Y writes
While no former or current JW actually knows, we can only speculate. My speculation is that the Annual reports after Covid have not improved. Hours are way down according to the last couple years. The easiest way to fix this problem is to only track if someone participated in the ministry or did not. This will bring the publisher count up and perhaps to new highs. Otherwise, there is no good reason for the JWs to stop doing this. There were countless articles when I was in that explained why detailed reports were required and necessary. All sorts of reasons such as Jehovah being a God of order, how necessary preaching work changes could be made from this info.
The real reason for the reports were for accountability and proof of Jehovah blessing the organization using those statistics. The Kingdom ministry would publish a monthly report for your country and most importantly a “national average.” Most appointments within a congregation used the national average as the bare minimum for anyone to get appointed within the congregation. So I would guess that getting in good with the Elders is even more important now if you’re pursuing an appointment. But this is VERY counter to the preaching work being sped up. That line has been used many times over the decades.
Two rounds of bethel layoffs had that line attached to justify the need to downsize. Now the preaching work is becoming a formality. Instead of pursuing people, they stand at a cart and talk to no one. Now you just put down on a report whether you participated or not. The urgency is gone. The biggest change though is not the field service reports but the fact that the Great Tribulation is no longer the cutoff on whether you can make it through Armageddon. Now people can become JWs or even repent well into the Great Tribulation. If you’re a critical thinker, then you can wait to see if anything the JWs preach actually ever came true. Then throw your hat in if you desire. No reason to commit to an organization until they actually produced factual evidence of being right.
