I think we need to have a discussion on workloads.
Now, perhaps I’m not the best person to discuss this, but I’ve been witness to so much lately I think it’s time to talk about it.
Many in the older generations like to say the younger generation (and I could go OFF on how annoying it is they lump ALL younger generations together when they say this, but I won’t. This is about workloads) is lazy and doesn’t understand true hard work and blah blah blah…
But here’s something they tend to not consider…just because a generation has moved out of the office doesn’t mean they’re working any less. In fact, BECAUSE they’ve moved out of the office…sorry, not sorry, workload has gone through the roof.
Why? Because jobs treated as unconventional aren’t protected. Most don’t have unions that ensure employees are given proper safety nets. And this leads to overloading workloads.
With minimal pay, or even good pay, but tweaked hours to make it as though the pay weren’t so good. OR tweaked hours to prevent benefits from having to be given out.
Why am I bringing this up? Because I’ve witnessed friends or people I’ve worked with just get swamped. And I mean, 60+ hours a week, swamped. Not to mention any other work they do like side jobs or familial responsibilities. And they are being worn and torn down.
The other thing younger generations are struggling with is the mentality of replaceability. We’re told over and over by different employers or companies that if we won’t do the job they’ll find someone who will so we get it in our mindset that we can’t bring up ANY complaints.
NOT EVERYONE OF COURSE!!! SHUT YOUR MOUTH JANET!!
But there are times when it should be obvious you can’t have people work this way…but then you have to remember that’s not what they care about. Results. They always care about results, not how they get to the results.
There’s this strange inability to lay down boundaries for ourselves. And with the growing difficulty of costs of living increasing as wages stay the same, we become trapped in the mindset of “You can’t risk losing this job, you can’t afford to live without it.”
Then we get injured or sick from overworking. From over performing without added benefits or employers forcing you to just tweak the actual hours you worked. Which then leads to missed work days, which leads to added workloads to recover the lost time. Which leads to more illness and injury.
Eventually, the tipping point is reached and a blow out happens.
And unfortunately, it’s the overworked employee who is given the death blow. Fired or gently nudged towards quitting. And the employer hires a new, fresh face to start the cycle over.
Sorry for such a downer post. I’ll try something more positive next time.
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