Information Technology Reference
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FIGURE 10.1 General Motors exited bankruptcy in 2009 with 30 percent fewer employees.
(© Danny Lehman/Corbis)
WORKING HARDER, MAKING LESS
While inflation-adjusted household incomes were flat between 1979 and 1994, the work-
week got longer. Harvard economist Juliet Schor reports that between 1970 and 1990, the
average American increased the number of hours spent at work per year by 163. That's
equal to an extra month at work every year [10].
Some believe longer work hours are a consequence of corporate downsizing, which
is facilitated by the introduction of automation and information technology (Figure
10.2). When an organization sheds some of its workers, the work that needs to be done
is divided among fewer employees. Hence there is a natural tendency for the number of
hours worked to increase. In addition, the fact that people have been laid off is a strong
incentive for those who remain to work harder so that they won't be part of the next
layoff [11].
Advances in information technology have also made it easier for people to bring
work home. For example, many companies now provide their employees with laptop
computers. At work, employees turn their laptop into a desktop system by plugging in
a full-sized keyboard, mouse, and monitor. By bringing their laptop home, they have
access to the various project files they need to continue working. Labor advocates Stanley
Aronowitz, Dawn Esposito, and William DiFazio have written, “After nearly a century
when homework was regarded as a wage-busting tool, computers have made it easier
for employers to revive this practice. With pagers, cell phones, and laptop computers, all
time becomes work time” [7, p. 35]. They conclude:
 
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