Technology is a wonderful thing – or is it?
Blackberries, iPhones, mobiles and netbooks now mean that we are 
accessible 24/7. The nirvana is happy customers, workers fond of flexible working, fixed overhead ratios reduced by increased capacity usage. But what’s the human impact?
Lower performance
- Long hours often mean higher absenteeism, higher staff turnover rates and lower rates of productivity:
Soaring stress
- Working longer, more anti-social hours in an increasingly pressurised environment leaves staff more susceptible to stress.
Health and safety hazards
- Those who work at night face sleep problems, have a higher incidence of ulcers, more accidents while commuting and at work; numerous disorders can be aggravated by shift rotations and night hours, and the circadian biorhythms can fall spectacularly out of sync
No cut-off
- Laptops, e-mail, mobile phones that make 24 hour working so feasible mean that many employees are on call 24 hours a day, eg the already overworked exec who takes the company mobile phone on holiday - dangerous for workaholics
Encroachment on family life
- Despite many firms’ ‘work life’ schemes (ie balancing work and home life), home now resembles work as family activities are ‘scheduled’ into the limited time available; with the increase of dual earning couples, spouses are like ships that pass (and this is a bad thing?), while childcare is also an increasing problem.
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