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Zonie63 -> Hardest Working Cities in America (3/6/2015 6:45:14 AM)
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2015’s Hardest Working Cities in America
quote:
The modern-day American worker would no doubt seem unrecognizable to its mid-20th century predecessor. Back in 1950, Americans were 400 percent less productive than they are today, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Were we lazier then? Not at all.
On the contrary, Americans in 1950 worked nearly 214 hours more per year than we did in 2010. All productivity gains have resulted from rapid technological growth in recent decades. Compared with our European peers, however, research shows that Americans work 50 percent more hours.
The article also asked a panel of experts the following questions which might be worth looking at:
1. Research shows that Americans work 50 percent more hours than their counterparts in Europe. Why do Americans work so much more?
2. At the end of each work day, have Americans produced more than their European peers?
3. How have worker hours or productivity changed during the recession and recovery?
4. Are some workers or some industries more prone to working unnecessarily long hours?
5. What is the ideal numbers of hours to work per week?
6. What policies should governments and firms adopt to improve the quality of life of American workers?
I was particularly interested in the first two questions and whether working longer hours leads to greater productivity. Here is one person's answer (found in the above link):
quote:
Research shows that Americans work 50% more hours than their counterparts in Europe. Why do Americans work so much more?
In my opinion Americans work more hours than their counterparts in Europe because they do not have the bargaining power to negotiate for fewer hours. In Germany, for example, workers in several sectors of the economy are represented by “Works Councils,” groups of employees representing the interests of employees in setting conditions of employment like working hours. The result is significant worker input into the number of hours that are worked in Germany.
Traditionally that kind of bargaining in the United States was carried out by unions but the density of union representation is now at its lowest point since about 1930. Thus, there is no longer a bargaining table at which employers and employees negotiate over working conditions like hours in any meaningful sense. The predictable result is that employees wind up working the number of hours that management unilaterally dictates they should work.
At the end of each work day have Americans produced more than their European peers?
I doubt very much that at the end of the workday Americans have produced more than their European peers. But even if they have, the costs of that production are often externalized to the broader society. It is hard for me to accept that horrendously long hours will not translate over time to greater illness and more fragile families.
The example of Germany is interesting, since Germany is well-known for producing high-quality products and has one of the strongest economies in the world. Yet their labor laws and practices are far more progressive than ours. They have a smaller population, smaller territory, and fewer resources than we do, yet they're able to be productive with a first-world standard of living without working their population to death.
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