Dilbert cartoon first published on Sunday 15th November 1998

Dilbert//3501, first published 28 years ago on Sunday 15th November 1998

Tags

organization chart phone lists shreded picking clean headhunters steal away double pay drains initiative

Official transcript

The Boss holds up a piece of paper and says, "From now on, the organization chart will not be distributed."

The Boss crumples up a piece of paper and says, "And the internal phone lists will be shredded."

The Boss continues, "This will prevent headhunters from easily picking us clean."

Wally asks, "Why would headhunters call US?"

The Boss explains, "They want to steal you away and double your pay at another company."

Wally says, "What makes you think we won't leave on our own anyway?"

The Boss replies, "Because working here drains all your initiative."

Wally turns to Dilbert and Alice and says, "Let's prove him wrong."

Dilbert says, "Yeah! I'm NOT shredding my phone list!"

originally published on dilbert.com

Open source transcript

FROM NOW ON, THE ORGANIZATION CHART WILL NOT BE DISTRIBUTED.

AND THE INTERNAL PHONE LISTS WILL BE SHREDDED.

CRUMPLE THIS WILL PREVENT HEADHUNTERS FROM EASILY PICKING US CLEAN.

WHY WOULD HEADHUNTERS CALL US?

THEY WANT TO STEAL YOU AWAY AND DOUBLE YOUR PAY AT ANOTHER COMPANY.

WHAT MAKES YOU THINK WE WON'T LEAVE ON OUR OWN ANYWAY?

BECAUSE WORKING HERE DRAINS ALL OF YOUR INITIATIVE.

LET'S PROVE HIM WRONG!

YEAH!

I'M NOT SHREDDING MY PHONE LIST!

collated from github.com/jvarn/dilbert-archive

AI Analysis

The comic strip is titled "Headhunters Call Us" and features a company's attempt to prevent headhunters from easily picking up employees by shredding internal phone lists.

The Story

• The boss announces that the organization chart will not be distributed.
• An employee asks what makes them think they won't leave on their own anyway.
• The boss explains that working here drains all of their initiative.
• The employee asks why headhunters would call them, and the boss responds that it's because they're not shredding their phone list.

The Humor

• The comic strip pokes fun at the idea that companies try to prevent employees from leaving by making it difficult for them to find new jobs.
• The boss's solution to the problem is to shred the internal phone lists, which is an absurd and ineffective way to prevent headhunters from contacting employees.
• The comic strip uses humor to highlight the ridiculousness of the situation and the absurdity of the boss's solution.

generated by llama-3.2-11b-vision-instruct

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