Perhaps the least expected and appreciated gift of reality television is its capacity for redemption. Sure, people go on TV to get their hearts broken or to fight over meaningless things, but for every villain, there are many more heroes.

And if individuals can be lionized by reality television, then why not companies?

In this way, “Does Someone Have to Go?” which has its premiere Thursday on Fox, is a boon. A reality show set at various small companies, it’s part docuseries, part gauche game show. At each office, the bosses cede authority to the workers, who decide whether to punish their colleagues with pay cuts, demotions or firings.

It bears repeating: This is a show in which people might lose their jobs.

For companies, this is a victory, reinforcing the idea that what’s wrong with the American workplace is the workers. The problems discussed aren’t about the structure of the company, or the state of its chosen industry and market, or the economy as a whole. Employees are the enemy here, bolstering the fanciful and generally wrong idea that one bad apple spoils the lot.

Second, the show paints bosses as benevolent and open-eared, willing to let the wisdom of the masses guide their decision making. The truth is more sinister, though: bosses are merely activating lower-level staffers to do the dirty work for them.