In Defense of Anagorism

political economy in the non-market, non-state sector

What do you wish you spent more time doing?

Written by

Lorraine Lee

in

I wish I spent more time working. I really really wish I could boast a higher working-to-looking-for-work ratio. I know that some people wish they could work less; dealing as they are with mandatory overtime and the like. Some people have the exact opposite problem—an overtime freeze (when they really need the overtime hours) or worse yet, being trapped in part time and/or temporary work. Or worse yet be excluded from the workplace. Or worse still (in the spirit of “kick ’em while they’re down”), being excluded for being excluded. If the overworked have skills the underworked lack, perhaps some OJT is in order. If the overworked would rather guard their trade secrets than apprentice a poor underworked soul, then they should stop complaining about being overworked. If management is skittish about the cost of OJT then maybe it wouldn’t kill them to advertise a little less “will consider experience in lieu of education” and a little more “will consider education in lieu of experience.” At any rate, both the overworked and the underworked get something other than what they wanted. What management really wants is anyone’s guess. They play their cards close to the vest. Libertarian jerks call it personal failure. I call it market failure.

This topic brought to you by WordPress

Comments

2 responses to “What do you wish you spent more time doing?”

  1. JazzBumpa Avatar
    JazzBumpa

    Hi, and thanks for the visit.

    I have to agree that society has shifted risk from corporations to individuals, while we have simultaneously privatized profits while socializing losses.

    If the overworked would rather guard their trade secrets than apprentice a poor underworked soul, then they should stop complaining about being overworked.

    I’m baffled by this idea. Both the overworked and the underemployed have limited selection sets, and each is in a condition that benefits the rentier class by reducing the demand for labor and driving down its cost. I don’t think a guy working 6 straight 12 hour days in a factory really has trade secrets to protect.

    Cheers!
    JzB

    Reply
    1. n8chz Avatar
      n8chz

      What do you think are the key differences between someone trapped in mandatory overtime and someone trapped in part time work? The latter seem to be lower status occupations like restaurant and retail, while the former seem to be what’s left of the industrial workforce. Perhaps I assume people in those jobs have esoteric skills because that segment of the economy is pretty much inaccessible from entry level, but that inaccessibility could be from overcrowding, I suppose, as much as skill requirements.

      Why do employers so consistently prefer working a smaller workforce overtime hours (at time and a half) over increasing staffing levels? Is the per-employee paperwork really more expensive than overtime hours? I find that hard to believe.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts