The standard way of thinking about the advance in technology has it that computers and technology will free us from hard work or physical labor. With technology, now we can build skyscrapers a lot easier compared to when the ancient Egyptian trying to build the pyramids. But, that and all of other sweet things about technology didn't mean that people will have to work less. In fact, many people now work even harder and longer than they used to. Why is this happening in today's community? I would say, capitalism and its profit- making paradigm is the reason.
With the division of labor in detail, workers cannot feel their job secured enough. Employers will expect only the best quality of work. Thinking of it in another way, what about the professionals? Most of them are still doing work even though they have left the office. E-mails and BlackBerrys (forms of computer technologies) made it impossible for these workers to have a clear boundary between work and personal life. These workers will have no excuse to have a nice and relaxed vacation since they can be reached anywhere and anytime. The employers don't care about whether your sister is getting married or your son is sick, all they care is that you do your work they are paying you for. If you refuse, easy, you'll lose the job. The point that I'm stressing out here is that, people don't have the time to rest or to spend with their family. And I think that is bad because it takes away one of the human's right.
2 comments:
This is true. While technology allows people to do more work in less time, that does not mean the amount of work they are expected to do remains constant. Employers want to milk as much as they possibly can from their workers. All the addition of technology means is that they can milk more work out in the same amount of time. The prevalence of technology in the workplace means less for the worker than it does for the employer. Technology for the employer means that the worker will be more productive. But for the worker, it doesn't change very much. Perhaps they will have to spend a day learning to use the new technology. They get no real benefit out of it. As such, despite the prevalence of technologies that let workers get more done in the same amount of time, they still feel "overworked". The same can apply to professionals.
I agree with both of you. I agree that technology does allow people to do more work in less time, and that people who work full time do not get to spend enough time with their families. As technology increases, making certain jobs easier to get done I do not feel that a person’s work load should increase too. If this were true then one person in the year 2050 would be doing the work of about one hundred people from the year 2000. Just because technology increases, that does not mean a company should be able to increase the demand of output per worker. This would cause people to become overworked and tired. When this occurs not only are people not given enough time to spend with their family, but the time that they spend with their family becomes dysfunctional. People become exhausted and grumpy from being overworked, therefore people tend to take their stress from work home and displacing it on their families. This is why I think companies should not only monitor the productivity and efficiency of their employees, but also their level of stress. In fact once a company figures out a way to relax their employees, I feel that they will see dramatic results in an increase in productivity. Something to note: On the other hand, what is the point of increasing technology without increasing the work load of one person? There would not be any economic growth if this were so. As technology increases you must increase the output per worker or else the marginal return per worker will decrease.
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