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78 Comments
- MrSmileGuy, on 05/11/2009, -3/+37The Future of Work: Unemployment.
- 1KrazyKorean, on 05/11/2009, -3/+25well he was wrong
- Alias1431, on 05/12/2009, -2/+22The future of work: It's in China.
- AmyVernon, on 05/11/2009, -3/+18Definitely shorter workweeks, but the "no vacation" idea is true, too...
- Karmashock, on 05/12/2009, -2/+13Very few want to work at all. We work because we have to. And that's not just as individuals... but as a society if we don't work we starve. Our cities crumble into dust. Our machines grind to a halt. The great information networks that guide our system lose coherence and wink out.
The work keeps it all running. It keeps food in our bellies, the cities growing, the machines humming, and the great networks buzzing.
If we want to stay rich as a society we must continue to work. People at the top are going to profit more then others but that is the way it has always been. Find a way around that without destroying everything and I'll support you. Until then like our fathers and grandfathers before we work, we live, we fight, and we love.
We are man... the imperfect... the horrible... the beautiful... the glorious. - Schmapdi, on 05/12/2009, -2/+1226 hour average work week, reliable cars, and a thriving S&M community? I'm headed to Germany - who's with me?
- RogerStrong, on 05/11/2009, -2/+11Back in 1983 one of my high school teachers taught us how by 1990 we'd all be working four-day work weeks. The five-day work week would be banned, to increase jobs.
- eatsushi, on 05/12/2009, -3/+12I actually am surviving by working as a freelance web designer at home and making my own hours up. It seems I work longer hours than a 9-5, but I love it b/c I don't go anywhere, don't take orders, do a good job and the work keeps coming. Only downside is that I miss socializing with actual people, but I guess there's a place and time for everything.
- wedges, on 05/12/2009, -1/+8i said goodbye to this a long time ago. in my line of work, it's 35 hours one week, 90 hours the next. 18 hours at the office monday, 6 hours at the office tuesday. really ***** with your health.
- Stingwolf, on 05/12/2009, -1/+8You're falling for the fallacy that all time at work is productive. The longer you are there, the less you get done per hour. The time you spend resting from work can be more valuable than the time at the office, because it makes your work time more productive. If you don't believe that, then you should try working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, and then see how productive you are after about day 5.
- mjoe, on 05/12/2009, -2/+7dugg for 4-hour workweek
- mitrovarr, on 05/12/2009, -1/+6Depends on your employer and how much you get allocated to you. I have friends who get absolutely buried in work because they're the only competent ones there, and they work 60 hours or more. From what I've seen, working on salary hardly ever works out in your favor - out of everyone I know of who is on it, every single one works more than 40 hour weeks, 80% at least work over 50 hour weeks, and probably a good 40% work over 60 hour work weeks. I have no doubt there's a few exceptions, but getting screwed over seems to be the rule rather than the exception.
- vizerei, on 05/12/2009, -2/+7Correct me if I'm wrong...but this is just statistics on work and a few quotes from some big names.
So the title says "How Time at the Office Will Soon Change," but it doesn't actually get in to it except for mentioning a 4-day work week?
I'd call that inaccurate. - woofers07, on 05/12/2009, -1/+6You just described 95% of all career jobs.
- Zomgondo, on 05/12/2009, -1/+6I'm lucky enough to work in a department where the director doesn't care too much about the hours you work, how you dress, or how much time you waste on the Internets as long as you're good at your job and you get your work done. It's weird how it pans out... those of us who seem to ***** around most of the time seem to do 90% of the work, and those who dress "professionally" and work 24/7 do the remaining 10%... poorly.
I'm in the former group, and can say with confidence that the reason I manage to solve so many problems is simply that I get bored. Like, oh, I could take a two hour lunch, or I could surf the Internets all day again, but ffs I want to DO something... hmm, this looks interesting, and oh look, if we just do things THIS way instead of THAT way we can save a bunch of time that would be better spent on two hour lunches.
It's tempting to say workers should just be expected to work that way constantly, but if you have constant demands on your time you tend to just try to stay afloat (like the professional dressers) instead of actually solving the problem. - samssf, on 05/12/2009, -1/+5I'm looking forward to more businesses studying efficiency of number of work hours worked vs output. If people working in some professions were to produce say 10% less output when working 20% less, businesses could offer to reduce hours by 20% and reduce wages by only 10%. Some people would accept such an offer, and that type of change could yield happier employees who have more time for things like exercise and family, and yet the employer would receive the same output per dollar. It probably wouldn't balance out in this way (businesses would likely offer less pay and get the better end of the deal)... but either way it would be desirable.
- digital11, on 05/12/2009, -1/+5I left my $92k/yr job slinging .NET code to go freelance 2 months ago. I can't say I've made as much money, but I've never been happier. My time is now my own, and I work when I want and how I want on the projects I want. If I have a choice in the matter, I'll never go back to an office job.
- DarkLance, on 05/12/2009, -3/+7how about refusal to work for ***** who's only ambition is to increase their portfolio? Yes, there are enlightened employers, but they are few and far between.
Give me a rewarding job that treats me like a part of the whole, and I might consider trading my hours in for a handful of dimes. - NiftyG, on 05/12/2009, -1/+5Pretty much the same here. I've worked freelance out of my home studio for years. The lack of socializing can be an issue, but the freedom to do whatever I want whenever I want more than makes up for it.
- BlackJackJester, on 05/12/2009, -1/+5Wasn't there a study done once that showed working 7 hour days yielded nearly the same productivity as an 8 hour day? Anyway, being an engineer kicks ass. You're payed on salary, and your work is based on what you deliver. If you're good at it (the work, and the political game), you can spend much less than 8 hours a week working.
- 4rp4n3t, on 05/12/2009, -1/+4No idea why folk are digging you down for this...
- inactive, on 05/12/2009, -3/+6Dugg for thumbnail.
She looks like Bill Clinton just made her a rescission proof offer in the Oval Office. - sipsyrup, on 05/12/2009, -1/+4Manufacturing will be back on it's feet again with normal hours soon enough. After all, someone will have to build those tiny model factories, and I doubt it'll be the robots. You can't trust robots.
- bitmanx, on 05/12/2009, -0/+2You know the next cut back for US workers will be a 35 hour work week which will be reflected in your pay. Yet people will work 40+ hours to save their jobs..
- inactive, on 05/12/2009, -1/+3@ Gregbot9000
You are painting with a big brush
Stacking pallets is not the same thing as programing. Its a simple repetitive task something a robot can probably do.
I have worked a similar repetitive job during college on an assembly line and yes i noticed that there was no real change in my productivity during the shift.
However i now do 3D prototyping and there is definite a measurable change in productivity during the day.
I think it has more to do with critical thinking. - smemily, on 05/12/2009, -1/+3It's great that a person can do that, however, it's not scalable. It's not feasible for everyone to do at-home web design or even at-home work. Someone out there has to be building *****, growing food, doing the other sorts of jobs that keep a society running, and those jobs are *not* possible for entrepreneurs to do as a general rule. They're not scalable. Most US jobs now require a person to do a specialized skill within a broad collaborative matrix of people. You can't have one guy that on his own decides to go install oil wells. Or build cars. Or grow food.
Yes, there are some entrepreneur opportunities, but damned near all of them are in technology in some way or another, and if our economy gets that badly crumbled, technology won't be doing so well either. Nobody needs a website when people don't have homes, computers, or food. - inactive, on 05/12/2009, -2/+4Thanks for pointing that out, captain obvious. Guess I'll go to work friday after all.
- ConfirmedCynic, on 05/12/2009, -1/+3Part-time farming for sure. Might as well reduce costs if income is going to be flat at best.
- mrmudgeon, on 05/12/2009, -0/+2I have been in the corporate game a long time. In my estimation, things have gotten easier because of technology. Even though the email and other gizmos mean I am checking things on weekends, it also means that I spend much less time in the office. In the past, much more face time was required to manage and organize work.
Also, the gross numbers for freelancing suggest that not much has changed. There is alot of hand wringing, but companies prefer employees for long term work and the number of contractors that I see in the enterprise is not really higher than 30 years ago.
In terms of time off, expectations have changed. More and more professionals are getting higher pay as responsibility and leverage go up. That, naturally, comes with more hours of work and more hassle.
I got ambition fairly young in life, so for me this is nothing new. What is new is the more modern idea that you can get rich, enjoy high pay and not have to work hard. That may work for a few lucky ones, but for more of us the big bucks requires hard effort. If you want the money, get over it. - airwalke, on 05/12/2009, -1/+2Sounds like to me that someone was just bitter they had to teach punk kids like you. ;)
- jpowell180, on 05/14/2009, -0/+1I used to work 4x10's at an earlier job (Internet Tech Support), working overnights, with the days off being weekdays.
I kind of felt like a zombie, but it was kind of cool being off when the rest of the world was working, almost like I was getting away with something.
Plus the call volume was way low during those hours, so I spent most of my time surfing :). - chadpryor, on 05/12/2009, -1/+2Yeah good point rotundo, without social services all those unemployed people would be inconveniencing you by dying in the street.
- jessy1984, on 05/12/2009, -1/+2This is not true at every where. In some companies employees also work 9-10 hours in a day
- BlackJackJester, on 05/13/2009, -0/+1Learn to delegate
- Karmashock, on 05/12/2009, -3/+4It's funny that they think they're helping people by limiting working time. Prosperity is ultimately created BY the work. The more productive work a society does the more prosperous it's going to be. Limiting the work week to increase jobs is a zero sum game that does nothing to improve the over all prosperity of the society. All it does is spread the mediocrity.
- joe8pack, on 05/12/2009, -3/+4Farming
- jpowell180, on 05/14/2009, -0/+1Yes, it can give one enough time to get a second job, maybe at Burger King ;0
- jpowell180, on 05/14/2009, -0/+1In the future, the Machines will do all the work, so there will be virtually no need for human beings in companies (except at the top, to collect bonuses).
Those at the top will then implement a program of depopulation, since the "surplus population" is no longer needed and is in fact a burden/danger to the Elite.
The depopulation program will consist of manmade famine and pestilence, followed by civilian roundups "for their safety" to get the rest, until things are down to a manageable level.
Then, the "Elite" will live in large, castle-like high-tech homes, with the rest of humanity (Serfs) having a life exectancy of about 40, living in mud huts without electricity and toiling in the fields for their masters.
The "Elite" (including Al Gore) will be happy that mankind has returned to the "natural" order of things. - jpowell180, on 05/14/2009, -0/+1Your "health" is not what is important here - it's how you contribute.
You have to ask yourself this one basic question before you say or do anything - "Is this good for the Company?".
When you are on the clock, you need to make every second count productively for the Company, with maximum intensity.
On top of that, how many hours per week do you dedicate to the Company when you are off the clock?
There are people who will stay late, off the clock, to help the office catch up with some backlog - the people who do that are the truly dedicated ones, unlike the slackers who want to get paid for ever hour they work.
And don't forget to put that cover sheet on those TPS reports! - mousky, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1Being in the Office for 8 hours != 8 hours of work.
- yardie, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1Was this in tech support? I had a similar schedule. 13hours 3 days, 6 hour 1 day. At first it was great and as a college student I was making bank. Some people went at it hard like it was the next get-rich-quick scheme. They were doing 80-90 hours a week. They pay was moderate but the overtime was killer. I've met more than my fair share of people from this company that looked like a train wreck after too many months.
BTW, they drove nice cars but I think they had problems of falling asleep behind the wheel and wrecking them. - Tyrghast, on 05/12/2009, -2/+3I used to work 4 am to 2:30 pm 4 days a week. ***** that.
I know thats still 40 hours but it's the 3 days off that made it seem appealing at first. - Zomgondo, on 05/12/2009, -1/+2I'm a Democrat and I lol'ed.
- mousky, on 05/12/2009, -0/+1I'd call that par for the course at Digg.
- lusenok2, on 05/13/2009, -0/+1Goodbye the classic 40-hour workweek.
Welcome 34-hour week - enough to keep your tired, not enough to earn you health insurance. - inactive, on 05/12/2009, -1/+2A lot of cops work 3 12 hour shifts a week. Having 4 days off is pretty cool.
- inactive, on 05/12/2009, -1/+2i don't know about you.
But i often think about solutions to a problem when I'm not at work.
That in turn = work - kinerry, on 05/12/2009, -1/+2exactly, ive always wondered why more businesses werent operating sunday
- jasonblogz, on 05/24/2009, -0/+0very good. The "workcation" is comming! I already take them! I wrote a blog on the recent Time article on the same subject at http://www.jasonblogz.com
- delmarmom, on 05/14/2009, -0/+0Dugg for the truth about little vacation and lots of email. Not digging the 4-hour work week concept. I'm working over 60 hours a week telecommuting, and drowning in email. Getting to 4-hours-week of work doesn't sound realistic, in an email addicted, economy conflicted world. I should read the book I suppose... but who has time? I need a 4-page version of the 4-hour book!
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