Thanks to the efforts of the labor movement of the late 1800’s, eight hours five days a week has become the standard work schedule for laborers in the United States (Whalen). At the time that the nine-to-five workday originated, most laborers in the US worked industrial, blue-collar jobs. Because they performed physical, repetitive tasks, workers during this time period were able to work non-stop for more or less the entire duration of their workday, with scheduled breaks. However, the nature of work has changed since then and today’s workforce increasingly consists of white-collar workers, who primarily perform cognitive tasks. As most people know from experience, it is nearly impossible for humans to concentrate on a mental task for more than a couple of hours at a time, and most workers need to regularly take breaks from their work. The problem that results from this inability to concentrate is loss of productivity, since employers do not receive the full amount of labor that they pay for.
In addition to the shift from blue-collar to white-collar work, another way in which the nature of work is changing today is that employers are becoming increasingly reluctant to train new employees, instead preferring to hire those that already have the necessary experience and skill sets. This is in part due to the fact that many workers no longer remain at the same job for decades at a time, so it becomes less valuable for a company to invest in training an employee if that employee will take his skills elsewhere in a few years’ time (Schrager). Despite the economic incentives to not train workers, this new convention is creating problems for employers and employees alike. Employers are struggling to fill open positions in their companies because they cannot find candidates with the exact skills and work experience that they want. Potential workers, particularly new graduates with very little work experience, are having trouble finding employment because they lack the specific skills and the experience that employers look for (Cappelli). This increases unemployment and inhibits the workforce from producing at its full capacity.
As unpaid internships have become the norm for young workers who are newly embarking on their careers, the potential for employers to exploit interns has increased. Federal law stipulates that in order for an unpaid internship to be lawful, interns must receive training similar to that which they would gain in an educational environment (“6 Legal Requirements for Unpaid Internship Programs”). However, employers can easily take advantage of the vagueness of this definition to misuse their interns for menial labor rather than to provide them with useful training for their careers. Furthermore, as fewer companies are willing to hire and train inexperienced workers, many current and newly-graduated college students believe that interning is the only way to build up your resume in order to acquire a real job, so they are unlikely to speak out against their exploitation out of fear of losing valuable internship experience.
Works Cited
“6 Legal Requirements For Unpaid Internship Programs.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 19 Apr. 2013. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2013/04/19/6-legal-requirements-for-unpaid-internship-programs/>.
Cappelli, Peter. “What Employers Really Want? Workers They Don’t Have to Train.” Washington Post. The Washington Post, 05 Sept. 2014. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-leadership/wp/2014/09/05/what-employers-really-want-workers-they-dont-have-to-train/>.
Schrager, Allison. “Is On-the-Job Training Still Worth It for Companies?” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 22 Aug. 2014. Web. 07 Mar. 2015. <http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-08-22/is-on-the-job-training-still-worth-it-for-companies>.
Whalen, Kelly. “How the Weekend Was Won.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. <http://www.pbs.org/livelyhood/workday/weekend/8hourday.html>.
Hey Aychen, I agreed with your post about the problems facing the workplace, particularly that of unpaid internships and the exploitation of those interns and young workers. Because of the growing competition in the workforce I think many companies do rely heavily on unpaid internship for cheap sources of labor. Unfortunately because the legal requirements are so vague and widely unfamiliar to many college graduates or entry level employees (I for example was unaware of these rules) exploitation is a difficult problem to resolve. I think the most basic step to reach a resolution is to educate interns on their rights as well as imply stricter policies for companies who choose unpaid internships and have those programs reviewed.
I think you highlight another important point in your second problem and would like to add that while companies do not train their workers, nor expect them to remain loyal or stay at their company for extended periods, I think another source of problems for worker’s training comes from a lack of proper training in their schooling. Lastly, in terms of your first point, while I agree with your assertions I have to wonder if a worker’s hours solely contribute to his decreased productivity, or if other distractions get in his way. In my opinion, having a phone full of games and access to the internet will do more harm to someone’s productivity than the number of hours he works or whether he is a blue or white collar worker.