So last week I spoke at a youth conference in Singapore.
When I was there, a member of the Singapore Health Department asked me how I thought I could encourage Singapore’s young to care more about their health to which I replied,
“You can’t be healthy when you are made to feel you have to work 20 hours a day – so stop that attitude, and then you might start getting somewhere”
At this point, the room – rather surprisingly – broke out into spontaneous applause.
The reason I bring this up is not because I want to prove I can occasionally say something semi-smart [but hey, look at me saying something semi-smart] it’s the fact that unless governments and companies start actively taking a stand against this ever-increasing number of hours being worked, their future could be in jeapordy.
Yes I know that sounds very dramatic, but I genuinely believe it to be true.
As I wrote a while back, too many organisations act like they own their employees lock, stock and fucking barrel.
There’s this attitude that’s seemingly becoming more and more prevalent that they’re being generous allowing their staff a lunch hour … which is probably why they don’t feel any guilt, remorse or shame when they demand they poor sods come in at the weekend or change their holidays.
Of course they get away with it because in cohoots with the Government, they’ve allowed this air of fear to permeate the everyday employees environment … where they are made to believe that it’s not just good enough to do a full 8 hours a day of work to the best of your ability, you have to start earlier and work later or you’re not showing commitment.
Now I appreciate you probably are thinking, “What the hell do you know Rob, all you do is write blogs all day” … and maybe that’s true … but if people are not allowed time to relax, unwind and unthink, their levels of productivity are going to be impacted, let alone all the other issues that stem from it … be it family disharmony through to lack of innovation and desire to explore something new.
Conspiracy theorists out there will claim that is exactly why Governments and companies don’t want to do it … but with a rise in health issues covering almost all ailments from mental to physical … the loss of productivity on a corporate and national level, let alone the costs associated with sorting those ailments out [be it medicine to company medical insurance] means that ignoring this issue is commercial suicide.
Singapore is a wonderful place … a place I hold dear and am proud to be a PR of … however for all the campaigns the Government put out encouraging health or family harmony, they’d be much better off mandating companies to give their employees 4 weeks holiday a year and a maximum limit for hours worked.
Naturally it won’t happen … this is a country that has painted themselves into a corner where they must continue to keep the foreign investment coming as well as happy … however as they are pretty good at recognising issues that could impact their continued success, then I hope they realise this wouldn’t be a case of mollycoddling their people, but protecting one of the key assets that attracts foreign investment in the first place.