Overworked and Overstressed: Problems of the Technical Age

Kyle Myers

Professor Jennifer Martin

MIT 2371

March 24^th, 2011

New technologies suffer from many setbacks before they become popular; they are often slow to be embraced, and once they are, it is often still years before their full potential is achieved. Steve Lohr points out that the computer and the internet are no different than other technologies in this regard; in that the introduction and implementation of these technologies did little to improve productivity in business, with increases of only one percent per year from 1973 to 1995 (178). As of recently however, that pace has increased, with productivity growth doubling to two percent per year. Many now believe that information technologies have proven their worth in business, with Lohr stating that “the rapid spread of Internet-based computing... promises to compress the time it takes for any new technology to enhance economic welfare in general” (180). While Lohr’s article seems to promote an extremely optimistic view of information technologies and their possibilities, the reality may be slightly less peachy. I believe that while productivity increases are a positive effect of information technologies’ integration into business, the negative effects on the human worker may require us to re-examine current business practices.

Since 1996 the implementation of information technology into the workplace has given businesses “increased speed and efficiency”, which can be assumed is due to the fact that day-to-day tasks are made easier for employees. While this is admittedly an advantage, (easier work means less stress) studies are in fact showing the opposite effects on workers. Why would this be so? The fact of the matter is that when work gets easier and faster, employees are expected to do more work, and in a shorter amount of time. While a task that before may have taken a half of a day and a certain amount of brainpower, with the addition of information technology the task may take a slightly smaller amount of brainpower, yet only one-tenth of the time. This frees up a significant amount of time for the worker to perform other tasks, which can become quite taxing on the employee. Nine out of ten Canadian workers believe that stress is on the rise in the workplace, and upwards of $30 billion dollars is lost each year from the Canadian economy directly and indirectly due to mental-health issues, like stress and depression (Grant). According to Statistics Canada, “the most commonly cited cause [of employee stress] is a lack of time or an excessive workload (Williams). So it seems while information technologies are indeed effective at increasing the efficiency of businesses and their practices, this efficiency and productivity may come at the expense of employee health.

I believe that while computer and information technology have undoubtedly brought advantages to the world of business and various corporations around the world, statistics are hard to ignore, and people must always be put ahead of profit. The technology however, is not necessarily to blame in this case; it is the CEO’s of the companies which employ the technology. We have not given computers or the internet the power to control our actions or decisions (yet), and so the decisions still come from the top. The internet is not making employees do more work per day than they are comfortable doing, the managers are, and so there must be a shift in the way managers and owners think of business and how it is conducted. The heightened expectations and ridiculous demand in terms of work and hours must be alleviated or stress and depression will continue to be a problem in the workplace, and may even become a worldwide epidemic. Perhaps in this world of fast-paced life and non-stop action, we should all take a second to slow down: it’s good for our health.

Works Cited

Grant, Tavia. "Stress, depression on the rise in workplace." Globe and Mail 01 May 2008: n. pag. Web. 20 Mar 2011.

Lohr, Steve. "Computer Age Gains Respect of Economists." Living in the Information Age. Ed. Erik P. Bucy. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005. Print.

Williams, Cara. "Sources of Workplace Stress."Perspectives on Labour and Income 4.6 (2003): n. pag. Web. 22 Mar 2011.