科技時代的加班文化 The death of the 40 hour week is killing us

In the 19th century the slogan “eight hours’ labour, eight hours’ recreation, eight hours’ rest” became the rallying cry of unions and social justice reformers on both sides of the Atlantic.

19世紀，“8小時工作，8小時娛樂，8小時休息”成爲歐美工會和社會正義改革人士的戰鬥口號。

More than a century later, that hard-won victory is under threat. In many cases it has already been overturned.

一個多世紀後，這一來之不易的勝利正面臨威脅。在很多情況下，它已被推翻。

“The 40-hour week is long gone,” says Karyn Twaronite, global diversity and inclusiveness officer at Ernst & Young. Its study of nearly 10,000 full-time managers in eight countries found that working hours have increased sharply since the financial crisis hit in 2007-8.

安永(Ernst & Young)全球多樣性和包容性主管卡里恩礠荲坬耐特(Karyn Twaronite)表示：“每週40小時工作制早已成爲過去。”安永對8個國家近1萬名全職管理者進行的研究發現，自2007年至2008年全球金融危機爆發以來，工作時間已大幅延長。

“It’s not just a US phenomenon,” says Ms Twaronite. “Many other countries are tipping the scales. Since the financial crisis, working more than 40 hours has become the ‘new normal.’”

“這種現象不僅出現在美國，”特沃羅耐特表示，“其他很多國家的天平也在傾斜。自此次金融危機以來，每週工作超過40小時已變成‘新常態’。”

About half of managers work more than 40 hours, the study found. A third say they are working an additional five or more hours a week.

研究發現，約有一半的管理者每週工作超過40小時。其中三分之一表示，他們每週會多工作5小時或更長時間。

But the extra hours do not necessarily translate into higher productivity. According to a study by Stanford University, productivity declines sharply after 50 hours, and plummets to almost nothing after 55 hours, so much so that the extra 15 hours is of little value.

但這些額外工作時間未必轉化爲更高的生產率。根據斯坦福大學(Stanford University)的一項研究，一週工作50小時以上生產率將大幅下滑，超過55小時生產率將幾乎銳降至零，因此多出的15小時幾乎沒有任何意義。

John Pencavel, the study author, says this could be because “employees at work for a long time may experience fatigue or stress that not only reduces [their] productivity, but also increases the probability of errors, accidents and sickness that impose costs on the employer.”

這份調查的作者約翰堠慯韋爾(John Pencavel)表示，這可能是因爲“長時間工作的員工可能會感到疲憊或壓力，這不僅會降低他們的生產率，還會增加失誤、事故和疾病的機率，給僱主帶來損失。”

Technology is partly to blame for the rise in working hours, combined with the increasingly insecure job market. Although smartphones and remote work software have brought flexibility, too often the need to be “always in touch” is piled on top of — rather than during — the traditional eight-hour day, according to EY’s Ms Twaronite.

工作時間延長在一定程度上要歸咎於技術以及越來越缺乏保障的就業市場。安永的特沃羅耐特表示，儘管智能手機和遠程工作軟件帶來了靈活性，但“一直保持聯絡”的必要性經常疊加在傳統的8小時工作日以外，而不是其間。

“People are tethered to technology,” she says. “They can’t just go home and switch off. You can be finished for the day but it will be morning in China and you will be expected to respond. Count all those extra minutes online and the hours add up very quickly,” she adds.

“人們被技術束縛住了，”她表示，“他們不能回家就關掉設備。你可能結束了當天的工作，但中國即將迎來早晨，你需要作出答覆。把下班後所有在線的時間包括在內，工作時間總長就會迅速增加。”

Sarah Moore, professor of psychology at the University of Puget Sound, who has studied the decline in working conditions in the US, says that workloads have grown because businesses have downsized so that employees now have to do the work that used to be done by two or more co-workers.

普吉特海灣大學(University of Puget Sound)心理學教授薩拉槧爾(Sarah Moore)研究了美國工作條件下滑的現象。他表示，由於企業裁員，工作量增加，員工現在必須一個人完成以前兩個或更多同事的工作。

“In addition, especially since the 2008 economic downturn, many workers have reported to us that they are grateful for a job and are unwilling, for example, by turning down overtime hours, to jeopardise their employment.”

“另外，特別是自2008年經濟低迷以來，很多員工跟我們說，他們很感激手中這份工作，因而不願拒絕加班，以免威脅到這份工作。”

Leon Grunberg, professor of sociology at the University of Puget Sound, blames the changes on “more aggressive business targets, more pressure to reduce costs, more technology, and, as a result, more stress,” he says. “Additionally, support functions, for example, human resources, were cut and shifted to managers.”

普吉特海灣大學社會學教授萊昂格倫伯格(Leon Grunberg)將這些變化歸咎於“更爲激進的業務目標、更大的降低成本壓力，更多技術以及這一切造成的更大壓力，”他表示，“另外，人力資源等配套職能被裁撤併移交給管理者。”

“As salaried employees who don’t have to clock in, managers are also subject to sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle pressure from supervisors and peers to show that they are good, loyal employees by coming early and staying late.”

“作爲不需要打卡上班的領薪員工，管理者也處在上級主管和同行有時微妙有時不那麼微妙的壓力之下，他們要通過早到晚歸顯示出他們是優秀、忠誠的員工。”

Nicola Smith, head of economics at the UK’s Trades Union Congress, says the move away from the 40-hour week is part of a long-term shift driven by seven-day-a-week opening for shops, the decline of unions and increasing numbers of women in the workplace.

英國工會大會(Trades Union Congress)經濟學主管尼古拉史密斯(Nicola Smith)表示，放棄每週40小時工作制是長期變遷的一部分，商店每週營業7天、工會衰落以及工作女性增加推動了這一趨勢。

“It now takes two earners to keep a household going, not just one. We’ve moved away from the traditional breadwinner model,” she says.

她表示：“現在要維持一個家庭的生活，需要兩個人工作，不能只有一個。我們正改變傳統的養家模式。”

The TUC has coined the phrase “Burnout Britain” to describe the long-hours working culture. Its study of Office for National Statistics data found that the number of people working more than 48 hours per week had risen by 15 per cent since 2010 to 3,417,000.

英國工會大會提出“筋疲力盡的英國”(Burnout Britain)這個詞來形容長時間工作的文化。該組織對英國國家統計局(Office for National Statistics)數據的研究發現，自2010年以來，每週工作超過48小時的員工數量增加了15%，達到341.7萬人。

Ben Willmott, head of public policy at Britain’s Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development, says the shift away from the 40 hour week is “gradual but the trend is definitely in train”.

英國特許人事與發展協會(Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development)公共政策主管本威爾莫特(Ben Willmott)表示，改變每週40小時工作制的過程是“漸進的，但這個趨勢肯定在持續”。

Even though technology has the power to unshackle workers from their desks, the CIPD says there is an increase in “presenteeism” — the need to be seen in the office. It found that 30 per cent of employers have seen an increase in people coming in to work while they are sick and 40 per cent a rise in mental health problems in the past 12 months.

儘管科技可以讓員工擺脫辦公桌的束縛，但英國特許人事與發展協會表示，“出勤主義”（指出現在辦公室的必要性）升溫。該協會發現，過去12個月期間，30%的僱主發現帶病上班的員工數量增加，40%的僱主發現精神健康問題增加。

“Although the job market has picked up, the outlook is still pretty uncertain, which is one reason why some people are reluctant to take time off sick even when they are ill.” says Mr Wilmott.

威爾莫特表示：“儘管就業市場升溫，但前景仍相當不確定，這就是爲什麼一些人不願在生病時請病假。”

“The overall net effect is that many employees find themselves working more hours simply because it is possible and the workplace culture expects it,” says Ms Moore.

摩爾表示：“由此帶來的影響是，很多員工發現他們加班的原因是加班是有可能做到的，而且職場文化期望他們加班。”