Living An Electronic Life

LIVING AN ELECTRONIC LIFE
An essay by Christopher Sylvia
As technology increases, the quality of human life decreases. The world marketplace has become more competitive and therefore more demanding. The speed in which the marketplace increases is in direct correlation to the growth of technology.
It is no secret that technology has, and continues to, increase exponentially. Over the past three decades, computers have changed the lives of virtually every person on the planet and will continue to do so as their performance roughly doubles every 18 months. The implementation of computers into the lives of workers is based on the theory that these new innovations will allow workers to produce more per hour, reducing work time. Unfortunately, this theory could not be further from the truth.
Technological innovations have created rapid changes and an increase in the speed of work, which often means more work to do and less time to do it in, equaling more working hours per day. Workers are working more hours than in recent decades. With the advent of portable technologies (i.e., laptops), work is overflowing into the home. 61% of laptop users are continuing their work from home. Sydney Morning Herald reported in a 1998 study that found 30% of the workforce is working more than 49 hours per week; this is up from 19% in 1978. The Department of Industrial Relations surveyed 19,000 people and discovered that 60% of workers had more work than in the previous year. The ACTU did a survey in 1999 that confirmed these findings. Quality of Working Life, a report by the Institute of Management found that 40% of its members worked over 50 hour weeks.
These long hours are a major creator of stress and stress caused by overwork is increasing. According to the California Institute of Technology, about 80% of surgeries in the United States are related to stress caused diseases. The United Nations has named job-related stress as, “the 20th Century disease”. Workplace stress in the United States has doubled since 1985. Not only is stress a major cause of illness, but a major contributor to family problems. 40% of Employees, according to a Health Canada study, experience high levels of work and family conflict. Relationship stress caused by problems at work can decrease job productivity. Families that contain both parents working long hours also have children with lower school grades and poor study habits. Many of these children complain about being lonely.
Technology, though it could be a benefit, has become a hindrance. As the rate of technology increases exponentially, the amount of hours in a working day will follow suit. More working hours will only increase a worker’s stress, not productivity. Though it is impossible to accurately calculate a person’s stress threshold, the stress threshold is still a reality. With continual increase of workload, stress levels will continue to increase, leaving only one of two possibilities: the amount of work and work stress the workforce can handle will reach its zenith, then plateau, or there will be a sort of workers revolution. Viva Revolution!
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