Like everything else in our life, which is full of boredom and repetitiveness, our work too is such and the most overt expression of it is the 9-5 job routines and the cult which powers it. This topic is especially crucial to talk about wherein there are discussions about the future of work with the advent of digital work and non-workspace methods, additionally with a non-requirement of a physical presence of a person. The corona pandemic laid bare the inner workings of this structure, sometimes its positive but mostly the negatives. People already had a bend towards finding some novel avenue for work, they did not in any sense have a likeness for the job that they were in and more importantly the forced outcome that was expected of professionals meant that people started exploring and in their search they found different sorts of work which we will further discuss. There is a certain hope for a new sort of living in the people who despise this routine, i.e. the entrepreneurs, the creative intelligentsia, they see the boredom of all this and feel the form of work goes against the very principle of work and why we do it. So today we will explore the various facets of the 9 to 5 jobs, the problems of the structure, the oppositional stand and lastly the future of work with a certain emphasis on healthy work, a form of work that is whole and absolute and how it may come about.
Historical context of 9 to 5
(The Modern One)
The Industrial Revolution had severe implications and effects that were far-fetching for the structure of work and society at large. The demand for a particular technological output demanded homogenization of production so mechanicalness in the form of work humans did. This created a structure where routine was valued, and a certain emphasis was placed on effectiveness and efficiency. The work from then on hasn’t changed a bit in its fundamentals except in the volume and extent and the like. Some historical facts need to be considered. This form is wholly an American phenomenon. In 1926, Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motor Company started the concept of 5 day, 40 hours work week for his assembly line. We can see the routine and division of labour and so on. And most people are attached to the number 8 which is merely an illusion, if you could add the commuting time, the preparation for going to work and a follow up of mails, texts and so on, the time they do consume is absolutely enormous. On top of that if one honestly enquires of one self, is there any kind of satisfaction in the work they do, the answer will strike upon them and shock them in a stupendous way. So what one gas gained from all this, a superficial, utterly meaningless life.
The myth of efficiency and productivity
It is often presented as an argument that the 9 to 5 job promotes productivity and efficiency. It is a blatant myth. The enormous amount of time that people are involved in the work they don’t like to do, suffer enormously, abhor their bosses, are suspicious of their colleagues and try to do superficial work in a toxic environment. Are we saying that these things promote order and efficiency? On the contrary the opposite is in fact true. The existence of the structure itself bears testimony to the lack of order and effectiveness that is. There is no love and respect for the work that people do, it is an infinite bore to them, maybe a cause of endless suffering, uncomfort and exhaustion and the like. Most of the people are not in touch with the facts of their life. Isn’t the productivity of a particular sort of service or quality of it all, of the professions people are usually involved in hampered by this state of mind of the employee? Won’t it be better if anything outside of this structure is explored and presented to people? The entrepreneurial mind stands in opposition to it. It says that the mundane work is non-beneficial in every form and way. It is destructive physically, it is toxic to the mind and even poses a dire problem to the financial situation of a person. In this respect the work-life balance, a focus on personal relationships and so on are emphasised a great deal, the routine is discarded in favour of spontaneity, force in favour of a loving attitude towards one’s work or enterprise and a toxic workspace to a mere digital contact is favoured in technical terms remote work is favoured.
Industrial versus the Entrepreneurial
The collective form of work has been replaced and the lower order of work, a form of work that is mechanical and redundant are being taken over or will be taken over especially after AI and other induced technologies have come into public domain. This makes it a necessity to talk of a way of living which is entirely different from what we are presently and the work that is expressed through it. A creative form of work, that is all in its essence non-monotonous and very lively for the person who does it. Energy which is dissipated in mindless activity and work could then be channelised in fruitful ways which are far more beneficial to the individual as well as to his direct environment.
The Future of Work
The Microsoft Work Trend Report says that in place of 9 to 5 workdays, asynchronous work is now essential to being part of a modern, digital economy, staying competitive in the war of talent. Additionally a 2019 survey by International Workplace Group noted that 80% of workers would turn down a job that did not offer a flexible work schedule. A promise of non-routineness seems to be the future of work, on the contrary, work based on immense love and care would and ought to be the thing which should gain traction. Companies and enterprises have to profoundly rethink what it means to be part of a modern work structure. For a digitally advanced economy and society wouldn’t it be good that the routine ends, the fixed pattern is dissolved and only in that ending the new can come about. We must not speculate about it for when the change comes it will lead to absolutely new forms of work and practical living. Regardless, a band of entrepreneurs must come to the fore and lead in this aspect which they are in many ways. Remote working is being explored and specific assignments concerning new arrangements of the digital culture itself too are being emphasised in their doctrines.
Discussions on the role of work in personal lives of people must happen which presently are not taking place as they should. The debilitating nature of our present structure of jobs etc must be analysed honestly, from the employers to the employees this question of their lives must be pre-eminent in their minds. When we stop and look at this whole problem we begin to ask the right questions, be it our job, relationships or whatever that is, and when we pursue our inquiry to the fullest only then the new could come about.