Americans work hard . . . at least they work longer hours than their counterparts in the world’s largest economies. On average, an adult fulltime worker in this country works 47 hours a week. If you filter out hourly workers and consider only salaried workers, that number rises to 49 hours. Four in ten of all workers report working in excess of 50 hours per week.
So is this a problem? If your attitude is, “If you want work/life balance, you should go to work for somebody who gives a sh__,” then it probably isn’t a problem and you should stop reading here. However, if you’re concerned about continued productivity gains and about positive employee attitudes toward their workplace, then yes, it is a problem, and you should continue reading below.
Do we live to work or work to live?
It’s an age-old dilemma. If I work heroic hours (and get paid accordingly), I might be able to afford to lead the life I want, but I won’t have time to lead it. On the other hand, if I work fewer hours (and get paid accordingly), I’ll have the time to lead the life I want, but I won’t be able to afford it.
On the surface, we might say that Americans are ambitious and are willing to work hard to get ahead. But that’s not necessarily what’s really happening. Traditionally there has been a link between productivity and an employee’s paycheck. The unspoken bargain was, “The more you can produce in goods and services, the more we’ll pay you.” But that bargain was broken in the early 1970s when the compensation for the average employee (adjusted for inflation) essentially went flat as productivity gains increasingly went to fund CEO salaries and higher shareholder dividends.
Exempt employees (those not subject to overtime rules) are particularly at risk of abuse. In their treatment of exempt employees, bosses sometimes feel entitled to pile on the work assignments because they know they won’t have to pay overtime. Many of these same bosses may not even think about it. In their view, the 40-hour week is a thing of the past and working long hours is the new normal.
Enter the Millennials.
They are often unfairly branded as “lazy” and “entitled.” They are neither. They simply reject the unspoken contract that says:
- We expect you to work more than 40 hours without overtime compensation. That’s just the way it is.
- We expect regular productivity gains from you, but don’t expect quid pro quo in your paycheck. That’s just the way it is too.
In fairness to employers, most are not trying to run “sweat shops.” They are simply perpetuating the contract that has evolved over several decades. Still, it’s that contract that the Millennials are rejecting. If they do feel “entitled,” it’s to have a life outside of work, and to be paid more if they produce more. Unreasonable expectations, to be sure, but there it is. Millennials are branded “job hoppers” because they tend to change jobs every few years, but really, they’re just looking for an employer that will offer them the contract they’re looking for. When they don’t find that contract in one place, they move on to the next.
As this tug-of-war goes on between old school employers and new school Millennials, older generations are watching very closely. If the Millennials are successful in forging a new contract with the companies who want to employ them, you can bet everyone else is going to want that contract too.
During the Great Recession, with layoffs happening everywhere, people were grateful just to have a job. If that meant working longer hours for flat pay, so be it. But now, with an active job market, people have choices, so if they can’t get the contract they’re looking for with you, they’ll look for it someplace else. Enlightened employers have seen this coming for years, have already thrown out the old contract, and are working to forge a new one. They are revamping their compensation plans and actively looking for ways to help their employees meet, not only their professional goals, but their personal goals as well.
Employers today have a choice: they can stick with the old contract in the belief that these damn Millennials will eventually fall into line and stop making so much trouble, or they can conclude that Millennials really are a harbinger of a new employer/employee relationship that needs to be taken seriously.
Which will you choose?
Rock Solid Business Development
Phone: (847) 665-9134
andy@rocksolidbizdevelopment.com
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