“This feeling that we just keep working like this, even though one crisis is piling up after the other, is not positive,” says Sara Weber in the 456th episode “important today”. Many in their environment shared the feeling that the world of work no longer works well.
“The research has shown that many people are very stressed and cite work as one of the main reasons.” This is also due to the fact that work has changed. Due to the pandemic and mobile working, the constant availability “work is somehow always part of our lives”. The working conditions would have deteriorated, for example, due to a lack of staff. “And at the same time, salaries have not increased,” says the journalist in the podcast. And even the promise that one would work for one’s retirement in prosperity can no longer be fulfilled today.
The world of work has to change, believes Sara Weber. You don’t just have to ask yourself the question “how can a few people work better, but all of them”. The time factor is essential. Because if we worked less, there would be more time for unpaid care work – which is currently mostly done by women. And the way we work also plays a role in the climate, says Sara Weber in the podcast.
“The world of work is the economy – and that is responsible for many emissions,” says the author. And if we worked less, for example 35 instead of 40 hours a week, that could already have a positive impact on the climate. “When people have more time, they make more climate-friendly decisions.” Sara Weber does not believe that working less means less productivity. “Many studies show that this is possible, that concentration even increases when you work less.”
In the end, “the world of work, that vague word” means change. And everyone is helping to shape this change. “And that’s why we also have the opportunity to say: No, that doesn’t work, we have to do it differently.”
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