Hi Robert, you don't know me, I am Thomas Lunde's friend, Sherry Martin. He
shares some e-mail with me and I was intrigued by your question. So, my
reply:
In five years I still see the expanding of "normal" work hours, not formally
but just happening. I think the average employee feels threatened and driven
to achieve or be replaced. I see people working 60 + hours per week. I
remember when the business world switched from a standard 40 hour week to
37.5. It was supposed to be more humane. Ha, I think the employee lost
something. As I remember it, we used to get paid for breaks and sometimes
even lunch. I feel that in the 37.5 hr week we lost our hour lunch break,
it's now standard 30 minutes. We mostly lost the 15 minutes coffee breaks.
This took a little longer, around 5 years ago I noticed people stopped
taking formal breaks and the smokers just ran outside every two hours for a
cig, and the others just worked and looked like a better employee. Anyway, I
see the pressure increasing and the hours extended. Then...
Relief... I think in about 10 years the technology and peoples attitude will
bring about a change, maybe not so much shorter hours, but the amount of
work done in our homes will be greatly increased. When technology can assure
the boss that the employee is really doing the work and not walking the dog,
then we will be able to work at home more and more... then...
In 15 years, I see finally the slow down of the driving pressure to perform
in todays work world. By then if people are still working and not just
robots, I would expect the emphasis to be on the task at hand rather than
the amount of hours worked. Reward for completing the task is a broader
view, think we can expand that way?
Perhaps in 20 years we will be able to choose if we want to work or not,
maybe it'll even be a considerable privilege to be chosen a worker! I think
it would be grand if workers could choose their work, or contribution based
on the fact that they want to do it, rather than just for survival. If in 20
years we could evolve to a society where the person was valued no matter
what they did or didn't do, just because they were there, would this be my
number one choice. I can see it laid out in different ways but the end
result is the same. Peace on Earth.
Sherry Martin
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Neunteufel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Thomas Lunde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: November 24, 1998 2:58 PM
Subject: Re: working hours-visions
>Thomas Lunde wrote:
>>
>> Robert wrote:
>>
>> I'd like to ask you all for your visions for the development of the
>> regular amount of working hours in the next 5, 10, 20 years!
>>
>> Thomas:
>>
>> It will depend on subsistence. If we become owners of intelligent
robots,
>> we may evolve into a non working environment, the best of the techies
dream.
>> If we face dieoff, subsistence may take extraordinary efforts in time and
>> energy, the pessimist worst viewpoint.
>
>Dear Thomas,
>
>thank you for your comment. What is your opinion, which one of the two
>possibilities you mentioned above has greater chances to come true?
>
>With best wishes,
>
>Robert Neunteufel
>
>
