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How do you feel about your work? Do its daily demands leave you burned out and drained of energy? Do you find yourself reducing how much effort you make to engage in some quiet or “soft” quitting? Or maybe you dream of taking a more decisive step and joining the “great resignation.” The prevalenceand popularityof these responses suggest that there has been quite a change in many peoples attitudes to the way they earn a living. Some think that this change stems from a post-COVID evaluation of work-life balance. Others say its an individual form of industrial action. However, these explanations keep the spotlight firmly on workers rather than the work itself. Perhaps the truth lies in a fundamental deterioration in peoples relationship with their work and maybe the work needs to shoulder some of the responsibility. Our experience of working, and its impact on our lives, is about more than what goes on within the office or school or hospital or factory that pays our wages. Even something as simple (yet important) as the number of hours someone works might be the result of a complex combination of national law, professional expectations, and an organizations resources. This is where something known as the psychosocial work environment comes inan approach (especially popular in Scandinavia) that examines the various structures, conditions, and experiences that affect an employees psychological and emotional well-being. Research in this field suggests that there are three conditions vital to the modern work experience: autonomy, boundary management, and “precarity.” Autonomy is about how much control and influence you have when it comes to doing your job and is key to how most employees feel about their work. Low levels of autonomy can leave people feeling overwhelmed and powerless. But high levels can also be detrimental, leading to excessive levels of individual responsibility and overwhelming hours. Ideally, you should have enough autonomy to feel a sense of flexibility and self-determinationbut not so much that you feel you need to always be available and constantly on the clock. Setting boundaries Boundary management is the ability to manage the physical and mental boundaries between work and nonwork lives. Achieving a suitable work-life balance has become even more important in a world of hybrid working. But in jobs with high levels of autonomy and responsibility, boundaries can become blurred and unpredictable. Phones ping with work-related notifications, and leisure becomes work at the swipe of a screen. All of this can lead to feelings of anxiety and exhaustion. The goal here is to set clear boundaries that bring predictability and clarity around work time and demands. This provides flexibility that is empowering rather than exploitative. Finally, “precarity” refers to a lack of stability and security in life. It refers specifically to a harmful state of uncertainty that is typically associated with job insecurity (zero-hour contracts, for example). This uncertainty and insecurity can dominate daily work time (and free time), leading to feelings of stress and anxiety. It can also have a negative impact on personal finances and career plans. Income and contract security can help here, although people working in insecure jobs often have little power when it comes to persuading their employers to make the necessary changes. But addressing the deteriorating relationship between employees and their work means confronting certain core conditions. Reflecting on the psychosocial elements of employment can help to identify the gap between expectation and actual experience. Before experiencing burnout or resorting to quitting (in any of its forms), this approach encourages employees and employers to reflect on two key questions. How does work make you feel? And what are the things that cause those feelings? Research on psychosocial work environments provides some guidance. It suggests that workers are more likely to thrive when they have autonomy that feels like control rather than abandonment, and flexibility and clarity that allows for a good work-life balance. They also need security that offers certainty in the presentand confidence in the future. John-Paul Byrne is a lecturer at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Category:
E-Commerce
New Jersey Transit urged riders to reach their destinations before the end of the day Thursday or risk being stranded, as last-minute talks continued in a bid to avert a rail strike by train engineers that would affect some 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City. The labor dispute is stressing out some Manhattan commuters and already disrupting travel to Shakira concerts Thursday and Friday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Amid the uncertainty over whether the strike would happen, the transit agency canceled train and bus service at the stadium. The system’s advisory provided riders with details on contingency plans that would take effect if engineers walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. ET Friday. The agency plans to increase bus service, saying it would add very limited capacity to existing New York commuter bus routes in close proximity to rail stations and will contract with private carriers to operate bus service from key regional park-and-ride locations during weekday peak periods. However, the agency noted that the buses would not be able to handle close to the same number of passengersonly about 20% of current rail customersso it is has urged people who can work from home to do so if there is a strike. NJ Transitthe nations third largest transit systemoperates buses and rail in the state, providing nearly 1 million weekday trips, including into New York City. A walkout would halt all NJ Transit commuter trains, which provide heavily used public transit routes between New York Citys Penn Station on one side of the Hudson River and communities in northern New Jersey on the other, as well as the Newark Airport, which has grappled with unrelated delays of its own recently. Wages have been the main sticking point of the negotiations between the agency and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. The union says its members earn an average salary of $113,000 a year and that an agreement could be reached if agency CEO Kris Kolluri agrees to an average yearly salary of $170,000. NJ Transit leadership, though, disputes the unions data, saying the engineers have average total earnings of $135,000 annually, with the highest earners exceeding $200,000. If the walkout happens, it would be the states first transit strike in more than 40 years. It comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management. The parties met Monday with a federal mediation board in Washington to discuss the dispute, but both sides and the board have declined to comment on whether any progress has been made in subsequent talks this week. Bruce Shipkowski, Associated Press
Category:
E-Commerce
If brands want to reach the shoppers of the future, theyll need to meet them where they already are: playing video games. For this youngest generation, the coolest places to hang out arent the local mall or park but inside virtual worlds. While millennials had Sega Mega Drive and Mario Kart, and Gen Z grew up on The Sims and Angry Birds, Gen Alphaborn between 2010 and 2024 and still younger than 17is coming of age in a world even more seamlessly integrated with technology. Gaming is no longer fringe culture; its where they socialize. Analysts at investment bank UBS recently found that while older generations still spend about two more hours per week on social platforms than on games, Gen Alpha splits their time evenly between the two. Their engagement with digital platforms goes far beyond passive scrolling. For them, gaming is a medium for creativity and self-expression. If Gen Z and millennials were the social generationsraised on MySpace, Facebook, and InstagramGen Alpha is the gaming generation. Now, brands are stepping further into these virtual spaces. Just today, Roblox announced its opening its Commerce APIs to eligible creators and brands, with Shopify as the first integrated partner. That means Shopify merchants can now sell physical goods directly within their Roblox experiences. It also works the other way. Through Robloxs new Approved Merchandiser Program, users can buy physical items in the real world that unlock digital content in-game. Among popular gaming platforms, Roblox reaches one of the youngest audiences, with 60% of its users under the age of 16. These digital worlds have replaced group chats and casual hangouts with avatars serving as extensions of personality and style, Liv Burke, associate director of social at social media agency Superdigital, recently wrote in an op-ed for Variety. In these spaces, Gen Alpha is building and personalizing virtual worlds with limited-edition skins and viral emotesand inviting their friends to join. For a generation that grew up with iPads in hand, their entertainment ecosystems exist largely beyond the reach of traditional advertising. As a result, advertisers investment in gaming is projected to nearly double over the next five years, according to Futurescape. After all, this generation already accounts for an estimated $50 billion in annual spendinga figure expected to reach $5.5 trillion by 2029. For brands looking to connect with the next wave of consumers, its game on.
Category:
E-Commerce
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