ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > May > 30 > Entry
Workload crisis on the way?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to a recent survey by Randstad, more Americans are skipping lunch breaks and working longer hours.
In my consulting work, I have also heard the rumblings of employee protests getting louder. Cries for work/life balance are coming up high on company surveys.
Is the competitive corporate culture too heavily entrenched in long hours to switch directions at this point?
Some say yes, it is only getting worse as talent shortages increase. Others point to encouraging signs like companies that are closely examining how the work gets done to see what tasks can go or be reassigned.
A combination of better time and workload management may help.
That does no good, however, if the organization you work in does not model sane workloads. My former boss sent email’s at 2 a.m. and expected replies by my first cup of coffee.
Do you see any signs of push back and change out there? Are people afraid to speak up when their job future is uncertain? Is your job consuming your personal life?
Comments
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By Karsh
May 31, 2006 09:09 AM | Link to this
I definitely think that the workload crisis is already here. Look at the proliferation of self-help books, life “hacks” and other productivity tools out there to help people achieve some semblance of a life-work balance with the same number of hours in a day as everyone else.
I’ve seen several businesses that operate on insane workloads, or even worse, change their business strategies and plans every three months to “stay ahead”. Here’s a clue: it’s not really staying ahead if you keep restarting every quarter.