The world — if social media is to be believed — is awash with people who have redefined the concept of the employee-employer relationship.

They act as if they are doing employers a favor by showing up.

We’re not talking about people punching in 15 minutes late or deciding to blow off a workday because they feel like it.

We’re talking about people refusing to show up to a workplace, period, and still get a paycheck on their terms.

Ever since the pandemic became fodder for the rear view mirror, there have been fairly large numbers of people that take it as a personal affront that employers expect them to show up at the business that issues them paychecks.

And in doing so, they have made it clear they better know how to run the business than the owners.

Physically show up for work?

How dare employers make such a request.

Employees contend they are more effective working remotely.

And bosses are idiots for thinking otherwise.

They don’t need the distraction of being around fellow employers or having supervisors keep tabs on them.

It’s demeaning.

It undermines work-life balance.

And it’s just plain archaic.

Most of those supporting the cutting edge take on what defines employers, employers and workplaces and how are the ones who get to determine how work gets done tend to be in the tech world and those in corporate white collar jobs.

For the past year or so, the Internet has been flooded with those that say the basic rules of the workplace have changed forever and we — or at least they — are not going back to the way things were.

The big raises, bonuses, and endless perks that some employers have let loose with as they struggled to get people to even work at their kitchen table in their underwear has emboldened more than a few people.

But there are signs that the heady days of employee knows best are starting to go the way of computer punch cards.

And the one sign that should give people pause is the latest social media trend of being indignant about being told they are being let go via Zoom.

There have been a growing chorus of employees saying how impersonal it is to be released from a job in such a manner.

But what do they expect?

In many cases, the layoffs are with companies that wanted employees to return to the workplace, but workers refused to do so.

If you, as an employee, resist and basically pooh-pooh the notion face-to-face time isn’t really needed to do your job, then why are you irked that you are not terminated face-to-face?

What does one expect when you embrace remote work as the norm? Human Resources Department driving to your home to deliver the bad news?

Another sign is the fact the demand for jobs where just a year or so ago employers were tossing about fat signing bonuses, rolling out free daily dessert carts, and paying for commuter expenses are now jettisoning such perks.

And the real kicker is the shift to artificial intelligence solutions.

It’s amazing how even tech jobs are biting the dust as AI gains momentum.

Such a trend will, of course, create other jobs including some we can’t even begin to envision.

Given how we must share every detail of our personal life from photos of what we are about to eat to our unfiltered thoughts on everything under the sun, it was only a matter of time before people began recording and posting video of their being fired.

Of course, it comes with the prerequisite indignant zinging social media commentary so one can gain affirmation through as many clicks as possible.

When queried about whether they are concerned posting such videos or comments will come back to haunt them in job hunts,  the stock answer is that is who they are — “straight-forward” people. And they will wait for employers who value that.

The wait may be longer than they think.

And that is especially true if companies use AI to scan the Internet to decide between comparable candidates.

What AI program would a human resources department rely on that would — when all things are basically equally — pick someone that trashes their employers?

Wall Street Journal stories about the job market are being laced with more and more examples of people in tech fields and corporate employment who a year or so ago were being lured with bigger salaries, signing bonus, additional paid vacation, and being able to set their own workplaces and work 100 percent remotely if they chose.

They were switching jobs every year or so. And when they did go job hunting, they had two or more offers to ponder with employers often upping the ante to beat out the competition.

Now many of the same people are finding employers will offer them less than they are now making when they go to jump ship.

Some who are have lost their jobs and could find another within days just a year or so ago, have racked up hundreds of applications without a single bite.

It goes without saying that the vast majority of the workforce does not have jobs that come close to the aforementioned scenarios that are well-documented in feeds such as Yahoo News.

The diverging realities of work as illustrated by those who are defined by what is celebrated on social media and the rest of world when it comes to employers and employees are both constricted by economic booms and busts,

There really is no new reality, per se.

The bottom line, after all is said and done, is indeed the bottom line.

Not many are building pyramids or in jobs that will stand the test of time,

One can’t help but wonder if Bob Cratchit and the enlightened version of Mr. Scrooge would think we’ve all gone mad when it comes to the workplace circa 2024.