from the NYT newsletter today. Guess it could go in the politics thread since corporate money controls the government, but....
In the back and forth over workplace power, American employers have been getting the better of employees for the past few decades.
Companies have been getting bigger, giving them greater ability to set prices and wages. Labor unions have been shrinking, leaving workers with less ability to negotiate for raises. And court rulings, especially from the Supreme Court, have tended to side with companies over workers or regulators.
You can see these trends in the macroeconomic data. The share of the economy’s output that flows to corporate profits has almost doubled since the mid-1970s, while the share flowing to workers’ compensation has fallen. Or consider this chart:
Data is adjusted for inflation; 1947 numbers are set to one. | Sources: Refinitiv; U.S. Census Bureau; Bureau of Labor Statistics
As you can see, stock prices and family incomes tracked each other somewhat closely in the decades after World War II — but no longer do.
The Times has just published a story that examines the latest manifestation of companies having the upper hand on workers. The story, by Jodi Kantor and Arya Sundaram, is called “The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score,” and it’s the result of a monthslong investigation. It describes technology-based employee monitoring that often has a Big Brother quality, tracking workers’ keystrokes and more.
Jodi and Arya write:
In lower-paying jobs, the monitoring is already ubiquitous: not just at Amazon, where the second-by-second measurements became notorious, but also for Kroger cashiers, UPS drivers and millions of others.
Now digital productivity monitoring is also spreading among white-collar jobs and roles that require graduate degrees. Many employees, whether working remotely or in person, are subject to trackers, scores, “idle” buttons, or just quiet, constantly accumulating records.
Employees at UnitedHealth Group can lose out on raises or bonuses if they have low keyboard activity. Some radiologists have scoreboards on their computer screens that compare their “inactivity” time with that of colleagues. In New York, the transit system has told some employees that they can work remotely one day a week if they agree to full-time monitoring.
Work from home
The trend began before the pandemic, and the rise of at-home white-collar work over the past two years has intensified it. “If we’re going to give up on bringing people back to the office, we’re not going to give up on managing productivity,” said Paul Wartenberg, who installs monitoring systems for companies.
But even many in-person jobs now include productivity tabulations. One section of Jodi and Arya’s story describes the frustration of hospice chaplains who receive “productivity points” based partly on how many terminally ill patients they saw in a day.
“This is going to sound terrible,” one chaplain said, “but every now and again I would do what I thought of as ‘spiritual care drive-bys’” to rack up points. If a patient was sleeping, “I could just talk to the nurse and say, ‘Are there any concerns?’ It counted as a visit because I laid eyes.”
Trying to get the most out of workers is nothing new. And some form of accountability is crucial to an organization’s success. But minute-to-minute tracking of employee behavior, often using crude metrics, is a more aggressive form of accountability than has been historically normal.
“This is such an intimate form of control, which is part of why it took months of reporting to see,” Jodi told me. “To be clear, some workers really are derelict. But for many others, this is about what happens when you need to grab 10 minutes to clear your head, or deal with a kid interruption, or take a couple of extra minutes in the bathroom.”
In some cases, the monitoring systems may backfire, and the story documents how they can be inaccurate. Often, though, they can also contain accurate information about how an employee is performing from one minute to the next. And in doing so, they will further tilt the balance of workplace power away from workers and toward employers.
The growing mismatch also helps explain another trend: the increasing interest in labor unions among some workers, after decades of decline. Companies, not surprisingly, are pushing back.
I just want folks to respect each other, that goes for each other's time and money as well. Be a good employee that the company wants to keep, be a good employer that employees want to work for.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17
@Hobbes86 said:
I just want folks to respect each other, that goes for each other's time and money as well. Be a good employee that the company wants to keep, be a good employer that employees want to work for.
Good idea. I was a Teamster for years and years, and like to say "any company that has a union deserves it" meaning 99% of unions were formed as a result of management. I also observed that in most companies, the employer will pay just enough so the employees won't go somewhere else, and the employees will only do enough work to not get fired.
@Hobbes86 said:
I just want folks to respect each other, that goes for each other's time and money as well. Be a good employee that the company wants to keep, be a good employer that employees want to work for.
Good idea. I was a Teamster for years and years, and like to say "any company that has a union deserves it" meaning 99% of unions were formed as a result of management. I also observed that in most companies, the employer will pay just enough so the employees won't go somewhere else, and the employees will only do enough work to not get fired.
Agree wholeheartedly. A company doesn't form a union unless the employees have already decided the risk of getting fired is worth it. I would not support a union at my current job. The job is good enough and I have a mortgage to worry about. 2 jobs ago though, I would have been passing around the petition had a union organizer reached out to me.
"The Investigator" by John Sanford. It's a new series featuring Letty Davenport, Lucas Davenport's adopted daughter as an investigator for Homeland Security,
I believe it will be a series as they have already laid the groundwork for a sequel.
survival food for sure, but too much rabbit in the diet can be a problem, protein overload, not enough fat.
Protein poisoning (also referred to colloquially as rabbit starvation, mal de caribou, or fat starvation) is an acute form of malnutrition caused by a diet deficient in fat and carbohydrates, where almost all calories consumed come from the protein in lean meat.[1][2] The concept is discussed in the context of paleoanthropologial investigations into the diet of ancient humans, especially during the last glacial maximum and at high latitudes.[3][4]
The term rabbit starvation originates from the fact that rabbit meat is very lean, with almost all of its caloric content from protein rather than fat, and therefore a food which, if consumed exclusively, would cause protein poisoning.[4] Animals in harsh, cold environments similarly become lean.[3]
Thanks, Peter. Unfortunately I can't watch video/TV for more than a few minutes. Others may enjoy it though, intriguing thoughts about the process of existing.
Comments
Web sites about the Somerton Man..... which was solved this year.
from the NYT newsletter today. Guess it could go in the politics thread since corporate money controls the government, but....
In the back and forth over workplace power, American employers have been getting the better of employees for the past few decades.
Companies have been getting bigger, giving them greater ability to set prices and wages. Labor unions have been shrinking, leaving workers with less ability to negotiate for raises. And court rulings, especially from the Supreme Court, have tended to side with companies over workers or regulators.
You can see these trends in the macroeconomic data. The share of the economy’s output that flows to corporate profits has almost doubled since the mid-1970s, while the share flowing to workers’ compensation has fallen. Or consider this chart:
Data is adjusted for inflation; 1947 numbers are set to one. | Sources: Refinitiv; U.S. Census Bureau; Bureau of Labor Statistics
As you can see, stock prices and family incomes tracked each other somewhat closely in the decades after World War II — but no longer do.
The Times has just published a story that examines the latest manifestation of companies having the upper hand on workers. The story, by Jodi Kantor and Arya Sundaram, is called “The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score,” and it’s the result of a monthslong investigation. It describes technology-based employee monitoring that often has a Big Brother quality, tracking workers’ keystrokes and more.
Jodi and Arya write:
In lower-paying jobs, the monitoring is already ubiquitous: not just at Amazon, where the second-by-second measurements became notorious, but also for Kroger cashiers, UPS drivers and millions of others.
Now digital productivity monitoring is also spreading among white-collar jobs and roles that require graduate degrees. Many employees, whether working remotely or in person, are subject to trackers, scores, “idle” buttons, or just quiet, constantly accumulating records.
Employees at UnitedHealth Group can lose out on raises or bonuses if they have low keyboard activity. Some radiologists have scoreboards on their computer screens that compare their “inactivity” time with that of colleagues. In New York, the transit system has told some employees that they can work remotely one day a week if they agree to full-time monitoring.
Work from home
The trend began before the pandemic, and the rise of at-home white-collar work over the past two years has intensified it. “If we’re going to give up on bringing people back to the office, we’re not going to give up on managing productivity,” said Paul Wartenberg, who installs monitoring systems for companies.
But even many in-person jobs now include productivity tabulations. One section of Jodi and Arya’s story describes the frustration of hospice chaplains who receive “productivity points” based partly on how many terminally ill patients they saw in a day.
“This is going to sound terrible,” one chaplain said, “but every now and again I would do what I thought of as ‘spiritual care drive-bys’” to rack up points. If a patient was sleeping, “I could just talk to the nurse and say, ‘Are there any concerns?’ It counted as a visit because I laid eyes.”
Trying to get the most out of workers is nothing new. And some form of accountability is crucial to an organization’s success. But minute-to-minute tracking of employee behavior, often using crude metrics, is a more aggressive form of accountability than has been historically normal.
“This is such an intimate form of control, which is part of why it took months of reporting to see,” Jodi told me. “To be clear, some workers really are derelict. But for many others, this is about what happens when you need to grab 10 minutes to clear your head, or deal with a kid interruption, or take a couple of extra minutes in the bathroom.”
In some cases, the monitoring systems may backfire, and the story documents how they can be inaccurate. Often, though, they can also contain accurate information about how an employee is performing from one minute to the next. And in doing so, they will further tilt the balance of workplace power away from workers and toward employers.
The growing mismatch also helps explain another trend: the increasing interest in labor unions among some workers, after decades of decline. Companies, not surprisingly, are pushing back.
It's good to be retired. My brother was a truck driver he had his first monitor installed back in the 80s.
Don't let the wife know what you spend on guns, ammo or cigars.
I just want folks to respect each other, that goes for each other's time and money as well. Be a good employee that the company wants to keep, be a good employer that employees want to work for.
"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." - Proverbs 27:17
Good idea. I was a Teamster for years and years, and like to say "any company that has a union deserves it" meaning 99% of unions were formed as a result of management. I also observed that in most companies, the employer will pay just enough so the employees won't go somewhere else, and the employees will only do enough work to not get fired.
Agree wholeheartedly. A company doesn't form a union unless the employees have already decided the risk of getting fired is worth it. I would not support a union at my current job. The job is good enough and I have a mortgage to worry about. 2 jobs ago though, I would have been passing around the petition had a union organizer reached out to me.
"Blue Moon" by Lee Child. The books about Reacher far surpass the movies.
"The Investigator" by John Sanford. It's a new series featuring Letty Davenport, Lucas Davenport's adopted daughter as an investigator for Homeland Security,
I believe it will be a series as they have already laid the groundwork for a sequel.
@TheCigarChick's "Cameroon: the Legacy Behind the Leaf," great article, Lindsay.
"Neon Prey" by John Sandford
the illusion of knowledge
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220812-the-illusion-of-knowledge-that-makes-people-overconfident
Every person with a college degree in liberal arts.
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
https://www.wired.com/story/moral-change-technology-future/
"The Runaway" by Nick Petrie. Good read.
Bum of the week thread!
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. Cosby is an award winning author. Good read
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02297-4
It's a good thing rabbits taste good in butter and garlic.
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
survival food for sure, but too much rabbit in the diet can be a problem, protein overload, not enough fat.
Protein poisoning (also referred to colloquially as rabbit starvation, mal de caribou, or fat starvation) is an acute form of malnutrition caused by a diet deficient in fat and carbohydrates, where almost all calories consumed come from the protein in lean meat.[1][2] The concept is discussed in the context of paleoanthropologial investigations into the diet of ancient humans, especially during the last glacial maximum and at high latitudes.[3][4]
The term rabbit starvation originates from the fact that rabbit meat is very lean, with almost all of its caloric content from protein rather than fat, and therefore a food which, if consumed exclusively, would cause protein poisoning.[4] Animals in harsh, cold environments similarly become lean.[3]
The reported symptoms include initial nausea and fatigue, followed by diarrhea and ultimately death.[4]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_poisoning
Which is one reason that when you pan fry them you use bacon grease or lard.
If every Aussie killed and ate one it would drop their numbers significantly. Just sayin'.
Trapped in the People's Communist Republic of Massachusetts.
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/the-death-of-el-corojo-7051
The smoke I am enjoying from @Vision has me reminiscing. I am a huge fan of true corojo leaf and found this old article pretty interesting.
A little more info. Those that are environmentally conscious my find it interesting
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/crop-report-el-corojo-farm-honduras
Thanks, Rusty, interesting read.
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, my favorite stupid movie comes to mind...
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/interstate-80-tomato-truck-crash-17405231.php
How the Physics of Nothing Underlies Everything
https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-the-physics-of-nothing-underlies-everything-20220809/
There's a very good 2-part, 2-hour-long show on Apple TV called Everything and Nothing that goes into some of this. It's pretty good.
https://tv.apple.com/us/show/everything-and-nothing-the-science-of-empty-space/umc.cmc.61no8w8hac5p7qn23kee0pxhf
Thanks, Peter. Unfortunately I can't watch video/TV for more than a few minutes. Others may enjoy it though, intriguing thoughts about the process of existing.