Company man

{{Short description|Term for employee of large corporation}}

{{Other uses}}Company man is a term for the loyal employee of a large corporation that was in use from the early 19th century to the late 20th century.{{Cite book |last=Sampson |first=Anthony |title=Company Man: The rise and fall of corporate life |date=1995 |publisher=Times Business, Random House |isbn=0-8129-2631-5 |location=New York |pages=xi}} It was often used to describe an individual who had worked for the same company for their entire careers, and whose identity was thus closely tied to their employer.{{Cite journal |last=Fort |first=Timothy L. |title=The First Man and the Company Man: The Common Good, Transcendence, and Mediating Institutions |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=1978025&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=American Business Law Journal |volume=36 |issue=3 |doi=10.1111/j.1744-1714.1999.tb01020.x |via=EBSCOHost}} In the context of corporate United States, the term was used to describe an implicit social contract that emerged in the 1950s, between a middle-class worker who was willing to sacrifice some measure of autonomy in return for a steady salary from their employer, along with benefits, bonuses, promotions, and a secure retirement.{{Cite journal |last=McMillan Cottom |first=T. |date=2014 |title=The University and the Company Man |url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=95059188&lang=en-gb&site=eds-live&scope=site |journal=Dissent |volume=61 |issue=2 |pages=42–44 |via=EBSCOHost}}