Thursday 30 June 2011 – TRUTHOUT
You: doing more with less. Corporate profits: Up 22 percent. The dirty secret of the jobless recovery.
On a bright spring day in a wisteria-bedecked courtyard full of earnest, if half-drunk, conference attendees, we were commiserating with a fellow journalist about all the jobs we knew of that were going unfilled, being absorbed or handled “on the side.” It was tough for all concerned, but necessary—you know, doing more with less.
“Ah,” he said, “the speedup.”
His old-school phrase gave form to something we’d been noticing with increasing apprehension—and it extended far beyond journalism. We’d hear from creative professionals in what seemed to be dream jobs who were crumbling under ever-expanding to-do lists; from bus drivers, hospital technicians, construction workers, doctors, and lawyers who shame-facedly whispered that no matter how hard they tried to keep up with the extra hours and extra tasks, they just couldn’t hold it together. (And don’t even ask about family time.) [more]
Also read: Twelve Charts That Will Make Your Blood Boil
Dave Gilson, Mother Jones: “In the past 20 years, the US economy has grown nearly 60 percent. This huge increase in productivity is partly due to automation, the internet, and other improvements in efficiency. But it’s also the result of Americans working harder – often without a big boost to their bottom lines. Oh, and meanwhile, corporate profits are up 20 percent.” Read the Article
— Post #1186
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Overworked America: The Great Speedup
Overworked America: The Great Speedup
You: doing more with less. Corporate profits: Up 22 percent. The dirty secret of the jobless recovery.
On a bright spring day in a wisteria-bedecked courtyard full of earnest, if half-drunk, conference attendees, we were commiserating with a fellow journalist about all the jobs we knew of that were going unfilled, being absorbed or handled “on the side.” It was tough for all concerned, but necessary—you know, doing more with less.
“Ah,” he said, “the speedup.”
His old-school phrase gave form to something we’d been noticing with increasing apprehension—and it extended far beyond journalism. We’d hear from creative professionals in what seemed to be dream jobs who were crumbling under ever-expanding to-do lists; from bus drivers, hospital technicians, construction workers, doctors, and lawyers who shame-facedly whispered that no matter how hard they tried to keep up with the extra hours and extra tasks, they just couldn’t hold it together. (And don’t even ask about family time.) [more]
Also read: Twelve Charts That Will Make Your Blood Boil
Dave Gilson, Mother Jones: “In the past 20 years, the US economy has grown nearly 60 percent. This huge increase in productivity is partly due to automation, the internet, and other improvements in efficiency. But it’s also the result of Americans working harder – often without a big boost to their bottom lines. Oh, and meanwhile, corporate profits are up 20 percent.” Read the Article
— Post #1186
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