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Dying for work

C

CoorsLight

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Do you work more than 39 hours a week? Your job could be killing you

Following 30 years of neoliberal deregulation, the nine-to-five feels like a relic of a bygone era. Jobs are endlessly stressed and increasingly precarious. Overwork has become the norm in many companies – something expected and even admired. Everything we do outside the office – no matter how rewarding – is quietly denigrated. Relaxation, hobbies, raising children or reading a book are dismissed as laziness. That’s how powerful the mythology of work is....

Is there a healthy and acceptable level of work? According to US researcher Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, most modern employees are productive for about four hours a day: the rest is padding and huge amounts of worry. Pang argues that the workday could easily be scaled back without undermining standards of living or prosperity.

Other studies back up this observation. The Swedish government, for example, funded an experiment where retirement home nurses worked six-hour days and still received an eight-hour salary. The result? Less sick leave, less stress, and a jump in productivity.
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The research shows we are killing ourselves for the work schedule of today. Yes, those baby boomers who constantly moan about how the world is going right to hell enjoyed the biggest social safety net and the least amount of work commitment than any humans in history. And they got to have hobbies, a family, a life. With such a booming economy, why is our quality of life in a downward spiral?

What say you? Should the so-called 8-hour workday (the de-facto 11-hour day) be re-examined? What daring company will be the first to buck the trend of the decomposing American work-life balance?
 
No company is going to do it without government intervention/regulation.

Why are companies allowed to be open on Fed holidays? The whole nation should be as much as shut down. The reason for having holidays is to commemorate an event or persons. It's a time for reflection and social gathering not work.
 
CoorsLight said:
Do you work more than 39 hours a week? Your job could be killing you



The research shows we are killing ourselves for the work schedule of today. Yes, those baby boomers who constantly moan about how the world is going right to hell enjoyed the biggest social safety net and the least amount of work commitment than any humans in history. And they got to have hobbies, a family, a life. With such a booming economy, why is our quality of life in a downward spiral?

What say you? Should the so-called 8-hour workday (the de-facto 11-hour day) be re-examined? What daring company will be the first to buck the trend of the decomposing American work-life balance?
Click to expand...


My agency recently decided to commit to making sure people have their lives regulated by switching almost everyone who isn't an executive to Hourly Pay. People who work longer get paid more, the longer hours show up on the books in a way that is tangible and creates accountability both ways.
 
CocoLoco said:
No company is going to do it without government intervention/regulation.

Why are companies allowed to be open on Fed holidays? The whole nation should be as much as shut down. The reason for having holidays is to commemorate an event or persons. It's a time for reflection and social gathering not work.
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I dunno. I'm thinking a tech company can use this to their advantage, especially based on what the studies are saying about increased productivity and reduced downtime. Reduce the workday to 6 hours, but set the same goals/expectations. Attract talent that values a life outside work, and potentially get better out of the box thinkers. Definitely a healthier workforce.

As some point, the bean counters will have to take this seriously.
 
Eldritch said:
My agency recently decided to commit to making sure people have their lives regulated by switching almost everyone who isn't an executive to Hourly Pay. People who work longer get paid more, the longer hours show up on the books in a way that is tangible and creates accountability both ways.
Click to expand...

Are the jobs in your agency of the type where more is more? IOW the longer you do your job the more gets done, like in chopping onions or stuffing envelopes? If a job has more complex demands and goals set over a longer term, I think a salary is still appropriate.
 
IDK, it ebbs and flows for me. Some weeks I have to bust my ass with my hair on fire. Others, it is a normal 9-5 work pace.

However, I do it with specific personal goals in mind and not just to make some giant Fortune 100 company richer.
 
The 6 hours number is interesting. I am self-employed in a job that doesn't let me screw around much while working and I find after 6 hours I get pretty useless.
 
rsrider said:
People don't understand just how fucked they are in the workplace without representation.

And with Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, the unions will be in dire straights.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...the_chance_to_virtually_destroy_american.html

And the people on top want desperate workers that don't have enough time to look up and see who it is that is relentlessly pounding their asses.
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While my comment was in jest, when you look at the biggest steps forwards in employee protections and pay, they almost always came from Union pushes (I'm not talking civil rights).
 
Yakoo752 said:
While my comment was in jest, when you look at the biggest steps forwards in employee protections and pay, they almost always came from Union pushes (I'm not talking civil rights).
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If there were unions in the tech sector, you can bet that Apple, Microsoft, Google, and the rest would not have gotten away with colluding together to keep wages artificially suppressed. And they would all be asked where the fuck are the raises and benefits packages that our workers deserve instead of you aholes hiding your profits offshore?
 
I’m doing around 60 hours a week. Plus few 3-5 hours on the days we closed a month.
 
I'm full time at 36 hrs per week. But that's over three 12-hr shifts. I don't fee I'm much less effective at hour 11 than I am at hour 3, but I do know I'd absolutely hate my job and my life if I had to work 5 days per week. Having every other week off helps me balance work and life.

If fewer hours aren't attractive to employers, at least try offering longer hours shifts with more days off. It works for healthcare, and those folks are generally held to high standards of performance.
 
There is no single solution that works for all. The best you can do is work in a job that suits your requirements. Jobs are varied enough to find one that fits. Maybe a seasonal job, a graveyard shift, part time, or whatever.
 
Work has been so boring the past few months. I pretty much decide what I'm going to do from day to day and could come and go as I please but without any hustle I can hardly stand going in every morning.

More than anything else its the people you work with will that make it enjoyable or not. I've enjoyed busier and lower paying jobs far more than my current one.
I've made the mistake in the past of not realizing how good I had something and I may be doing it again now.
 
There is so much opportunity in this country you can find or create the personal wealth you need to control your lifestyle instead of having it imposed upon you. No one has to participate in a pressure cooker lifestyle with a boiler room quality job to support it. It comes down to choices but fewer and fewer people are willing to design their total lives but instead create an inflexible list of requirements that pigeon hole themselves into limited job markets.

If a job seems like companies are just out to screw you, collude to limit your potential, make you increase your productivity while paying you less for it, those are often limitations you've imposed on yourself instead of really asking yourself if there isn't another possibility to making it all happen the way you want.

Articles and studies as cited in the OP come out every once in a while, they all have the same theme, that someone else should provide the 30 hr a week job with fantastic benefits, plenty of paid vacation, full benefits, just so long as you don't need to think about making it happen and blaming corporations and companies when it doesn't.

Someone figured out how to start Apple, Microsoft and Google and they didn't do it working 35 hrs a week. The same can be said of lots of companies.
 
I think consecutive days off are better for mental health (maybe not physical, IDK) than working five 6-hour work days a week, for example. I would much rather have the deal the some hospital nurse unions have going. Work three 12-hour days per week and get paid for 40 hours. You can even pick up an overtime shift and STILL get 3 days off.

Then again, I've been working a similar shift work schedule for most of my career, minus the freebee hours. I like longer work days so long as that is exchanged for more days off.
 
CABilly said:
I'm full time at 36 hrs per week. But that's over three 12-hr shifts. I don't fee I'm much less effective at hour 11 than I am at hour 3, but I do know I'd absolutely hate my job and my life if I had to work 5 days per week. Having every other week off helps me balance work and life.

If fewer hours aren't attractive to employers, at least try offering longer hours shifts with more days off. It works for healthcare, and those folks are generally held to high standards of performance.
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^^^This! Exactly! :thumbup
 
I’d have to pull my time cards to make sure, but I averaged about 58 hours a week last year. Definitely agree it’s not ideal, but I’m making time to exercise and I enjoy my job more than most people. Its challenging, rewarding, and flexible. :thumbup
 
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