Sociological Implications Of The Modern Economy And The Workplace Environment

It's the culture of the USA where people feel required to put in a number of hours or work more than others,” Aaron Uhde states during his interview. Although this may be true, America is trying to change this through major corporations such as Nike and Google. They have nap rooms and encourage meditation and relaxation. Another reason that it is a good idea for the workplace to be relaxed and not too structured so that when the employees do work, they are focused and not messing around. Aaron Uhde states that “A lot of people waste time on electronics, so my observation is that someone is working 60 hours a week, they are probably not as productive as they could be.”

Work and its role in society has become the subject of considerable public commentary and debate in recent years. Work, for many Americans, has changed significantly over the past 25 years. Some people believe that the world of work is changing so thoroughly and quickly that we should consider ourselves pioneers of a new historical era. Some say that the idea of a job has become antiquated.

Many employees work longer hours for many reasons, one of them being consumerism. They want to be able to have enough money to buy materialistic items and services as a way of filling the void of happiness, so they attempt to buy themselves happiness considering they don’t have the time or energy to actually see their families or friends and enjoy their free time so they try to buy happiness. Workaholics are also people who are known to work long hours because they feel as if they are compelled to work due to internal stress which results to damage towards an individual’s personal relationships and health as well as the quality and productivity of the work being done. Workaholics work long hours causing them to lose the sense of joy within their work as well as the joy in their personal life leading them to work more as a way to fill the void within their

Although, for most, work has always been a necessity, current economic conditions, lower wages, have led many to allocate more hours to work and to increasingly

It is noted that employees spend a large amount of their time at work. Work is becoming more than just a 9-5, but a place work longevity friendships are created. Also created is what the article termed as workaholism, reporting that workaholism not only cause a great deal of stress but can also cause mental fatigue and physical somatic systems. All of these aliments can hinder spiritualty – which can lead to absence, low performance, and a financial hit for the company. The financial components include medical expenses, loss of productivity, health insurance.

The psychological impacts based on today's workplace lead us to believe we have no time. We no longer make

The modern society is work driven that people need to work hard to realize the general community development goals and personal goals. Thus, work has become an integral part of the day to day living of an average American. One needs to always have something to do in mind and strive to grow on the job to experience greater financial success and skill development. Whether or not a person has multiple work opportunities or succeeds in their work life is influenced by multiple factors, some of which are within the control of the individual in question. The United States of America has a unique work culture that is predominantly shaped by the way that the society is stratified and the assertions that people build towards their work life. However, one thing that remains certain is the way that culture affects the direction that a person takes in employment, on top of the individual ability to overcome social obstacles in order to secure employment that is favorable to an individual in terms of skill and preference. Suffice to say, the milestones attained in one’s work life is contingent to the institutional and cultural support availed by their external environment, personal psychological strength and belief also plays a part.

Changes in the way we work, the workplace and the role-assignment are not invisible to anyone. The fact that we work differently and our approach to work has changed is widely acknowledged in modern discourse. These changes can be attributed to numerous factors including cultural shifts, changes in cultural beliefs and values, need for better quality of life, rising cost of living, changes in science and technology and of course growing access to education.

I have seen in the retail business that the managers don’t have to leave the stores anymore to attend a meeting. They simply now have to make a phone call, enter a code, and they are in a “conference call” allowing them to still manage their stores. There are telecommunicating jobs that now allow workers to stay at home and earn income. The social ramifications to this new way of work have changed people for the good and some for the bad. While moms can now stay at home with their children while working and earning income; this saves them the expenses from traveling. The negative impact on this is that stay-home-jobs isolate the person from the outside world that they once had. It is harder to get a promotion and adds to the gender inequality in the workplace (Macionis, 2008). I just purchased a home and never saw my loan officer; she worked out of California from her office and home. I liked the convenience of the process because I was able to retrieve my emails from her and resend them on my free time. The personal contact has diminished, resulting in some sort of isolation.

As division of work became the norm, and technology invaded every job, the worker was alienated from his co-workers, the product of his work and became `in awe' so to speak of the tools he started to use. What a difference to the times of Michelangelo, when the artisan revelled in his work! This serves to highlight the fact that technology can hinder the progression of certain qualities which should be produced by working. Remedies do exist of course; in Japan, all the workers in the company congregate to pray together before starting work. This is a way to socialise and realise that, in a company, one works as a team and not on one's own.

There are several issues that were both discussed in the book End This Depression Now by Paul Krugman and Changing Contours of Work: Jobs and opportunities in the New Economy by Stephen Sweet and Peter Meiksins. The textbook offered a sociological analysis of the nature of work in the new economy, such as the new opportunities in this economy as well and the challenges many workers now face and ultimately how this change the family lives of many. The book also discussed about the new face of the workplace and work in general, which includes issues on inequality and discrimination. The book discussed job security, policies and why workers work more now than they did before or work in 24/7 economy. Lastly, the book talks about the ways on

As the variation of workers’ income levels, status and values about business and the character of the U.S. government, significant social impacts are generated from these changes (Earl, as cited in Knapp, Sharma & King, 2007). First social impact involves changing career models. According to Sullivan (as cited in Terjesen, 2006), conventionally, careers have followed an upward, linear series through one or two firms or consist stable employment in one progression. Terjesen (2006) claims that globalization and technology have changed the essence of careers and of the psychological employment agreement which was initially regarded as exchange of employee loyalty for job security, and this contract has moreover been damaged by the pressure of outsourcing, particularly when employees are required to train individuals from overseas who are possibly take their jobs. A study of technology laborers found that 20% of them had trained an individual from overseas (Terjesen, 2006). Therefore, for the purpose of maintaining employability in the new career model, the U.S. workers are individually required to exploit portable, specific knowledge, skills and core competencies. Furthermore, the offshoring of jobs in the U.S. has generated the backlash, which can be defined as a strong negative reaction by a large number of people, such as one reaction to something that has recently changed in society (Oxford Learners’ Dictionaries, 2015). According to Terjesen (2006), the considerations

Business owners and leaders of all management levels usually agree on one thing, a constant demand to keep others in the work environment motivated and productive. Workplace productivity is a term referring to how much work is accomplished in a work environment and how efficiently workers complete tasks at their workplaces. Finding ways to increase workplace productivity is a task that can be frustrating and time consuming. The ability to motivate and get employees to work efficiently in order to increase productivity is critical to a company 's success. A company 's success is generated from the productiveness of its employees, ultimately benefiting all aspects of the company. The benefits of increasing productivity in the workplace

Work is also something that you have control over and can change. Even if you feel stuck due to financial responsibilities there are many ways to properly change careers. So, if someone is unhappy in

Working long hours have become a tradition in modern society. Although it was postulated from the past that today’s society would have too much free time, this has turned out to be a sharp contradiction. In this paper, an examination of working long hours are examined with respect to how this habit became a norm, how it is propagated, and its effect on family life. Working long hours is a result of scarcity of resources in society.