I’m currently employed as a business analyst. If I’m being generous, it takes me 10-15 hours per week of actually working to complete my job functions. The rest of the time, I’m just “on call.” I could spend that time generating work for myself, but I have zero incentive to do so, as anything I’ve brought to leadership in the past has been dismissed as not being a priority.
I haven’t met many people (especially in white collar positions like my own) who actually NEED to work 40 hours per week to accomplish their work tasks, which leads me to wonder why there’s still such a corporate obsession with the 40 hour work week. If I can do the work that needs to be done in less time, why am I being penalized for being efficient? Wouldn’t it help everyone to have that time back to contribute to their households or leisure activities that involve spending money that then goes back into the economy?
We really ought to move towards a task/goal oriented system of work. When your tasks/goals for the day or week are done, so are you. I’m sick of pretending to work just to appease someone who barely knows I exist.