Our Best Blogs of April post includes stories on 12-hour workdays being a blessing (not!), the desperate need for workers in America and the need for soft skills in STEM. That’s a lot of great stuff to read when you’re firing up the outdoor grill for the first time!
12-hour workdays are “a blessing”?
If you’ve been reading a lot about trends in the modern American workplace, you’ve probably been reading a lot about “work-life balance” – the idea of not letting your job get in the way of being with the people and interests you love.
Jack Ma, founder of the e-commerce site Alibaba, has not been reading a lot of articles on American workplace trends, apparently. On social media, Ma recently supported China’s work-culture concept known as ‘996’, working from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for six days a week. The tech exec explained that if you find something that you love doing, then working 12-hour days, six days a week isn’t a problem.
While that grueling schedule might help you get ahead and make a lot of money, research suggests you might not be around long enough to enjoy the fruits of all that labor. The type of ‘overwork’ that Ma has advocated has been linked to poor mental and physical health, and even increased risk of death.
To be fair, even Chinese state media does not advocate for 996. In an editorial, the state-run People’s Daily newspaper said employers should not be enforcing mandatory overtime because it is unfair and impractical.
Research has also shown that spending more than 55 hours per week on work is actually counterproductive.
The US needs more workers
Despite claims the country is now “full” of people, the United States is facing a significant shortfall of workers. According to the Department of Labor, there are about 1 million more job openings than there are workers in the US.
The Labor Department also said the number of people quitting their job has also increased, which is a sign of a surging economy. Between the desperate need for workers and the high numbers of workers quitting, there should be a significant increase in wages, according to experts.
Average wages have been increasing steadily. In February, it was reported that wages increase at the fastest rate in nine years.
In spite of the labor situation, the US economy continues significant growth. The national GDP rose 2.9 percent least year, the fastest rate in four years.
The need for soft skills in STEM
According to the classic film Office Space, software engineers are not good at dealing with customers. While that may or may not be true in real life, there’s no escaping the fact that customer service and other soft skills are vital to the STEM fields.
Employers are increasingly recognizing that it isn’t good enough to just hire the most technically skilled candidates when it comes to STEM positions. These professionals must work well with others, communicate effectively and solve non-technical problems.
