Flat World Fatigue - Chief Engineer, IL
Worker advocates compare the trend to the automobile industry phenomenon of "speedup" in the 1920s, when Henry Ford increased assembly line speed without paying workers more. Turnover mushroomed to 400 percent per year in some Detroit-area plants, and the frenzied pace helped the 1930s union movement.
Marcus Courtney, president and organizer of WashTech, the Seattle-based branch of the Communications Workers of America, said few employers pay overtime for midnight meetings or red-eyes to Shanghai. And while many techies are proud workaholics, dawn teleconferences and 9 p.m. hand-off meetings have stretched shifts to absurd lengths.
"In today's global economy, employees are seeing longer working hours, greater job insecurity due to job exporting and fewer rewards and opportunity," Courtney said. "I'm worried that the stress levels of employees continue to rise and we are seeing a further eroding of the 50-hour work week."