Is there a connection between religious practices and work within major technology companies? This question was raised by Carolyn Chen, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, who sought to answer it through her book titled: “Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley.”
The book investigates the relationships between religion and work in Silicon Valley, relying on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations of the workers there. It examines how newcomers shift from forming religious identities to developing new identities centered around their faith in their work, integrating spiritual practices into the workplace to create a sense of belonging that boosts productivity levels, reflecting a broader context related to the capitalism of “Techtopia.”
The Debate of Work and Religion:
In the late 20th century, corporate managers in the United States began to change the notion of employees being mere cogs in a machine by fostering a religious community within the workplace. This resulted in an increased sense of belonging among employees to their organizations. According to one study, the vast majority of professionals and managers reported that they often work overtime because they enjoy their work and spending time with colleagues much more than their activities outside the workplace.
This shift occurred because the material incentives offered to employees were no longer sufficient to ensure increased productivity, especially in the face of intense competition within the new global economy. Company leaders felt they needed to do more than simply restructure financial and professional incentives, leading them to focus on transforming their organizational cultures to extract the full discretionary effort of their skilled workers, encouraging employees to invest themselves fully—emotionally, socially, and spiritually—in their work.
This new direction seemed plausible, despite the debate over whether expanding work to become an institution that meets all human needs would ultimately undermine many other social institutions that organize human life. If highly skilled Americans devote all their time to work, it’s likely to impact their other human activities, a dilemma raised by labor and family scholars for years; they assert that work and family are competing commitments, meaning that the expansion of work comes at the expense of family and other vital social institutions, especially religion.
Throughout the 20th century, religious organizations were the original “mother institutions” in the United States. Even when religion declined in Western European countries due to industrialization, urbanization, and secularization, the United States remained exceptionally religious until the late 20th century, with more than 90% of Americans still claiming a religious identity. Religion functioned as a vital social force and was the primary source of community, belonging, and identity.
However, as Americans invest more of their time and energy in work, they simultaneously detach from the social dimensions of organized religion in their lives. As a result, religion’s influence on American social life and identities has diminished.
Institutional Motherhood:
The religious identities of technological immigrants decline upon moving to Silicon Valley due to changes in religious geography, as they become separated from communities where religion plays a significant role. They also relocate to one of the least religious areas in the United States. Consequently, the spiritual costs imposed by the work environment in Silicon Valley uproot individuals from the communities that nourish their religious identities. However, tech companies in Silicon Valley actively work to introduce spirituality into the workplace. According to one HR executive at Gateway Tech, well-being is not merely about physical aspects; it has evolved into a comprehensive state of spiritual wellness referred to as “wellness,” which has become a passion for many in life.
It is noteworthy that Gateway Tech is not the only company providing spiritual care in the tech workplace. Spirituality is now one of many perks offered in Silicon Valley workspaces. To understand why companies are interested in their employees’ physical and spiritual well-being, one must first grasp one of the most pressing issues in technology—the “burnout.” When you work in tech, you tend to work almost all the time.
In this context, some literature has proposed the idea of “institutional motherhood,” as companies recognize that when they meet the personal needs of their employees, workers are less likely to spend their time and energy elsewhere. More precisely, when employees receive mothering care within the company, they are not only financially tied to their employers but also physically, socially, and spiritually attached to their work. Therefore, companies provide numerous services for their employees, such as food services, dry cleaning, fitness and dietary trainers, as well as dedicated spaces for yoga and meditation.
However, what stands out from the current situation in Silicon Valley is that the philosophy behind providing these spiritual and physical services is less about how these services “care for” employees or make them “whole” and more about how the company can benefit from these perks, making it competitive for attracting the best “talents” amid fierce competition with other companies offering similar or superior benefits.
Institutional motherhood has now become a standard in Silicon Valley due to what sociologists call “institutional isomorphism,” where organizations in the same competitive field end up resembling each other. Google has emerged as the gold standard in this industry, making it difficult for most companies, especially small startups, to match its legendary comforts.
Human Capital Development:
Over the past 40 years, manufacturing industries have gained additional returns by reducing labor costs through mechanization and outsourcing unskilled labor to developing countries where labor is cheaper. However, this is quite different in knowledge industries such as technology, where the most valuable assets are the knowledge and enthusiasm of skilled workers. Instead of outsourcing certain types of work or technology, tech and other advanced knowledge industries have turned to increasing the value of their “human capital.”
This may explain why many companies in recent years have become interested in the spirituality of their workforce, as there is a prevailing belief that internal growth translates into capital growth—a fundamental assumption of the training community. In this context, human assets are the only ones that grow and are not static.
Tech companies not only offer yoga and mindfulness classes but have also started presenting work itself as a religion, according to the author. Companies are no longer merely economic entities but have evolved into institutions that provide a spiritual framework in a capitalist world. This was reflected in the interviews the author conducted with employees in Silicon Valley, where some described themselves as becoming more spiritual after moving there. Most did not identify with a religion or belong to any religious sect, nor did they engage in religious practices through traditional religious institutions; instead, they were creating an environment within work.
Silicon Valley tech companies utilize the same spiritual practices that workers engaged in during their religious rituals before arriving in the valley to increase productivity levels. Tech firms enthusiastically embrace the pastoral role of religion, offering spiritual care as a means to make their workers more engaged and productive.
However, this raises a dilemma regarding the colonization of life and spirit by technology in Silicon Valley, as the meaning of religious traditions changes when they become part of work. Today, tech workers rush to learn meditation, not as a spiritual practice as part of religious rituals, but rather as a productivity-enhancing practice.
Thus, the author asserts that when work replaces religion in these tech companies, religion adopts the instrumental logic of work, and the changes in the nature of work and the economy over the past 40 years have contributed to shaping the spiritual dimensions of Silicon Valley. The philosophy of “the religion of work” in Silicon Valley reflects how the new economy and neoliberalism more broadly change how tech workers understand and practice religious traditions.
Overall, according to the author, when work replaces religion, religion adopts the instrumental logic of work, and users develop balance, compassion, and clear-mindedness, not because they seek to be virtuous, but because they want to improve their performance and convert it into economic value.
Magnet of “Techtopia”:
Silicon Valley provides a model of what happens to society when its members engage in worship. The technology industry has produced a new phenomenon called “Techtopia,” reflecting a social “operating system”—a engineered community where people reach the highest levels of achievement at the ideal workplace. It promises skilled individuals a new kind of “perfection,” as Techtopia—managed expertly and based on data and merit—offers tech workers what their families, religions, neighborhoods, unions, and civic organizations have failed to provide over the past forty years: fundamentally, meaning, purpose, recognition, spirituality, and social connectivity.
The promise of Techtopia may seem far-fetched, even comical to most Americans, but it genuinely addresses the growing absence of American spirit and the decline of attachment to social institutions. Over the past forty years, Americans have withdrawn not only from religion but also from marriage and civic associations that once provided “perfection.” Thus, there is no alternative or other social institution that sincerely aims to meet the material, social, and spiritual needs of its members as work does for its skilled laborers.
In this techtopian capitalism, work becomes the primary source of human identity, acting as a large magnet that draws employees’ time and energy entirely away from their connections to other social institutions. Techtopia seeks to harness all energies away from these institutions and direct them to serve work.
There is a dilemma associated with this, namely the extreme pattern that tech companies increasingly adopt to work—they redirect their employees’ energy internally, isolating them from external influences, storing much of their time, energy, and passions to the extent that little remains for anything else. They meet many of their employees’ needs, allowing tech workers to become detached from the public. Consequently, Techtopia erodes the collective capacity to build and sustain the common good, which not only harms the communities in which they reside but also undermines the foundations of participatory democracy.
In conclusion, Carolyn Chen states that it has become challenging to engage tech companies and workers in community issues. Tech workers are particularly disengaged from public policy, participating much less than professionals in fields like healthcare, real estate, or banking. They do not vote or know their local representatives. Furthermore, the regulations designed to protect the public interest are of little concern to tech companies that aim to change the world. The conflict between the tech industry and the public interest has now become familiar, likely leading to future political conflicts.
Source:
Carolyn Chen, Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley, Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford, 2022.
