Used to work 5 days a week (avg 50-55 hours a week). Dropped to 3 days a week. That felt like part-time in terms of the impact I could make and the impact on the teams around me. Now at 4 days a week. I’m contributing at a full-time level (at least I’ve been told that) and I have a regular 3 day weekend. Best of all worlds for me and, I think, my organization. I’m not burned and they are getting more than their money’s worth.
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On-call work could also describe work like fire department, ambulance staff, emergency room staff, and some IT and utility workers. But these are not generally work from home.
Urgency for what?
That’s the issue, always pushing for more, so we and the companies we work for can have what? More, just more.
What does that do? It distracts us from the fact that we’re giving up the only thing we can never have enough of…time.
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I don’t know that these occupations would appreciate being thought of as “on call”. “Drop what you’re Doing” - maybe. But they have other things to do in their daily tasks than “only” waiting for the emergency or crisis to happen.
I’ve worked for Asian - go go go. Never enough.
And European. It’s year end in the car bus today. Most are back home on vaca. Really ?
Hell u can’t get breakfast in Madrid b4 10 !! They have multiple plant shutdown What else u need to know?
Easy to work for tho
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Do we get to live any longer for the sacrifice? Have more memorable life experiences?
At the end of the day, all the spin is just brainwashing to get us to think that “easy to work for” is a bad thing.
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Plus in my nursing job there was pressure to work overtime. I worked 4 - 12 hour night shifts for 22 years and am now broken.
I have now gone to an out patient setting and work 4 - 8 hour day shifts and couldn’t be happier.
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When I left the hospital, I worked PRN at an endoscopy center and a plastic surgery OR. Still quite physically demanding, but at least they were both closed on all holidays. I worked most holidays at the hospital so that I could make a clear case for being off on Christmas Day.
I am not currently working and keep waiting to miss it. So far, I haven’t.
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My friend, people in the corporate world, especially at home aren’t working.
And for those who disagree - it’s not an all encompassing statement - but it’s a spot on accurate one at least in my industry…I talk to lots of people.
I think that’s a gross mischaracterization. My son works from home 2 days a week. He’ll work deep into the the night from home when the work requires it. I have multiple friends who work exclusively from home and they’re grinders.
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Two things come to mind:
Firstly, I feel for the retail workers who are told they are “on call”, i.e. they should stay free as they ‘could’ be called into work when needed BUT are not paid unless they are in fact called in. I believe that’s called ‘working for no pay’.
Second, I recall in the late 60s-early 70s the futurists (Alvin Toffler, Future Shock was one of them, I believe) stating that a major problem in the 21th century was going to be occupying all of our free time, as technology would make getting our work done so easily. Incredibly naive of them–I guess they fail to predict being attached to one’s job 24/7 by way of the cell phone!
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Not on my industry
It’s definitely person specific but there is a reason top CEOs want their employees back.
They know the overall outputs.
Your son is the exception. Not the only. But the exception.
This is really a battle between work hours and work ethic. One can work fewer hours and still be very productive or more hours and be less productive.
I think if there are measurable production metrics, employees should be judged by that, and not by what chair they’re sitting in.
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Not very job has metrics. Mine is how many vehicles a dealer sells and more but honestly theyr output is not necessarily tied to that.
Lots of fluff and unnecessary procedures in the corporate world.
I was in outside sales. That’s different.
I personally jones to work. I love it. Except doimg expense reports.
Others it’s a bill paying thing.
My husband has been working from home since Covid and won’t ever go back to the office (they actually got rid of the lease). The commute (1.5 - 2 hours each way due to heavy traffic despite living only 25 miles from Boston where his office was) was killing him. He has alway been a top performer and that has continued in the years since he’s been home. He does travel, of course, but when not traveling he works out of the house and he is happier than he was before (and just as effective).
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I’ll assume the two users who are chatting back and forth are either done or will move their conversation to PM.
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I’ve worked at home pretty consistently for the last 15 years. My job has weeks when it’s very intense and I have no balance, when even eating or showering is difficult to do. And it has weeks of slower periods where the pace is sustainable and even easy. My take on this is that I feel no guilt for the easy weeks, when I can work out during the day, or blow off an afternoon for a long hair salon visit or a hike with a friend. Those slower periods are what make it possible for me to deliver in the intense periods. I like my job and my team, and I’m well compensated. I’m not sure a reduction in “hours” would translate for a lot of jobs like mine. Maybe a reduction in expectations, but that is unlikely and kind of a different conversation.
However, I do believe that everyone should feel that they have room to be a whole person and a present parent, whatever that means to them.
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I worked part-time primarily remote for 20+ years (for the same employer), long before it was more accepted due to Covid. It included time at home as well as at the office as needed for meetings, or circumstances, or particular computer programs or access.
BUT, there were many trade-offs. To select my own schedule, I went contract, with both plusses ( extra deductions, flexibility), and minuses ( a smaller paycheck, higher SS taxes, no typical employee benefits).
In exchange for the flexibility, I billed a lower rate than would have been customary for my position. But they also treated me as a full employee, with occasional bonuses. I tended to work 7 days a week, usually part-time, but sometimes over the typical 40 when the work demanded. I could schedule MD visits, lunch with a friend, or simply run to a store without the crowds.
I felt the trade-offs well worth it. Evidently my employer did also, as I worked with them for a long time.
I found I was more productive when NOT in the office. No chats over coffee. No impromptu meetings. No gripe sessions. Yet, I was in the office enough to know co-workers, if not the office politics. I’m not sure I had “measurable” results, but they must have been “good enough”. I was also trusted to be working, and only bill for those working hours. I’m not sure many employers have that level of trust yet, or how long it takes to build it.
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Some places (eg, certain government jobs), there is almost zero reward for more efficient or more productive work ethic. The only reward is leaving for a higher graded job. Hence the slow but inevitable decline in morale amongst those who continue to hustle compared to those who simply act as if their six figure job entails answering a few emails a day (no it does not).
It’s really not a one size fits all. I do find that job flexibility helps make up for the stagnant/non-competitive wages. If my counterpart spends all day just answering a few emails, and nothing more, at least I have some flexibility in how/when I hustle.
Whoever said though that it’s a difference in work ethic - that is correct - and you cannot change that whether the person is hiding in the office or out of the office. It’s just now become a LOT easier for those with poor work ethic to hide under guise of work from home.
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My D and SIL work from home. They both work extremely hard, and both are well regarded by their companies. They work for excellent companies that are very supportive of their employees. I’m going to be a bit blunt, but here goes … those who don’t believe people can do their jobs if given the proper training and direction might not actually be providing the right training and direction.
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