The New Workday: 9 to Never

After listening to the NPR interview in class on Thursday, I was very intrigued. According to the author in the interview, the average workday is lengthening due to technology. The old days where people would come home after a rough 9 to 5 workday are over. Now, when people come home, they are constantly in work mode because of new technology like blackberries and email. Leisure time has been devalued as middle to upper class workers are always “on call,” constantly receiving and sending emails after leaving the office. While I was not alive during the days of the old standard, I can completely agree that this is the new standard for the middle to upper class worker. It is difficult to argue that this is not the case. Unfortunately I do not like this trend and wish the United States labor culture would regress to what it was in the past. Our jobs should not dominate us so much as to the point to where we are on the clock every waking second of our lives. Another alarming point brought up by the author was that now more than ever people are associating the essence of their being with their jobs. For example, when introduced to strangers more and more people are saying, “Hi. My name is (insert name here), and I’m a (insert job here).” There are more important characteristics to oneself than one’s job. While I dislike these trends, I am worried that they will continue and perhaps get even worse. Unfortunately, technology is adding to this new culture, and we are not doing much to stop it.