. In my experience, even though I enjoyed working with the children, I sometimes felt disconnected from the actual “process” of the work because I wasn’t able to shape it or fully express my own ideas.

This type pf alienation is common in the capitalist workplace because businesses focus mainly on productivity and profit. Workers contribute to the success of the company while still feeling separated from the value their labour creates.

- Frishta Yari

While working as a host in a casual dining restaurant, I encountered this type of alienation. The majority of my work involved doing the same things every shift, such clearing tables, serving patrons, and occasionally assisting other employees when the restaurant got busy. Due to the fast-paced nature of the restaurant, I was expected to finish jobs quickly and effectively, frequently without pausing or slowing down. In an attempt to keep up with the workload, I occasionally unintentionally injured myself due to this strain.

Customer service encounters also left me emotionally exhausted. On one occasion, after waiting a long time for his bill, a customer lost his cool and shouted at me. However, as a host, I lacked the authority to collect payments or provide bills, as those responsibilities fell to the servers and managers. I was still expected to handle the customer's annoyance in a professional manner even though the problem was beyond my control.

Marx claims that because workers are viewed as components of the system rather than as unique individuals with creativity or control over their labor, this kind of work can lead to alienation. This was evident in my experience because there was little opportunity for personal control or enjoyment in the work itself, with a strong emphasis on speed, repetition, and customer happiness.

This affected the care of people with disabilities because I realised that there was less time to build meaningful relationships with my clients, provide them with emotional support and focus on their individual needs. Care feels more task-centered than person-centered. This affected me personally because I joined the field to support and connect with people limited abilities. The strict routines and heavy workload made me feel emotionally drained, disconnected, and less fulfilled in my role.

This creates this weird disconnect because I’m the one hyping up the food, making sure it gets to the table looking perfect, and helping the restaurant make money, but I don’t really get to enjoy the product of that work. According to Marx, that’s exactly what alienation looks like. The product becomes something external to the worker, something that belongs to the employer and the paying customer, not the person doing the labour. So even though I’m part of the process that makes the restaurant successful, I’m still separated from the very things I help sell.

• Maddie Nelson

Petsmart tries to push for a friendly, inviting, and casual experience for customers. However, we as associates are expected to constantly be pushing different offers, fundraisers, and memberships into customer faces. We are directly measured with it and it comes to a point where we are not experiencing customers as people, but rather another number to add to our "autoship pre-enrollments" or "dog training" signups. Petsmart only wants us to create a "friendly, inviting, and casual" experience because it is what makes the most profit and brings the most people back. This feels really alienating to me in the sense that we do not get to have genuine interactions with these people and if we want to keep our job we have to treat them as another sale opportunity rather than someone to help.

I am a Pet Associate at Petsmart and I am cross-trained in every department of the store except for the salon. I think that the type of alienation I experience the most at my job is, possibly unexpectedly, 3. Alienation from others/other workers. This may seem odd due to the heavy involvement of customer service in the job, however it is the expectations that the company puts upon us that make our interactions with customers alienating.

Petsmart tries to push for a friendly, inviting, and casual experience for customers. However, we as associates are expected to constantly be pushing different offers, fundraisers, and memberships into customer faces. We are directly measured with it and it comes to a point where we are not experiencing customers as people, but rather another number to add to our "autoship pre-enrollments" or "dog training" signups. Petsmart only wants us to create a "friendly, inviting, and casual" experience because it is what makes the most profit and brings the most people back. This feels really alienating to me in the sense that we do not get to have genuine interactions with these people and if we want to keep our job we have to treat them as another sale opportunity rather than someone to help.

However, in doing so, I often find myself regulating and hiding my own emotions. I suppress parts of myself in order to perform my role effectively. I act the way I am trained to de-escalate situations and keep things running smoothly, to the point that it begins to feel like I am simply going through the motions.

This creates a sense of alienation from my own humanity. While I encourage and teach others to express themselves and develop emotionally, I am required to do the opposite. In order to remain professional and keep my job, I must distance myself from my own feelings. This results in a disconnect between who I am and how I am allowed to exist in my work, which feels like a loss of authenticity and human expression.

However—and this is where I split from this way of thinking—I think this is fine, even good. I like my job: it’s easy; it’s very social; customers are there to have fun, and are usually in a good mood; the hours allow me to have time during the day to do the things I love... While technically alienated from the production chain, this chain (and capitalism in general) has made everyone, especially poor people, significantly better off and has raised the quality of life drastically compared to any other historical period. Moreover, I disagree with Marx’s oppressor/oppressed framework in general: I think that inequality is inevitable, and that there are pros and cons to any kind of work or position in society; and I think that most wealthy people have earned their money by making life better for the average person, have taken risks, and have created countless jobs for others. Alienation is a useful concept for understanding one’s place in the economy, and this way of thinking has certainly led to improvements in working conditions; but overall, I just can’t get behind it (beyond a useful thought exercise), seeing as Marxism led to between 80 and 100 million deaths in the 20th century. I cannot separate this historical fact from the theory, as much as I would like to, and because of that, I’m highly skeptical of its continued use in academia.

--Graham Wylie

In my personal experience, a good example of this was when I worked at mastermind. Every shift was carried out according to a specific routine, including wrapping presents in the exact same way every time, handling the transaction, saying a particular phrase to customers, and spending hours standing near the cash register. It all happened because there was a great focus on the speed of transactions made, and workers had very little freedom to carry out activities in accordance with their wishes.

This can be used to explain Marx's concept of alienation because it entails losing control of the process of labor.

-Skyler Findlay

For example, while I worked at Tim Hortons, I had to adhere to strict routines during busy shifts. Orders had to be taken, drinks made, stations cleaned and customers dealt with quickly and accurately in accordance with company procedures. Rush hour meant no freedom to be creative or work at my own pace, everything was timed and focused on efficiency. The work did help me earn money and gain experience, but it sometimes felt like hard work and exhausting instead of personally fulfilling.

Marx describes this as an example of alienation from the labour process, in that the worker has no control over the conditions or methods of work. Instead, the employer decides the pace and structure of the job, causing work to feel mechanical rather than meaningful.

In my experience, I was not in control of the labour process; this is Marx's definition of alienation from the work process. The role did not revolve around aspects of creativity or decision-making, but instead followed company rules and customer demand. Even though I was doing the work, it sometimes felt more like completing assigned tasks on autopilot than expressing my own abilities or interests.

I think this can happen in many workplaces where employees repeat the same tasks every day without having much freedom or creativity. For example, in some retail or warehouse jobs, workers may spend long hours doing repetitive tasks while being expected to meet strict time goals. This can make work feel exhausting and less meaningful because the worker is mainly focused on completing tasks instead of enjoying the work itself.

I have experienced something similar in the workplace when I had to repeat the same tasks every shift and follow very strict procedures. Even though the work was important, it sometimes felt tiring and disconnected because there was little opportunity to make decisions or use creativity. According to Marx, this is an example of alienation because the worker loses control over the work process and may begin to feel disconnected from their labour.

After i pass a complete order to a customer, i really did not have any association nor Ownership of that product i was instrumental to prepare. the food immediately belongs to the company’s, not me, even though it took my effort, dedication, precision and hard labor to prepare. No form of attachment exists between me and what i prepared. This is in alignment with Marx’s concept of product of labor not belongs to the worker as well as he have no ownership and control of that product of work.

With time the whole work would be seen as tedious for since focus is on the output efficiency instead of owning and identifying with our produce.

I went into an entrepreneurial journey before taking a gap year. I spent a lot of time working as a freelance appointment setter for other, larger companies. My daily work involved prospecting, sending cold outreach, and ideally booking meetings.

I developed a product of my labour; in this case, it was generating a qualified lead, which was immediately handed off to the company's internal sales team. I had no ownership over the lead, no say in how the final deal was negotiated. I just received my standard flat rate or small commission. According to Marx, this is classic alienation from the product: I poured my time, energy, and skills into creating something considered valuable, but the business owner mostly reaped that value. Recognizing this disconnect is a major reason I eventually tried to start my own business, so I could have more ownership over my labour. - Deezy Graham

- Olivia Dixon

I have experienced this in my current job. I started working there 6 months ago. When I arrived I could feel the tension and distrust in the atmosphere. My co-workers are constantly monitoring my work and looking for small ways to position themselves above me in front of management. They are constantly competing with me (one sided competition) and band together and exclude me. I am good at my job and very quick to learn. The better I perform at my job, the more alienation and tensions I experience from my co-workers. While their behavior is very unprofessional and wrong, I don’t take it personally and see it as a “survival behavior”. The corporate system is what is contributing to this toxic work environment and insecurity. The system is set up where employees have little to no job security and feel the need to compete for positions and have very little trust for their team members. This is what causes workplace competition and alienation. 

• Alienation from humanity, or the essence of humanity

I have experienced this in a few different ways in my own life. One obvious example is as follows. I am a single Mom and I go to church. I have tried everything to be a part of the church community with other mothers in the church. I have never been welcomed or invited to anything and when I do see the “Married Moms” at church it's a very brief conversation. I have a few friends who are accepted in those groups and they are married. When I do go to an event or group discussion the topic of me being a single Mom always comes up and strange questions are asked about my situation. This is how I gathered that this is the reason I am excluded and seen as an “other” or “novelty” (Kind of crazy since it’s 2026) I have seen this happen in church communities because a single mom has a different life than a married mom and maybe the married mothers feel awkward or like “she is not one of us” or don’t know how to relate. 

-Janvi Patel

An example of this would be during one of my shifts, when I was trapped behind the glass counter, taking bags of ready-made food from the fridge and placing them in the display case for customers, I had to get it done before my lunch, so that I wouldn't leave my work for the next person after me. Since our manager tracked our speed and efficiency so closely, there was almost no time to talk to others and have a genuine human connection. My coworkers and I felt completely disconnected. Making the working environment unpleasant during that time.

Alienation from the process of labour occurs when workers have little control over how their work is completed. When I worked in customer service and food service positions, many of my tasks were repetitive and had to be completed according to strict procedures. There was very little opportunity for creativity or decision-making because everything had to be done according to company policies no matter what. This sometimes made the work feel disconnected from my own interests and abilities.

Alienation from other workers occurs when workplace structures limit meaningful social interaction. During busy shifts, employees were focused on serving customers and completing tasks as quickly as possible. Although we worked together, there was often little time to build relationships beyond work responsibilities. This created a feeling of separation even among people working in the same environment.

Marx argued that industrial capitalism creates these forms of alienation because workers often have limited control over their labour and become disconnected from both their work and the people around them.

This relates to Marx's idea of alienation from the product of one's labor, where the worker is disconnected from the final product and is mostly doing one segment of a large industrial process. -Saron Woldeyesus