BEERG Newsletter - Future Work: A round-up of recent developments

According to the US news-site, CNBC “ ...people are over the 40-hour work week: ‘We don’t want to waste our time’. It would appear that the Covid pandemic has broken the “work above everything else” culture that has long gripped the US. 

Between 2019 and 2022, the number of hours people spent working in the U.S. fell by the equivalent of 33 fewer hours a year per person, according National Bureau of Economic Research.

The Covid-19 pandemic, says the CNBC report, didn’t just disrupt where and how we show up to our jobs: It has led people to question when and why they should be working in the first place. While resignation rates have been slowly ticking up over the last decade, other factors related to the lingering pandemic ─ burnout, the rise of remote work, a national existential panic ─ have pushed workers to re-consider what they’re giving and getting out of their jobs. As a result, more people are breaking out of the 40-hour workweek.

“There’s a growing annoyance with work tasks that add no value to our lives,” Anthony Klotz, a professor of management at London’s UCL School of Management, says. “People have a much lower tolerance for this, and are less afraid to say, ‘We don’t want to waste our time.’”

Read the full article HERE.

MEANWHILE, the latest “workmonitor” for 2023 from BEERG/HR Policy Global member, Randstad, reflecting the opinions of 35,000 workers from around the world, says they want secure, flexible, inclusive and financially stable employment.

Currently, 48% of workers would quit a job if it prevented them from enjoying their life. In addition, 45% of workers said they wouldn't even accept a job if it did not offer accommodating hours. In the current polycrisis climate, 52% of workers are worried about the impact of economic uncertainty on their job security. While 70% feel their financial position prevents them from retiring as early as they would like. Lastly, a 57% majority of workers said their job fulfills their need for a sense of purpose.

The full report looks at the key themes for workers in 2023. These themes include: attitude, expectations, security, unretirement, and belonging. 

You can download the report HERE