Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408270028
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FABIOLA SANTIAGO KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Harder than ever, in the case of office workers, middle-management and professionals trying to survive the age of re-engineering, restructuring, mergers, acquisitions and downsizing.
Not since the days of the Great Depression - or when immigrants worked double shifts and two or three jobs to reach the American dream - have people worked this hard, experts say.
With fewer people around to share the workload - and technology generating not only opportunities, but also greater expectations - there's little time left during work hours for reflection, analysis or shaping judgment. It's a rush, rush whirlwind of a day. Then you take home the thinking part, plus the backlogged paperwork.
``In a lot of areas, they are working harder,'' said Miami lawyer Terence G. Connor, an employment specialist. ``I am!''
Tools such as the computer, fax machine, cellular phone and telephone answering systems have raised unrealistic expectations that you can produce more and quicker. Many workers haven't had time to thoroughly learn the new technology and make the most of it. And having greater access to volume means there's more to be sifted through, more for which to set priorities.
Take messages.
``They're in E-mail, the phone mail light's blinking - and I still get the old paper messages, too. You really are overwhelmed,'' Connor said.
Then there's the fax.
``If you get information that fast, people expect you to get it back to them that fast,'' Connor said. ``In a professional setting, you need time to sit back and analyze.''
People are finding they have to shift their ``thinking'' time to their ``leisure'' time, already taken up with company social activities, corporate-sponsored volunteerism and the modern-day demands of family life.
What's worse, the traditional rewards of a strong work ethic and corporate citizenship - moving up securely in a familiar company, a nice retirement pension and benefits - may not be there along the way, nor at the end. These days, who knows if the company will still be around?
Workers are anxiety-ridden about the present and the future, labor psychologists say.
``It's a stresser. Their future is out of the control of the individual,'' said Miami psychologist Maria Ferro, whose company, Human Potential, runs employee-assistance programs for south Florida employers. ``There's been an increase of stress with the feeling that all of their efforts will go unrewarded by something out of their control.
``There's no certainty in the traditional ethics of work hard, move up in the company and you get more salary and benefits,'' she said. ``Now there's mergers, acquisitions, downsizing. Business is saying, `We still want you to do all that work, but we can't guarantee that there's a place for you in the future.'''
Men who have traditionally tied their sense of self-worth to career status in particular are readjusting and pushing to get more leisure time, Ferro said. In today's workplace, they're not getting it. It's still mostly women who are taking advantage of job-sharing and flexible work hours, she said.
Some workers are reacting to uncertain times by diversifying their skills - either by picking up a new one, enhancing those they already have or quietly starting a small business.
``If it goes well, then I can be my own boss - the All-American dream,'' Ferro said. ``And regain control.''
Two other trends - the shift from a manufacturing to a customer-service economy, and the growing diversity of the work force - are making the '90s workplace a more stressful and demanding environment.
People accustomed to being trained to perform a technical task are now having to shift their learning to new behaviors, such as how to treat a customer, said Irwin Goldstein, chairman of behavioral and social sciences at the University of Maryland.
Add to the scenario, Goldstein says, the changing demographics of the work force - once largely white male and homogeneous - to the next century's, when everyone is expected to be part of a minority group.
``Greater diversity means accepting people with other values and maybe people you're not comfortable with,'' Goldstein said. ``It's going to make for a more vigorous America, but in the meantime ... there's a learning process involved. And all that adds up to making greater demands on workers.''
by CNB