File spoon-archives/marxism-intro.archive/marxism-intro_2004/marxism-intro.0411, message 16


From: JEEPERS-AT-pseud.pseud
Date: Thu, 04 Nov 2004 15:52:30 -0700
Subject: M-INTRO: RE: 8 Hour Workday - Random Thoughts


In my previous positions, I would have loved to work eight hours a day instead
of the ten hours a day that I was putting in.  Why did I work ten hours a day? 
Because I had a high paying tech job that allowed me to work from home.  I
wanted to keep my job and I knew that if I didn't put in roughly ten hours a
day that there was someone else waiting to take my job.  My employer only asked
for eight hours a day, but I knew that if I didn't put in more that my job
would be in jeopardy.  They expected me to be available to them at all times. 
I no longer have that job, they relocated to India.  Go figure.

If you don't want to work eight hours daily, then don't.  Find a job where you
don't have to.  You probably won't get benefits, and you might not make as much
money, but that is your decision.  But believe it or not, there are those
people that need to work eight hours a day if not more to make ends meet. 
People work eight hours a day because they need the money.  They know
(especially in today's economy) that someone else is out there that can take
their job.  

I don't completely agree with jeeplink saying that people should be rewarded
for
their productivity.  Although that might be part of the puzzle (employers
obviously won't want to reward people for being non-productive) it doesn't
completely work.  For example, we have two employees reading through the same
documents at a doc prep company.  Employee "A" speeds through the docs in her
stack in four hours.  Employee "B" also completes her stack, but in eight
hours. Employee "A" has missed some small errors, but Employee "B" has not
missed any.  Who is more productive? Even if employee "A" had missed no errors,
does that mean that she is more productive than "B"?  I think it just means
that employee "A" is more efficient and a better reader.  So should wages be
based on efficiency and how people read?       

I believe that people are more motivated when they enjoy what they are doing
and
when they are rewarded for it.  Not only rewarded with pay, but in other
recognizable ways as well.  We all want dream jobs that allow us maximum
flexibility, maximum money for the minimum work, but that is just not
conceivable.  I've found that as I have climbed the salary ladder, the work has
become more and more time consuming.  I make more money, but I also put in a
lot more hours.  That seems to be the trade off.  



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