alt Hacker News> not to become part of a family where everyone belongs no matter what
I think this isn't helped by the fact that HR in alot of companies in the past decade or so has been going with this narrative. We are all a family together in this, stay late when needed, work extra/after-hours, etc.. Lots of places even have the expectation in this regard.
Of course this all goes away instantly when you get cold-emailed a layoff for example. I think its a systemic problem that originated some decade ago in an attempt to exploit people's judgment by creating self-doubt (ie: work more/harder under the premise that if you dont you are letting your "family" down), got perpetuated around alot, all job postings are worded like that nowadays too ("join our family") and it gives the newcomers to the job market the wrong expectation.
The worst offenders are all under IT companies as far as I can see, but because it's been going for so long it wouldn't surprise me if this is industry wide at this point for non-manual-labor job offers.
The "we're all a big family" narrative is a psychological ploy to try to exploit the need by most people to feel like they belong to some group. This need is deeply interwoven into our psyche. And as more traditional structures of society (extended family, churches, social clubs, etc) erode, it leaves a void that many cannot really understand. IMO, this particular message is almost never true.
Company "mission statements" and such are a similar tactic. Though I think it's a bit less cynical, because the company leadership sometimes (rarely IMO) believes in the mission to a minor degree.