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Forum Post: Informal poll~ Do you think working harder helps the unemployed?

Posted 12 years ago on June 7, 2012, 6:04 p.m. EST by Misaki (893)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

You are in a salaried job. Your customers are poor people, and you try to provide the best service possible.

If you work unpaid overtime, do you think this helps the economy? I know it would be easier to summarize results on a standard BBS, but I would like to know what OWS thinks about this.

21 Comments

21 Comments


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[-] 5 points by beautifulworld (23822) 12 years ago

I think people in salaried jobs, "exempt" employees are very much exploited with regard to the number of hours they work for no pay. This is a huge problem and labor laws do nothing to protect these workers. In addition, an exempt employee doing the work of two people prevents some other poor soul from having a paid job which would contribute to the economy.

[-] 4 points by BetsyRoss2 (125) 12 years ago

I've seen this first hand. People will be booked to work only 2 or 3 hours in a week if they are reprimanded for something. Its basically firing someone by forcing them to quit. Since there is no employment contract, and no union to step in and force the employer to dole out hours fairly, the employer can get away with this.

[-] 4 points by beautifulworld (23822) 12 years ago

LOL. When I saw your message pop up I thought it was you know who. LOLOL. I agree with you. Employers are getting away with all types of b.s.

[-] 1 points by BetsyRoss2 (125) 12 years ago

LOL... I pissed the original Betsy off in another thread :)

[-] 1 points by beautifulworld (23822) 12 years ago

Too funny. :)

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 12 years ago

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqTvjbYYkTo

It isn't entirely being 'forced' to do it; males especially are likely to feel it makes them look dedicated to the job, and in fact it may even lead to this result. For example the number of males who work more than 40 hours per week: http://www.gallup.com/poll/122510/Self-Employed-Workers-Clock-Hours-Week.aspx

And comments on a culture where working hard, "even if you're playing Tetris" makes you look good: http://mikethemadbiologist.com/2009/07/27/on_work_and_time_in_science/

In addition, an exempt employee doing the work of two people prevents some other poor soul from having a paid job which would contribute to the economy.

yay, I knew "the accelerated work week" wasn't hard to understand!

Especially important is that a single person has no reason to "fight" for higher wages once they have enough money. If a corporation is very profitable this means that the share of revenues going to wages will decrease if people works too much.

[-] 3 points by gestopomillyy (1695) 12 years ago

no it helps the 1% put more money in their pockets.. all workers being paid more helps the economy because they actually spend the money they make . money is useless sitting around in a stock or a bank. it does nothing to help the economy operate. money is the lubricant that keeps the moving parts from seizing up. as you can see with this depression, the less money in circulation,, the more the economy dies.

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 12 years ago

yay we agree! This lets me stop arguing on this point because it shows that smart people are already aware of this.

This suggests that the reason people don't voice support for the accelerated work week is they don't trust their bosses to trust them, probably due to "the cost of noncompliance with social norms".

[-] 2 points by HempTwister (667) from Little Rock, AR 12 years ago

Nope. It helps The Man.

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 12 years ago

Thanks for the response! It's nice to see that everyone is in agreement on this.

[-] 2 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 12 years ago

a get frustrated standing in line for a cashier at CVS (local drug store chain)

I think

Why do they slave what few employees they have instead of hiring more?

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 12 years ago

Because you keep visiting the store. Sad but true

I just feel sorry for people who don't live in an area with a store that offers low prices for food. But I guess some people can afford it.

[-] 2 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 12 years ago

I avoided the store today

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 12 years ago

A store that I sometimes go to lowered the price of bread from 99¢/loaf to 89¢/loaf. I was surprised.

It also has hamburger and hotdog buns for 59¢/pack of 8. They were removed for a while, then reintroduced at 99¢/pack, then eventually brought back down to 59¢/pack. Ones that were close to expiring were even discounted to 29¢/pack, which is pretty ridiculous since that's 4¢/bun and a hamburger patty will cost probably 30~60¢ at least.

[-] 2 points by writerconsidered123 (344) 12 years ago

hell no

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 12 years ago

Thank you for your response. I must admit I am surprised. Need other people to respond as well though.

[-] 1 points by hchc (3297) from Tampa, FL 12 years ago

I work so much unpaid OT its unreal. But I can tell you it makes a difference in my customers experience.

Im not sure the impact it has on the overall economy, but I can say that hard work is a def a good thing.

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 12 years ago

If people enjoy hard work why do they object to higher taxes to fund job creation, That is the question.

[-] 2 points by BetsyRoss2 (125) 12 years ago

For some reason they have this mindset that their superiors are "just better than them" or "worked harder" or some other "rugged individual" crap that they have been fed since they were little. The reality is WAY more complicated than that.

Hard Work -> Riches is a fairy tale. In reality people need to be in the right place at the right time, or have something completely unique (hard to do when there are billions of us on this planet.) School and hard work only puts people in the position to get lucky, they still have to be born in the right place, where their skill matches the place that they live in, and the area that they were born in gives them the opportunity to succeed. Why are there no Biochemists from Sierra Leone? What medical breakthroughs are happening in Nigeria?

[-] 1 points by hchc (3297) from Tampa, FL 12 years ago

I thought we were speaking about the USA, not the globe?

[-] 1 points by Misaki (893) 12 years ago

Many employers are prejudiced depending on what school someone went to.

A super-brilliant person who grew up in a poor neighborhood might go to college and be the best in their graduating class, but a business might still hire the stupid rich kid who went to an Ivy League school (proof1, proof2).