The Mighty Micro
In 1979 Christopher Evans wrote the Mighty Micro a sort of prediction/guess on the future and effects of computers in Society. He predicted a shorter working week as computers enabled us to do more and free ourselves.... What he hadn't figured was that by doing more we could work the same hours and use less people.. I cannot be certain but I seem to remember him saying that he had failed to take into account the greed of employers, which I think is a little naieve. I don't believe it is down to pure greed just simple mechanics of society why employ more people to do a job than one person.
I do believe that there is increasing pressure to work out of hours, however I believe this is not just the fault of the employer but several factors:
1. The persons attitude (type A's just need to know whats happening)
2. The culture of the organisation (there's just an expectation round here)
3. The employer (closely linked to above)
4. The type of service... especially in IT there is a tendency to put forward web based services that are available 24hrs a day.. this builds an expectation of 24/7 support... with guess what no provision for out of hours support.
5. The conscientious worker.. similar to number 1, this person takes great pride in how they do their job and the service they give.. this means they keep an eye on things!
As an engineer and a manager I could list a lot more contributing factors, the upshot is we just can't leave the emails alone.. I am sitting here knowing that over Christmas I have listed 18 work related items I need to do.. I have done 11 of them so far... Perhaps I need to change.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
