[extropy-chat] 40-hour week eludes millions of workers

[Paul Grant]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2001839155_long
hours18.html


** 40-hour week eludes millions of workers **

By Harry Wessel
The Orlando Sentinel

ORLANDO, Fla. - Janet Gartland loves her job but not the hours. A
logistics coordinator with Siemens Westinghouse Power in Orlando, she
regularly puts in 11- and 12-hour days, which translates into 55- to
60-hour weeks. 

Working that many hours week after week, "you tend to be more irritable,
more frustrated," said Gartland, who has been with Siemens for eight
years. "Things that don't normally bother you, bother you. You're on the
edge all the time." 

She's not complaining. Gartland prefers being on edge to being bored,
and her "multitasking, fast-paced" job is anything but boring. 

Nevertheless, she said, "I'd love to go to an eight-hour day." 

So would millions of other full-time workers, for whom the 40-hour
workweek is a seldom-to-never occurrence. 

"Americans work more hours by far than any other workers in the world,"
said Benjamin Balak, who teaches economic history at Rollins College in
Florida. "If you want to be a high-income wage earner, you have to work
like a dog. If you want leisure in today's economy, you'll be stuck in a
low-income job. It's income or leisure." 

For many if not most professionals today, Balak said............