"Working 9 to 5" or "Whenever, wherever"?

shotton paper
Originally uploaded by harrymoon.

One of the best things I have experienced in the Netherlands is the concept of a four-day week. As I write this I am having my day off like on any Friday. I have been hanging around the house, listened to Amy Winehouse and Jill Scott, watched Finding Neverland, eaten crackers and started getting myself into a weekend mood. I earn only 80 % of the full pay but I get by. I value the free time much more. I must even say that on Fridays I don't mind if I need to check my emails or make a phone call. It is still my free day.

I read last week from the Dutch daily nrc.next an article by a recently graduated young woman who criticised her peers for not doing their share for the national economy by slacking with only a 80 % work week. She was saying that these people in their late-20s are used to too good and do not understand their responsibilities, also considering their own pensions. And of course she mentioned both China and India.

Come on. I don't know if she was trying to get herself a job in a Conservative think tank or what but her concept of work efficiency dates back to Henry Ford. I keep surprising myself by meeting constantly people who measure the efficiency of work based on the ways you work, not based on what you deliver. I presume the updated Fordism defines an efficient worker in the following manner:

- never late in the morning

- spends most of his or her time typing with the computer or speaking on the phone

- staples and copies

- does not bother other people with communication not directly linked to work

- does not complain or criticise

Pfff....