Question

Criticize the answer to the following question

Question 3: We talked about how American families are working more hours today than they did 30 years ago. Will this trend continue over the next 10 years? Why or why not?

Americans can be said to be the most overworked people in the world. According to a study by Washington Center for Equitable Growth, overwork is defined as more than 40 hours of work weekly. Most Americans especially those in higher paid professions work for over 45 hours in a week. Inequality in the economic status is one of the reasons behind the overworking America. Feeling financially insecure ad those with white collar jobs trying to prove their worth to employers has increased the trend. The trend will continue over the next few years unless the government sets laws that protect even those workers with white collar jobs.The trend might be worse, and people will be working for long hours in the next ten years, because companies, especially in finance and tech industries have embedded the culture of overwork as a sign of healthy competition. It is hard to measure an employee's output nowadays due to development of technology hence employers equate some hours worked to employees' dedication to their task. From the above, it is clear that even in coming years, America will still be an overworked nation unless the government plays a role in changing the trend.

Answer 1

As time flies by, the world is getting increasingly competitive. Only numbers have started speaking in today’s world and how much a nation is progressing is quantified at every step. The performance of a nation is measured by contribution of many sectors, affecting agriculture, industry and service alike. In this context, the terminology “overwork” in terms of numbers saw its origin in the Britain Industrial Revolution, but was more broadly taken up by the International Labour Organization. Thus, anyone working more than 8-hours a day in a five-working-day week, i.e. working more than 40 hours a week, would be labelled as ‘overworked’. However, the given answer is not completely true in every sense.

Firstly, the introductory sentence itself is not completely accurate. While Americans do overwork, they are not the ‘most’ overworked people at all. According to recent studies, of all the OECD countries (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), Mexicans are the most overworked, followed by South Koreans. Japan has also recently been making the headlines because of overworking employees. Thus relatively they might be overworking, but labelling them as the most overworked in front of other ridiculously overworked jobs in other nations doesn’t seem fit.

Secondly, although according to US Bureau of the Census, it is true that workers in higher paid professions are more likely to clock in longer working hours, it is not only limited to white collar jobs as is mentioned in the answer. The pressure of overworking got to Pink-collar jobs as well, which are related to entertainment, customer interaction, etc. Also, since white collar jobs include salaried persons, they are exempted from the Fair Labour Standards Act, entitling compensation for the extra hours worked. White Collar and Pink Collar jobs also provide the worker with greater choice in terms of working for longer hours. This choice is not available to Blue Collar jobs, which also exposes them to the risk of being overworked. Thus even among people working for more than 40 hours a week, there is a difference between those who do it voluntarily and do not consider themselves overworked versus those who are forced to work more than 40 hours and are in fact overworked.

Thirdly, it is wrong to assume that workers work extra hours for financial security only. Most of the times, salaries of workers are not increased subsequently compared to their work pressure or longer working hours. Sometimes, workers are so overworked that they choose a pay-cut and an extra leave over mandatory overwork without increased pay. On the contrary, one can logically argue that it is the lack of financial security and rising inequality that leads employees to work harder for longer hours. This can be from the fear of being laid off, or as a spillover of other laid-off employees whose work pressure falls on those currently working. Thus this argument cannot be disregarded totally. However, there are many other aspects to overworking than only financial insecurity. Gaps across racial and ethnic groups and gender gap also result in overworking of some over the rest.

It is true that over the years, overworking has become a trend. Some industries go to the extent of serving customers 24/7.Technology while aiding efficiency, also hides the actually work done by humans. Thus, one has to show the effort and dedication to its higher authority in order to be recognized for the hard work. But again, it’s unfair to assume that this trend is on only among white collar workers. The scenario is very similar, if not exactly the same, across other categories of jobs.

Lastly, America will remain overworked unless legal forces come into play. Merely the presence of Acts is not enough. One has to enforce the acts properly, revise it and update it with the current society to cover all the different categories of existing workers. This will prevent deserving workers from being exempted from benefits. The result will be either a hike in pay with better compensation, or reduced extra working hours. This in turn will help lower the existing and increasing inequalities. Additionally, giving some power to employees to have some hold over their work schedules is very necessary to protect workers from being overworked. Workers should be given the freedom to ask for better work schedule without having a fear of being fired.

Thus, in conclusion, one needs to understand that the economy was not as competitive thirty years ago as is today. It is natural that more working hours will come into picture compared to what it was three decades ago. However, it is at the same time necessary to strike a balance between efficient working and overworking. This trend of overworking would most likely grow as competition increases. However, it is not correct to assume that it'll continue for the next ten years. Hopefully the government will identify the problem and a structural change will come about to make working conditions better. Given how competitive market forces and private companies are, the government should step in and address the need of the hour to prevent this trend from snowballing until the next decade.