Worker burnout warnings spread across World Economic Forum

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
reply to post by FlyingJadeDragon

 

Couldn't have said it better. Keep this pace up and burnout almost seems inevitable. Sometimes I think about the days back in college, when they fed us the line about how technology was going to make things better for the average worker...get us to a four-day work week, more leisure time, things like that. Now we have six-day work weeks and not even 8- but 10- or 12-hour days. Things appear to have gone horribly wrong.

Seems we're either trying to keep pace with the robots that replacing us or using that technology to kill ourselves competing It might sound almost crazy to say, but some days it hardly seems like it's worth the paycheck. But again, despite the pressures (both internal and external) it is ultimately up to us to control our own stress and destinies. No one else is going to do it for us. That's clear.

edit on 1/31/2011 by ~Lucidity because: (no reason given)

I never once bought that whole line about how technology was going to make life easier. It just didn't make sense. Technology is simply an extension of our own capabilities. You add more capability and,guess what, demand for more productivity goes right along with it. It's not the fault of technology,it's how it's being developed and used, or rather abused. People are now literally competing against technology in a bid to prove that they can't be replaced. As soon as a company figures out that they can replace you with some technological marvel,you're history...

If our society permitted proper application of all of this technology to equally benefit everyone rather than the few,then we would see something quite remarkable in the fact that our lives would be easier. Unfortunately,the primary driver behind technological advances today is cyclical consumption in order to keep the currency/wealth transfer system going for the elite few.

more than likely, all of us workers will have to have psych evals to make sure were are sane enough to hold it together, and then well, even if we are, we will be found to not be, and put on their drugs....
and then we can all go postal!!!
because, if you ask me, it's those drugs that are causing alot of these people to go nuts and start shooting up the schools, police stations and what not...

I find it hard to believe that they are sincerely worried about the workers stress level..
but, in case they are....
well, here's a tip...
start paying us a decent wage???

reply to post by FlyingJadeDragon


an Ozzy aboriginal worked at survival about 2 and a half hours a day
the rest of the time was spent having fun, being spiritual, and just plain being.

i found a self sharpening stone skin scraper

Technology?
we are no further ahead

reply to post by dawnstar

We already have to take drug tests, can't be smokers, can't be of a certain age, can't have a poor credit score, mustn't post naughty things on FaceBook, and so on, so why not a psych eval for everyone. Some jobs already require them.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


Thats easy to answer Lucidity. The reason why you dont want to do psychological evaluation on potential candidates for some positions, is that only really crazy people could or would want to do the job. Megalomaniacs for instance, are the ONLY people in the world who want to lead anything, wether they lead a running race or a nation, thiers always that psychotic megalomaniac edge that gets them where they are going.
Thats one of the reasons you have to be crazy to do another important job, joining the military. If the guy giving you the orders has a god complex and wants to burn the world, you have to suck it up and do it, even when you KNOW its wrong! Who the hell would want that kind of crap at work? Its a job where you can be fired for being moraly superior to the idiots who command you !
And then, theres bankers. You would have to be absolutely insane to WANT the responsibility of making billions of dollars for your clients, or the responsibility if it all goes boom in your face, and you loose billions.... like oh I dont know the recession that happened all over the place lately. I mean why would you WANT to be the most hated person in all the freakin world ? Why would you want the shame of having ruined families and businesses, all through your own hubris and stupidity and arrogance? Who wants that massive anvil wieghing on thier shoulders?
Then you have the police. Not only do you have to put up with corrupt members of your own proffession, but you have to put up with the public not trusting you because of the actions of your fellows, and then theres the gangsters, seeing the innocent die and the guilty live on , free and high when the law cant touch them nearly hard enough. What the hell kind of glutton for punishment, what kind of nutter would want that pain in his or her life?
I'd say we already hire all the total nutjobs in these feilds. They are the people who applied for the position after all !

You never hear anyone on their deathbed say, "I sure wish I spent more time at work while I was alive."

reply to post by ~Lucidity


S&F&

GREAT commentary - you said everything I wanted to say!

Bottom line: The system's single-minded focus on the bottom line creates stress; stress kills; therefor, the system kills.

Does anyone really care?

reply to post by TrueBrit

Ah sorry that was a bit of sarcasm on my part. I do need to watch that. But points well taken, and we didn't say exactly what the psych exams would be testing for, did we. In some cases megalomaniacs might be exactly what the job calls for and so that would reflect on the test.


reply to post by Calender

Never


reply to post by soficrow

Thank you, very much soficrow. And sadly no one does care...we're pretty much on our own, particularly without our unions and with people no being able to empathize unitl it happens to them. And maybe not even then,

i can personally attest to the truth of this finding. a fellow colleague had to take time off work as a result of burnout. and is now on anti depressants everyone that works with him says his moots are too erratic and he flips out randomly. this guy used to burn the midnight oil, real company man. and in the end they are just hanging him out to dry. they will fire him soon because he has now become a liability and if loosing them money. i guess now that he isnt making them money they will discard him and con some other fool to do the same thing. and discard that poor bastard when he breaks too. most of the people on this forum dont have the faintest idea the cruel and calculating nature of s corporation. single minded and efficient its only purpose is to grow. its like a Frankenstein monster. and before you ask no i am not immune to its effects. stress at work is hard to shake off. but i dont let it get to me as much as im planning on moving on in the next few months.

Originally posted by tim3lord
i can personally attest to the truth of this finding. a fellow colleague had to take time off work as a result of burnout. and is now on anti depressants everyone that works with him says his moots are too erratic and he flips out randomly. this guy used to burn the midnight oil, real company man. and in the end they are just hanging him out to dry. they will fire him soon because he has now become a liability and if loosing them money. i guess now that he isnt making them money they will discard him and con some other fool to do the same thing. and discard that poor bastard when he breaks too. most of the people on this forum dont have the faintest idea the cruel and calculating nature of s corporation. single minded and efficient its only purpose is to grow. its like a Frankenstein monster. and before you ask no i am not immune to its effects. stress at work is hard to shake off. but i dont let it get to me as much as im planning on moving on in the next few months.

How true the Biblical proverb that says:


(Ecclesiastes 4:6) . . .Better is a handful of rest than a double handful of hard work and striving after the wind.

reply to post by tim3lord

They dangle that carrot well, don't they? Good luck to you on your new path! The positive here is that eventually we do recognize it, eh? Hard lessons stick the best.

reply to post by Calender

Very cool quote. Thank you.

reply to post by ~Lucidity


As I read these posts It occurred to me about how we adults see kids these days...or at least from my own personal experiences and conversations, we see them as lazy, selfish, even at times a little dim. But maybe just maybe, they have it right. Maybe they have just had it. Maybe they see things with fresh eyes, the eyes of children. Their families have been torn apart, Both parents have to work, education system is a joke, college expense is astronomical. And there they sit, Helpless, hopeless, jobless, undereducated, and over medicated. Unofortunately I was born in the time that still held strong to the delusion of working hard and making a descent living...that's not working out So good, but it's all I know. They have seen the toll of this rat race on their lives, and the toll it has taken on their parents lives. Lazy is the new revolution in American youth! A defiant stance against tptb "do it your fn self" I'm gonna do what I want to do. Maybe we adults should stop for a bit and embrace the youth mentality. Go play a video game. Go hang out at the mall with your buds and not buy anything. Just be if only for a day, a non contributor. Don't produce, don't consume. Just be a slug. If enough of us do this for long enough I think the ptb would really feel the stress!

reply to post by Wetpaint72

Now that's a great perspective I hadn't thought of in relation to this topic. That might certainly contribute to an even earlier burn-out rate or tendency for some. It is (well can be) cumulative. .

My son's 21 and it always seemed to me so many of my peer parents were so eager to start their kids out on the rat race so young! Sports, dance, gymnastics, early admission, test scores test scores compete compete compete! Their schedules made my head spin. And they were all horrified and so judgmental when I let him quit baseball and then take a year off before college.I mean what difference does it make if they take two years? They'll be out there soon enough anyway. Must not let China get a jump on us!? Really? Get out there into the rat race earlier? Have your collapse when there's even more to "lose?"

Who says we have to do things just like everyone else does or on some sort of concocted timetable? I remembered my parents saying to us,,,there will be time enough for that when you're older, go chase butterflies for a while. And that's how I tried to raise my kid. So far so good.

Great thoughts...thank you

reply to post by ~Lucidity


It already happens. My partner has worked for three different higher educational facilities, who's names I will not mention. One for the athletic division specifically, one for hiring and HR, and one generally student focused. They are called "personality charting" interviews. It is the test that produces such terms as Type A personalities, creative analytical, and so forth. Some of what she told me was a little disturbing. I think she also found it disturbing which is why she doesn't do it anymore as a job. Not that the tests were bizarre but the reasons for the tests became bizarre.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity
reply to post by tim3lord

 

They dangle that carrot well, don't they? Good luck to you on your new path! The positive here is that eventually we do recognize it, eh? Hard lessons stick the best.

reply to post by Calender

 

Very cool quote. Thank you.

indeed they do. they know exactly how to make us jump through hoops, but at least im moving on soon.

doctors have a high stress and commit suicide.
school teachers in UK are very stresstt and have a lot of brake downs.
a lot of workers work for to many hours.
they have to. so they have the money they need to live.
give a good wage and shorten the hours.
then there would be more jobs.

Originally posted by ~Lucidity

On the negative side, the poor insurance companies are having to foot the bill for the stress. Bad news for them.

Insurance companies will not feel any pressure due to stress claims.

Depending on where you live they are either working to remove stress claims or have already done so.

Typically, these claims were allowed when few people used them however now that stress is becoming one of the more common workplace 'injuries' companies are no longer offering benefits to those who suffer.

The justification being used in many cases is that the stress is a by-product of lifestyle/poor choices, not work.

Two years ago, I worked 6 days a week. Started feeling "burnt out", so I quit and got a 5 day a week job.

After a year, the same thing happened. I realized that if I gave up my "wants", I could afford to live on a 3 day a week job. So I did it.

Never felt better in my life. That's why I have the time to sit here at 2.45 on a Tuesday morning. No work tomorrow!

If you're "in it to win it" you will pay dearly with your health.

Don't try and "keep up with the Joneses". Just wave to them in the morning as they leave to go to work their butts off paying off their debts for their nice things. Preferably lazing in an outdoor recliner with a beer in your hand. I guarantee, you'll feel better than they do!

reply to post by NuclearPaul


The problem is most people base thier self worth on how they compare to the Jones'.

I think this TV Ad sums most peoples lives up pretty accurately...

reply to post by [davinci]

Well, I clearly didn't know this. Thanks for the information. They do, however, still deal with the consequences of prolonged stress, which manifests as real disease, both physical and mental. To my knowledge, they're not diagnosing to that level. Yet.