Do we really have to sell our souls?

A few years ago, I unexpectedly retired from American industry. This has given me the chance to do a whole lot of thinking about my life and my career(s). In particular, I have thought quite a bit about how much industry has changed, and why it did.

Recently. I became invigorated by a book called "Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It". It did not read the entire book, but read enough to get the gist of it. The bottom line is the title - why does work have to suck?

First a bit of history. When I was growing up, my Dad worked at a manufacturing plant in St. Paul. He worked in the Procurement Department for nearly forty years. I remember my Dad went to work at the same time and came home at the same time. Once in a while he brought work home, but for the most part our evenings were spent as a family. We ate dinner together every night at the same time and after homework, watched television together before bedtime. Very simple - very Ozzie and Harriet.

When I started work in the mid seventies, the climate was not that different. Full time was considered 40 hours a week and once in a great while a situation came up where more time was required. However, I left work pretty much at the same time and had the appropriate amount of time for my family and myself.

In the mid 80's when I was at my second company, the worm began to turn. It was one of the premiere companies in Minnesota. However, first the first time in its history, it needed to "rightsize", so it began to RIF (reduction in force) employees. This went on from 1985 until I left in 1989. For those years, many lived in fear of being shown the door. Those were not good times as fear stalked us all from the time we got into work until the time we left. If you were asked to leave, that is one issue - if you survived yet another reduction, the work was redistributed and the survivors had to pick up the slack. All of a sudden, the 40 hour work week became 45 and up.

After leaving that company came my next two companies. Both were the same thing - they were "rightsizing" the work force and those that remained were expected to do more with less. Towards the end of my career, my last company put out an edict that the expectations for billable hours were at a minimum 55 hours per week.

What does all this really mean to us? Are we afraid of a little work? The consequential effects of this monumental change in the work place has resulted in the following:

• The two way loyalty between employee and employer is gone. People come and go constantly and tenure becomes shorter and shorter. RIFs, rightsizing, realigning and so on are a constant in today's business world.
• The effects on families are chilling. Kids need both the mother and father to be engaged. If both are working for employers where many hours are required, the effect on kids can be devastating.
• Divorce is rampant in the business world. Having a marriage fail is like a product launch which went bad. Second and third marriages with people from the workplace are not uncommon.
• Commutes have gotten worse as most companies still adhere to everyone leaving at the same time, Monday through Friday. Employers do not care if the employees sit in traffic for an hour plus on the way home just as long as they have bled for the company.
• Health - with time becoming more and more squeezed, people take care of themselves last. Less sleep, poor eating habits and less exercise. Diabetes, hypertension, heart issues and obesity are all on the rise.

My first boss right out of college (who I also car pooled with) was a very wise man. He was a WWII and Korea vet and knew more about life than I could ever imagine. He would often tell me the following: "Every day we have 24 hour hours. You owe 8 hours to the company, 8 hours to your family, and 8 hours to yourself by getting a good sleep" If you put more than 8 hours in on any one of these, the others will suffer by getting less time". Wise words from a wise man who raised six children. Of if only we could follow that wise counsel today.....