Flashback to 2004, 5.45pm: my father; a white- collar worker walks in the door, briefcase in hand after a long and stressful day of work, he walks to his bedroom, places his briefcase in his cupboard, resumes to the loungeroom, sits himself on the lounge, flicks through the channels on television, and speaks not a single word of his day at work.
Flashforward to 2008, 6.45pm: my father, still the same white- collar worker walks in the door, laptop case in hand after a long and stressful day of work, he walks to his office, places his laptop on his desk, apologises for being late home from work as he was kept in the office checking emails, and continues to check his emails throughout the course of the evening.
It seems that 'working the nine to five grind' is no longer an option for many people within the workplace today thanks to the apparent convenience of the internet. Three years ago- my father, among many white- collar workers saw the internet as a new opportunity to keep on top of emails and office tasks in the convenience of their own homes after work. Though today, it seems that the initial convenience is more of a never- ending working day, with constant alerts from Outlook Express, Intranet, text messages from colleagues and follow- up phone calls from prospective clients.
The concept of 'presence bleed', as discussed by Gregg, is the idea that subordinates are now able to take work out of the office. Gregg states that, "These are employees for whom the boundaries between labour and leisure, work and home have blurred to the extent that it has become difficult to describe what actually counts as work" (Gregg). Ted discussed in this weeks lecture that we live in a world where there is an ongoing flow of information that we can't actually turn off at 5pm like we used to. It is interesting to think that a technology where convenience was the initial basis of its' appeal now may be creating more work than its worth.
If we are currently challenged by the balance between work and play, a conundrum termed 'weisure' (the line dividing work and leisure time as titled by CNN), what could this technologically driven world be like by say 2013, when most of us will graduate from our degrees? Will it be acceptable to take work calls on weekends? Or to hang out in our offices after hours writing reports for clients? Or should we all aspire to sleep over night in our office cubicle, just incase that important email comes through...
Gregg, M. 'Function Creep: Communication technologies and anticipatory labour in the information workplace'.
This does not make me want to join the real world and work. I think I would have much preferred things in the past were you could go home and not work! I remember one family holiday where my dad had to locate a pay phone to make a business calls. On the last holiday we went on he simply pulls out his lap top. Work not only takes over our down time at home, but also our holidays. When one the people in our class said that her sister had 300 emails after a holiday, it really started to scar me. Once I join the workforce am I ever going to be able to escape?
ReplyDeleteBec, I agree. I am already experiencing a 'presence bleed' between uni and leisure, I cant begin to imagine how this will increase when I have a full time job! As lazy as it sounds, I wish that we could go back to ‘2004’ where we were able to switch off after 5pm, but working in the demanding industry that each of us will be, Im not sure if it will ever be possible.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how much of an impact the Internet has had our on working lives. With convince of the internet comes a expectation that we are always available, hence our working day never stops. Personally, I like the the fact that we are always connected. We can continously stay in touch and can be much more organised and involved to the extent that our working behaviour can be improved.
ReplyDeleteBeing continuously connected has made society much more efficient and convenient. Although, there may be some downfalls like 'presence bleed', the reading ignores the many positive outcomes that have also resulted from this revolution.
ReplyDeleteThis blog has also raised an important question ' what could this technologically driven world be like by say 2013?' the answer to this remains unknown, we could be in-store for any kind of change! It's important to look at this issue as a whole. The presence bleed issue is a change in the work environment. Us as humans have always feared change! This notion provides insight to future events.
I like how you have juxtaposed the two flashbacks in your blog. It is very true and I think that people are mixing their private life and work life together too much these days. It makes it hard to communicate with friends and family, which is essential for their wellbeing. I have created the same idea in my blog. I have juxtaposed two images together, one of a family prior to networking and connectivity, which shows the family sitting around eating at the dinner table talking. The second image is a modern family who are all distracted by some form of technology involving networks. This demonstrates this idea that networks are interfering too much and families are losing connection. I am not speaking on behave of all families but I do believe this is a major problem is some. I am not trying to say that networks are ruining peoples families I just believe that there is a time and place for it and that it is important to have balance.
ReplyDeleteIt is a worrying thought to think that by the time we graduate, this trend could potentially been taken even further, and we will literally be married to our job. One of the readings this week outlined a fathers relationship with his children and how the 'presence bleed' has negatively impacted their relationship as they know to avoid him when he is 'working'. It’s such a shame that in today’s society, to be successful in one area of life (work) may negatively impact the success of other areas (family) which are arguably much more important.
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