Reality Show Idea - Tell Me You're NOT Watching This

I work in a manufacturing company like most loyal readers are more than aware. And not a week goes by that I am not accused of not doing work by the production workers. To them, hard labor is work, and sitting behind a desk not only doesn't qualify for work, it would be nothing short of their idea of heaven. And if not for dumb luck, the roles would be reversed.

Let's reserve them.

Picture it! We'd call it, "Try to Do My Job." You take the ten most senior people in manufacturing and switch them out for the supervisors, production manager, HR, accounting, sales, marketing, the CFO, the CEO, and engineering. The people in those positions would have to work in the production environment. The selection of who's doing what job should be decided among the teams, and that should be an episode in and of itself.

Yes, the wages would also flip.

Who's not watching the new supervisors, production managers, and HR people violate laws and set rules that destroy the company. Who's not watching people who generally do NOT get there hands dirty get their hands dirty. Who's not watching the random raises given, the firings, the promotions, the dirty hands, the sweating and the toil of white-collar people earning blue collar wages.

This would happen for a month. If a decision is truly damning (like closing or selling a company), then the CEO would intervene. If someone was fired, then they still get paid for the duration of the show (but they can't perform work), and the company is forced to live without someone in that position. Hiring people can only be undone after the month too.

Other fun things that would happen: the re-hiring of well-liked-but-useless employees. The firing of the guy that the production workers uniformly hate. The moment the production guys realize they are in over their head (specifically when they get sued for firing the HR person). The moment the CEO collapses of exhaustion. The moment one of the office people decided, "F*ck it!", and outworks the average employee 2-to-1.

What changes would the company make afterwards?

Who's NOT watching this show?