Ever tried chasing your own tail? Not in a metaphorical, slightly unhinged way—actually tried? You twist, you turn, you nearly get there… only to find yourself exactly where you started.
That’s what modern life feels like. A series of loops where you need something in order to get it, but can’t get it without already having it.
It’s an endless loop that costs time, money, and opportunity—but still takes you nowhere. And some of us, it seems, have put on an invisible cloak—not because we want to disappear, but because the system itself has made us unseen.
Loop #1: The Bank Paradox
Need money? Well, good luck borrowing it. Banks prefer lending to those who already have money—those with assets, stable incomes, and enough credit history to prove they don’t actually need a loan. But if you’re struggling, if you need financial backing to build stability, you’re “too risky.”
Yet, the moment you don’t need them anymore? The doors open.
Loop #2: The Job Experience Trap
They want “experienced candidates”, but won’t hire people to get experience. The solution? Internships—unpaid, of course. Or maybe “entry-level” jobs that somehow require five years of industry experience.
Then there’s the next phase: too much experience. Too old, too “overqualified.” The job market has no middle ground—either unproven or past the “ideal hiring range.”
And here’s where the loop tightens even more: instead of training local talent, companies import experience, sidestepping the need for mentorship or skill development. They claim they can’t find skilled candidates, yet refuse to build them. The result? The workforce isn’t lacking talent—it’s lacking opportunity.
Loop #3: AI Says No
Job searching used to be about people—agencies who got to know candidates, companies who understood potential. Now? It’s AI filters and keyword matching. If your résumé doesn’t perfectly mirror the algorithm’s ideal checklist, you don’t even make it to the human stage.
At some point, you wonder: Am I invisible?
Loop #4: Pushing Out Older Workers
The workforce is shrinking, yet older workers are being pushed out to pasture as if experience suddenly became a liability. Despite baby boomers making up a large portion of the population, hiring trends often ignore seasoned professionals in favor of younger, imported talent.
Australia has actively worked to combat ageism through pension incentives and employment campaigns, but in New Zealand, the issue remains. Businesses insist on needing experience, yet refuse to hire experienced people already here—instead looking to India and China to fill the gaps.
But here’s the real question: Are these hires up to standard? Different countries have different education systems, workplace cultures, and regulatory approaches. If companies are focused on simply filling roles quickly, are they really raising the bar, or lowering the standard?
Loop #5: The Risks of Outsourcing Payroll & Financial Data
Finance isn’t just numbers—it’s security, compliance, and trust. Yet companies often outsource payroll and financial data to countries with different accounting laws and tax practices, creating risks that could spiral into disaster.
Take Queensland Health—a payroll system outsourced to IBM that started at $6 million and ballooned into a $1.2 billion catastrophe, causing over 35,000 payroll errors. Underpayments, overpayments, entire wages disappearing—it was a masterclass in how cost-cutting can lead to chaos.
Or New Zealand’s Novopay—an outsourced payroll system for school staff that was so riddled with errors, thousands of teachers were left underpaid, unpaid, or incorrectly taxed. The fix? The government had to take back control, because the system itself was failing.
And yet, when the dust settles and billions disappear into bureaucratic black holes, accountability remains elusive. The executive who signed off on the disaster? Still employed, probably overseeing another risky venture. The decision-makers who let it happen? Shuffled into new roles, barely a dent in their careers.
Because when failure is large enough, it doesn’t destroy careers—it protects them. The invisible man of corporate mismanagement always finds another desk, another title, another project.
And it’s not just a metaphor. When Air New Zealand teetered on the edge of collapse in 2001 after the Ansett disaster, its Australian CEO, Gary Toomey, resigned. The government stepped in with an $885 million bailout. Jobs were lost. Confidence shattered.
And yet, Toomey walked away with a multimillion-dollar payout—a golden handshake reportedly worth up to $3.3 million.
Twelve years later, he resurfaced as CEO of Jet Airways, one of India’s largest airlines.
No accountability. No reckoning. Just another quiet rebrand.
The invisible man strikes again.
When failure gets a promotion and a cloak. Guess who’s still running things?
Loop #6: Entrepreneurship as the Escape—But How?
When every system seems designed to push people out, maybe it’s time to build your own path. Entrepreneurship, freelancing, finding ways to navigate outside of the rigid loops that refuse to bend.
But even then, you hit another paradox: building something requires capital—capital you can’t get without financial backing. The circle tightens.
Loop #7: The Motherhood Pause
If you’re a woman, chances are you’ll face a career detour—not because you lack ambition, but because having children still comes at a professional cost.
Yes, progress has been made. Flexibility exists in theory. But in practice? The burden is still uneven, the expectations unspoken—and the exhaustion very real.
It’s a cycle I had to work through. My mother did too. And now my daughter is in the thick of it—balancing career and family with strength and sacrifice.
Because even now, in 2025, motherhood still requires too many women to put their ambition on hold, to defer, to wait.
And it’s not just about choosing time off—it’s about who’s expected to take the hit.
Few men are asked to pause their careers for family. Fewer still volunteer. But those who do—who shoulder the domestic weight or step back to support their partners—are often the quiet force behind successful women, just as successful men have long relied on invisible labor.
Yet even that kind of support isn’t always an option. Because this isn’t just a gap bridged by privilege—it’s a chasm that many fall into alone.
Where’s the system for those doing it all without backup? The scaffolding for those in unexpected situations, left to juggle every role, every demand, without shared load or recognition?
This isn’t just a call for balance. It’s a call to build support into the structure—so that stepping back doesn’t mean falling behind, and doing it alone doesn’t mean doing it unsupported.
Loop #8: The Customer Service Maze
You’ve tried the help articles. You’ve rebooted. You’ve done the dance. And still, you call—only to be met by a robot that disconnects you mid-sentence, forcing you to start again.
If you’re lucky enough to reach a human, it’s often someone reading from a script you’ve already outpaced. So they pass you on. And on. Each handoff resets the story. No one owns the issue. No one really hears you.
And after 45 minutes on hold, your patience wears thin. The first person you reach—underpaid, undertrained, overwhelmed—gets your frustration. Not because they deserve it, but because the system has designed failure into the workflow—for both of you.
Because this isn’t about needing help. It’s about expecting competence, continuity, and care. And when support is scripted and empathy outsourced, you’re left stuck in a system built to end the call, not solve the problem.
But not always.
Once in a while, someone breaks the loop.
With DHL Couriers, the phone was answered by a human—no wait, no maze. This person listened, understood the issue, and worked to resolve it with a real, effective solution. It was such a stark contrast, I wrote to thank them. Because that level of service? That shouldn’t feel exceptional. But these days, it does.
And that’s the quiet tragedy: we don’t expect good service anymore. We brace ourselves before we call. We cringe at the thought of another hold tune, another call centre roulette.
And honestly? It’s not that much to ask.
I don’t need a miracle—I just need someone willing to say, “I’m not sure, but I’ll find out and come back to you.”
That used to be normal. Now it feels almost old-fashioned. Maybe performance metrics no longer reward patience or follow-through.
But if stats are only measuring speed, not accuracy, care, or trust—what exactly are they tracking?
Because when customer satisfaction takes a back seat to market share at the lowest possible cost, we all lose.
Love, Karen.
Breaking the Cycle (Or At Least Loosening It)
So where does this leave us? In an era where co0mpanies struggle to fill positions but aren’t adapting their hiring practices. Where AI filters eliminate rather than evaluate. Where businesses won’t invest in local training, but complain about talent shortages.
Maybe it’s not just job seekers who need to change tactics. Maybe the system itself needs to wake up—before it chokes itself out entirely.
Exposure. The Great unknown.
These are the voyages of Random Circuits, boldly entering the arena of ideas that disrupt, challenge, and transform.
