At least one of us is, I think, misunderstanding the other.
If in fact it’s the case that employees with shorter working hours are (not only happy-feeling but) more productive for their employers, then sensible employers who come to understand this will give their employees shorter working hours. Not to make them feel happy, but to make them more productive.
Right, I’m saying that I do think it’s possible that people working 60hr weeks might be more productive while being unhappier than the 40hr people. I don’t trust that happiness and productivity are tightly correlated enough that an employer trying to get more of the latter out of me will help me out with the former.
Plus, there are a bunch of jobs that currently exist where the model is to extract a lot of productivity over 2-3 years while quashing an outside life and then to just hire a new crop of people when your current set burn out (TFA, I-banking, Hill jobs, etc).
I agree with all that. The only thing that puzzles me is that it looks as if you expect me not to, and I’m not sure how I gave that impression.
Perhaps I should make it explicit that my comment four upthread from this one wasn’t in any way trying to suggest that employers can be relied on to do what’s best for their employees, or to criticize you for your choice of jobs, or anything like that. I got the impression that you were suggesting that the question of what working hours lead to max productivity is a duly one or a boring one or an improper one, which I don’t think it is even though employees should be thinking about other things besides productivity-maximization.
At least one of us is, I think, misunderstanding the other.
If in fact it’s the case that employees with shorter working hours are (not only happy-feeling but) more productive for their employers, then sensible employers who come to understand this will give their employees shorter working hours. Not to make them feel happy, but to make them more productive.
Right, I’m saying that I do think it’s possible that people working 60hr weeks might be more productive while being unhappier than the 40hr people. I don’t trust that happiness and productivity are tightly correlated enough that an employer trying to get more of the latter out of me will help me out with the former.
Plus, there are a bunch of jobs that currently exist where the model is to extract a lot of productivity over 2-3 years while quashing an outside life and then to just hire a new crop of people when your current set burn out (TFA, I-banking, Hill jobs, etc).
I agree with all that. The only thing that puzzles me is that it looks as if you expect me not to, and I’m not sure how I gave that impression.
Perhaps I should make it explicit that my comment four upthread from this one wasn’t in any way trying to suggest that employers can be relied on to do what’s best for their employees, or to criticize you for your choice of jobs, or anything like that. I got the impression that you were suggesting that the question of what working hours lead to max productivity is a duly one or a boring one or an improper one, which I don’t think it is even though employees should be thinking about other things besides productivity-maximization.