Written by: Michelle Wachtel SPHR
To look towards the future, it is important to remember the past and understand how we arrived where the workforce is today. Prior to industrialization, humans worked as much or as little as needed to provide for themselves and their families and keep up on the household chores. Early hunter-gatherer societies enjoyed much more leisure time than people since technology evolved.
Industrialization changed the world. And the invention of the light bulb meant factories were no longer limited to operating during natural light hours and began working around the clock to mass produce goods. Twelve to sixteen-hour workdays became the norm.
The current eight-hour-day and forty-hour-week date back to the early 20th century when trade unions and many employment laws were first developed to protect workers. Ford Motor Company set the new standard of eight-hour work days in the United States in 1914 to decrease burnout and the health effects of overwork. This monumental change increased productivity and became the new norm across the country.
Over 100 years later, the standard remains the same, yet technology continues to evolve at ever-increasing speed. Consider the changes to work and life in the last hundred years such as: telegraph, telephones, television, calculators, computers, cell phones, automation, the internet, artificial intelligence, to name a few. Yet, little has changed in the time, and often the way, we are expected to get our work done. We can blame millennials for their expectations from employers and their views on work, but I believe it’s time for change for all employees!
Millennials are stereotyped as lazy, entitled and spoiled. Most generations are described in much the same way by their predecessors because the generation before did not grow up with the same technology and way of life. I'm a Gen Xer and want much of what the Millennials are cursed for. I’m not lazy but prefer to work smarter vs. harder. I’m not entitled but believe everyone deserves opportunity without politics and bias getting in the way of advancement. I’m not spoiled, nor are my children, but we like nice things and free time to enjoy them and time with our family and friends.
Generations ago, people feared automation would result in loss of jobs. Today, unemployment is at an all-time low and there aren’t enough workers to fill job openings. The younger workforce prefers to operate the technology that controls automation vs. work on the assembly line. I can’t say I blame them. If there is an easier, faster way to accomplish a task, I’m all for it.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average American worker is productive less than three hours during the workday. In the “gig economy”, independent contractors work when they want and charge for the finished product or service no matter how long it takes to do. Some people are early birds. Others are night owls. If we can work when we are at our best, the time it takes to complete the work would be less and all that matters is the work gets done.
In the not-too-distant future, people will be spending less time in the office or plant; working during their own personal pique times of productivity; finding faster, better ways to accomplish more and feeling more fulfilled in their careers and lives because they know the impact their work is having on the community and world at large. The challenge lies in how the government will adapt its regulations and policies to the new workforce.
