HOW many hours a day do you work? For many of us, that鈥檚 a surprisingly hard question to answer. Those employed in the so-called 鈥済ig economy鈥�, or on zero-hours contracts, may not know how much they will work (or get paid) from one day to the next.
Other employees may never really stop working, being tied to their jobs by phones and email. And highly paid jobs can be highly pressurised too, demanding unhealthy amounts of overtime.
Advertisement
The quality of work has become a talking point: three quarters of those in felt improving it should be a national priority. The good news is that serious efforts are now being made in that direction. We might even end up cutting working hours without harming productivity (see 鈥�Wish you had a shorter workday? Here鈥檚 why that鈥檚 a bad idea鈥�).
In the longer term, however, the forces reshaping work today will be joined by another: longevity. Those working today can expect to work for decades longer than our predecessors, even as ongoing automation erodes the value of our skills. That鈥檚 led to talk of lifelong training and multiple careers. So perhaps those shorter hours in work will be offset by hours spent back at school. That prospect will delight some and dismay others. But better homework than no work.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淲ork smarter, not longer鈥�
