I'd like to expand upon one of my comments in a recent thread about national holidays. I feel the issue is worth looking at with a broader scope.
It's no surprise that we live in a society of workaholics.
How many times have you gone to work sick? I've gone to work sick more than I can count on my fingers.
For folks with kids, how many times have you missed work because of an emergency, especially one involving a child? Have you been penalized for doing so?
Do you drink a pot of coffee a day (like I used to) and work more hours than humanely possible? Exactly two years ago, I worked a 80 hour week in which I will never do ever again. It took me two months to recover from the excessive loss of sleep and I did it while taking three college courses at night.
I do believe that I have a point in regards to labor. We should get more time off each year like our European counterparts. Unfortunately, we live in a society where the almighty chase for the dollar reigns over our personal and professional lives. Is all this laboring just to feed the coffers of CEOs worth the time, energy and money? Why do people work themselves sick so often?
I've always wondered if we should have daily production quotas? My argument for a quota has to do with overproduction.
It's possible to produce so much of a certain product (for example, cars) that you cannot easily sell that excess product. As a result, you've wasted precious resources and time on creating too much of product. It cuts into not only profits, but also the health of employees.
Think about all the pollution this creates. Think about all the hassle of unloading excessive product at a greater cost. This includes trucking excessive product to stores, creating warehouse space for excessive product and hiring warehouse staff to maintain inventories.
Is it really necessary? Do we have to be a society of workaholics, driven mainly towards profit?
Enter the idea of labor quotas.
How would a labor quota work? In a 8 hour day, suppose a company sets a quota of 2000 boxes of product. With machinery running at optimum speed/efficiency and a team of skilled workers, suppose the quota was met in 4 hours? With the quota met and no other work scheduled, why not give employees 4 hours off with pay?
Most businesses would argue that doing so is unnecessary and is a waste of time. I disagree. Using quota would:
- Reduce the unnecessary waste of resources
- Reduce strain and possibly even injury rates of employees
- Reduce the tension of unloading/discounting excessive product that cannot be sold at a regular price.
- Allow employees more time to spend with their families
- During peak production times, allow companies to work the full 8 hours and possibly more with one exception: the demand must be present.
Some people might argue that this is too similar to socialist ideas. I say that it makes business sense, especially for a company that produces goods that aren't necessary to infrastructure (such as consumer products, processed foods (except for dairy), and goods that aren't usually in high demand all year long).
Unions might argue that quotas won't work as well because they would threaten the workforce if a company decides that they only need half the labor to complete a quota. Actually, a quota would encourage those companies to provide better training to their employees to accomplish a more disciplined and efficent workforce.
I welcome any debate on this issue. This is probably one of the most thought-out ideas that I've wanted to write about.