The system is working exactly as intended: extract value from postdocs for slave wages, discard, repeat.

Oh and throw in a dash of gaslighting and emotional hazing for good measure.

Say it louder for the people in the back!

Also though, additionally, cost of housing is not a great example how postdocs are underpaid. Yes, they are, no doubt. But cost of housing has been increasing disgustingly over the past… forever? I am sure Dublin is no stranger to that. It is an issue but a separate one.

We have a postdoc union here. Similar unions exist or are forming at competing schools. Hopefully experiences like those in the article become less common.