An increasing number of people are spending more time at the workplace in several nations across the globe because of some factors, such as, a shift in job landscape, capitalistic tendencies, micro-management, and an emphasis on daily productivity of an employee. In my opinion, this is an overall negative development, with a limited positive aspects.
More and more companies are assessing the performance of their employees on a daily basis, using metrics such as checkin and checkout time, lines of code committed per day, or the time spent in on lunch or coffee breaks, and such micro-management could make the workplace environment toxic. However, the employees are hesitant to look for a change, because of a decline in the number of job-openeings and opportunities. Several freshers graduate each year and are struggling to find jobs, irrespective of their field. The currently employed people face a severe threat from automation and artificial intellegence, which is estimated to replace them overtime, as these technologies become more sophesticated.
Some people might argue that spending more time at work could translate into more learning, and possibly more income from working overtime. However, this would benefit only a subset of people that are employed in the field of their choice, which is not universal, and is actually quite rare. Employees tend to spend less time with their families, which may prove detrimental to the emotional bonding with their loved ones, and could lead to separation. This can be observed by a growing trend of divorce among couples, and an increasing number of people suffering from loneliness.
In conclusion, ensuring a good work-life balance is paramount. More countries should focus on decreasing stress among employees, by adopting policies such as in Finland, of a four day work week. This not only allows employees greater flexibility, but also results in more productivity, which becomes a win-win for both the employee and the employer.