By Laura Herndon
It’s you, not me. And by you, I imply the notorious 9 a.m. to five p.m. workday. And this relationship simply isn’t going to work for me anymore.
Final 12 months, COVID-19 despatched tens of millions of employees from the bodily workspace of their workplaces to the kitchen… err, house workplace. With the appearance of the vaccine, many employers had been able to ship their workers again to cubicle hell.
Nevertheless, right here comes the catch — nay nay, stated the virus.
Delta introduced us a complete new ballgame, and employers at the moment are holding off on sending their workers again. However is it actually vital to come back again in any respect?
In in the present day’s day and age, many roles could be carried out remotely, due to expertise. That is fabulous information as research present working exterior of the workplace makes individuals happier.
So who selected 9 a.m. to five p.m. workday? Effectively, it wasn’t Dolly Parton. So why aren’t the hours 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.? And even 10 a.m. to six p.m.? Who made these arbitrary hours within the first place?
Effectively, in 1926, Henry Ford created the concept of the five-day, forty-hour workweek for his manufacturing facility employees, who’d beforehand labored for much longer hours. On the finish of the day, although, the idea of a 9 a.m. to five p.m. job merely isn’t sustainable.
Nobody desires to fight reckless drivers on pot-hole encrusted roads to achieve their vacation spot — a fluorescently lit cubicle with no indicators of life aside from the unhappy succulent sitting within the nook subsequent to an image of your loved ones that you just by no means get to see.
By the point you get house, it’s chilly and darkish. The one power you have got is to nuke a frozen dinner and go to sleep on the sofa watching “Intercourse/Life” on Netflix.
As millennials, we’re completely totally different from our guardian’s generations. Our mother and father labored 9 a.m. to five p.m., excluding their lengthy commute occasions, leaving a complete technology generally known as the “latch key” children.
We would like extra for our futures and youngsters than a 9 a.m. to five p.m. job offers us.
Take me for instance. As a freelancer, I’m in a position to take my child to and from faculty. I additionally work in a library part-time, and on these days, his dad picks him up as he works from house.
Teleworking modified the sport; the foundations are totally different now. Whereas COVID-19 has definitely curtailed many enjoyable actions for us, now we have spent extra time with our son this previous 12 months than ever earlier than. I, for one, can’t return.
I can’t return to the drudgery of the cubicle farm. Whereas I discuss my expertise as a mother, many others are pet mother and father or have vibrant social lives.
It’s exhausting to fulfill your besties for brunch should you’re tallying this week’s report on the workplace, dreaming of mimosas. Climbing along with your furry pal has to attend if you might want to attend this week’s funds assembly, which completely might’ve been an e-mail.
The underside line? The 9 a.m. to five p.m. workday merely doesn’t work anymore.
Households are not one dad, one mother, their youngsters, and the canine. The nuclear household belongs within the historical past books together with “Go away It To Beaver.” The idea of the person working whereas the missus stays at house and tends to the home is gone.
It’s 2022. We will ship spreadsheets and paperwork with a flick of our wrist. We will be part of a Zoom assembly virtually anyplace. Ladies are set to outpace males in relation to incomes a university diploma.
Occasions are altering each day. And that’s why we have to break up with the 9 a.m. to five p.m. workday.
What began off as a manner for manufacturing facility workers to work fewer hours is out of date these days.
Anna Laura Herndon is a author, advocate, and creator of Rants of a Virgo, an essay website. She writes about love, relationships, LGBTQ+ points, and present occasions.
This text was initially revealed at Unwritten. Reprinted with permission from the writer.
