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#off-topic
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2018-03-27
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fellshard21:03:41

Hmm. Probably intended as a click-bait draw, but the title alone does something that I'm really coming to loathe: ascribing bad motivations. It's far less likely that 'nobody cares', and far more likely that 'nobody knows'; far more likely that few people have seen the evidence linking one as being causal to the other.

fellshard22:03:04

Reading the article, I'm also not wholly persuaded: Chains of 'studies suggest' does not provoke a high degree of confidence. Additionally, to ask one of Sowell's Questions: "Compared to what?" Could it be the chronic diseases we see in these workplaces are only prevalent because much worse causes are no longer prevalent? That's not to say stress isn't a big factor - it probably is - but it needs to be argued better than this, and in contrast with the alternatives.

sveri10:03:03

I think it was mainly advertising for his book, coupled with raising some awareness. But I watch it from the other side. I think it is pretty obvious that the working situation for most of the work force in the "1st" world is harmful, stressful and therefore indirectly killing. On the other hand I would not even think about it, if I was not convinced we could do much better. Start by letting everybody only work 30 hours per week for the same pay for instance.

fellshard18:03:55

Consider the cost per person has a flyweight attached - the amount of benefits provided, the cost of onboarding, etc. that can often take years to pay off. The fewer hours a person works, the less the company can afford to hire more people to make up the difference. More flexible benefits plans could help, but wouldn't be a cure-all. And any company that provides the same pay for less work will be stomped all over in the short term by a slave driver company pushing 80 hour work weeks with a churning wheel of new workers. You have to find a more pragmatic solution than that.

fellshard18:03:04

TANSTAAFL; wishful thinking doesn't cut it. Always ask: - Compared to what? What is the alternative? Where did we come from, and why did we make the changes and decisions we did? - At what cost? Are there costs I'm not perceiving with the proposed change? Are there savings I'm not perceiving with the way things are? - What hard evidence do I have? Are there existing companies who have tried this? What effect did it have, and in what context? What historically has been attempted?