here’s a bit from my experience: when i first starting working “in the real world” the usual job i fit into was “creative director” and there were teams of ppl to direct. over the years those teams got cut and cut and cut to the point where i’d be the lone person in my dept. my ONE advantage was doing both writing and design (hence the ‘creative dir’ title instead of ‘art director’), so i was essentially two employees in one (often doing jobs that used to require 4 ppl).
i don’t think there’s any more productivity to squeeze out of ppl in my field, or in administrative jobs, generally. workplaces never adjusted to having fewer workers, they just the lives of those taking their places a living hell with unrealistic deadlines, no resources, and shitty machines to work on.
lemme add one thing -- i came up when “desktop publishing” was “revolutionizing” print media. so it’s even worse than what is said above, b/c ppl like me also replaced whole “pre-press” teams that used to exist in print shops. these were excellent blue collar jobs. you could support a family being a good darkroom tech or print press operator.
so it’s just been one long slog. i’m happy for all the “productivity” gains that tech has provided. i only have a little bit of nostalgia for smelling fixer in the darkroom. digital photography is vastly cheaper, easier, and quicker than what i learned. but every step of the way the ppl who lost out were blue collar. every goddamn time.
At a certain point, understaffing workplaces, underpaying and overworking those already understaffed workers, and then stack on top of that minimal or no paid vacation, by and large no sick leave, no retirement pension, and the demoralizing realization that you're at best stagnating materially, no wonder the "productivity metrics are trending down".
I would add to that that capitalism itself is notoriously not an efficient way to organize an economy. There's already a lot of waste and inefficiency in a capitalist system, not to mention 'externalities'.
Also a lot of the decision-making hinges on the whims of the boss, and often the boss is not acting in the best way to keep their workers (forget "happy") in the best working condition(s).
good piece. i agree with everything you say.
here’s a bit from my experience: when i first starting working “in the real world” the usual job i fit into was “creative director” and there were teams of ppl to direct. over the years those teams got cut and cut and cut to the point where i’d be the lone person in my dept. my ONE advantage was doing both writing and design (hence the ‘creative dir’ title instead of ‘art director’), so i was essentially two employees in one (often doing jobs that used to require 4 ppl).
i don’t think there’s any more productivity to squeeze out of ppl in my field, or in administrative jobs, generally. workplaces never adjusted to having fewer workers, they just the lives of those taking their places a living hell with unrealistic deadlines, no resources, and shitty machines to work on.
lemme add one thing -- i came up when “desktop publishing” was “revolutionizing” print media. so it’s even worse than what is said above, b/c ppl like me also replaced whole “pre-press” teams that used to exist in print shops. these were excellent blue collar jobs. you could support a family being a good darkroom tech or print press operator.
so it’s just been one long slog. i’m happy for all the “productivity” gains that tech has provided. i only have a little bit of nostalgia for smelling fixer in the darkroom. digital photography is vastly cheaper, easier, and quicker than what i learned. but every step of the way the ppl who lost out were blue collar. every goddamn time.
At a certain point, understaffing workplaces, underpaying and overworking those already understaffed workers, and then stack on top of that minimal or no paid vacation, by and large no sick leave, no retirement pension, and the demoralizing realization that you're at best stagnating materially, no wonder the "productivity metrics are trending down".
I would add to that that capitalism itself is notoriously not an efficient way to organize an economy. There's already a lot of waste and inefficiency in a capitalist system, not to mention 'externalities'.
Also a lot of the decision-making hinges on the whims of the boss, and often the boss is not acting in the best way to keep their workers (forget "happy") in the best working condition(s).