In recent years, a long working time has become a focal point of social discourse, sparking heated debates regarding whether countries with a prolonged working shift are prone to social repercussions, despite potential economic prosperities. Although a long average working time provides a springboard for economies to grow, it indeed acts as a drive behind worsening social well-being, a weakened consumer culture, and the inefficacy of the workforce. My essay is going to delve into how badly a long working day can dismantle the social fabric.
Firstly, an enduring working shift has adverse effects on social well-being. Being put under sheer pressure, human labor may feel mentally drained and excessively exhausted, voicing concerns over bread-and-butter issues such as health and physicality. Similarly, the energy crisis derived from long working hours, in some ways takes its toll on the outcomes of the following workday.
Secondly, protracted office time worsens a consumer culture. In a society where people are unwittingly neglectful of their leisure pursuits as the result of intense concentration on work, the exchange of goods and services will sink into atrophy. Moreover, more time spent on work means less time set aside for socializing, weakening social bonds and undermining vibrant communities.
More importantly, work time constraints lead to the unproductivity of the national workforce. As the burgeoning tide of automation has already ushered in, advanced manufacturing machines and modern robots could manage repeated tasks for which laborers used to be largely responsible without any interruption. This means assigning tasks that can be automated to the labor pool will badly influence their performance at work. Embracing multi-pronged policies of reducing working hours not only boosts mentality, it also fosters peak performance in assignments. Take the UK’s workers as a case in point. Data shows that 36% of the working time the UK workforce spent on their jobs was claimed to be unproductive, resulting in disappointing productivity outcomes at the end of the day.
In conclusion, policies of long work hours can drive the economies of countries embracing them to prosperity, yet they undoubtedly come with inherent social challenges. Not only do long working hours worsen social well-being, it is also a rationale behind a weakened consumer culture. I think it is the government’s efforts to carefully consider the costs and benefits of long working hours prior to an official implementation of such labor policies.