These days, the difficulty of finding seasonal workers for the summer is being addressed in public dialogue. The public dialogue is focusing on various aspects, carried out by the “fans” of this or that orientation. There are those who argue that the state is responsible for this phenomenon, for the introduction of citizenship income. We find supporters of the rhetoric of the employer, rich and arrogant ready to exploit to the bone every worker he comes across. Another point of view that finds space in social networks is the rhetoric of young people who have little desire to work. Others complain about a structure unsuitable for work, due to the tax burden or too much bureaucracy, which forces workers to hire illegally, especially in the tourism sector.
Even across the Channel in the UK, the world of work is undergoing many transformations, in which it is difficult to find staff in the tourism and catering sector.
In Italy, the problem of work is certainly not new, and the pandemic has accelerated and exacerbated processes already underway in the world of work for some time. In Italy, for example, many workers do not have access to the safety devices required by law, they work many hours and the salary, even when we are talking about specialized work, such as a psychologist or a lawyer, is underpaid. White deaths in 2020 increased by 16.6% to 1,270, a number too high for a country where work is an established right.
Internationally, Italy, Nations are in the process to reduce the amount of working hours during the week.
The Republic recognizes the right to work for all citizens and promotes the conditions that make this right effective.
Every citizen has the duty to carry out, according to his possibilities and his own choice, an activity or a function that contributes to the material or spiritual progress of society.
ITALIAN CONSTITUTION, Article 4
Let’s take a few steps back.
Work, as we understand it today, has undergone profound transformations. Before the industrial revolution, private life and working life coincided and the times were marked by nature. Time, therefore, was marked by life in the fields, by the harvest, by sunrise and sunset. The clock made its first appearance around 1200 in Europe. Time, punctuated by seconds, minutes and hours, slowly began to creep into everyday life, to establish the working hours, the time for meals, for prayers and for going to bed. The industrial revolution led to the separation of work and personal life. About 80% of the work was based on physical effort. Workers were paid by the hour and their work was mostly assessed on the amount of production or physical effort made over a period of time. In today’s world of work, there has been a profound transformation that has led, to date, to have 80% of the work constituted by immaterial and non-measurable labour per hour or per production. The value of a company today is constituted by knowledge, working relationships with other companies or institutions, processes and situations.
If the world of work has undergone these profound transformations, which are taking place at a rapid pace, the same cannot be said of the bureaucratic systems or the management of workers, which are valued by the hour or in terms of production.
In addition, post-war economic well-being has increased society’s awareness of the need to accompany this growth with psychological well-being and respect for human rights and workers’ rights.
The Pandemic has brought about another, notable, transformation of work. The introduction of teleworking / agile working / smart working / remote working/working from home. It has many names, but the practice is the same, questioning the work-life dichotomy. The International magazine in a recent article wrote about the possible transformations this will have in the future social life. But what are the effects on the personal life of each of us?
During the pandemic, work forcefully entered the homes of many workers, jeopardizing the already fragile family balance, the management of home environments and the time dedicated to working. Work meetings are doubled during this phase, working hours have expanded and work multitasking has been divided between home/family care and work attention.
The summer debate regarding the shortage of staff such as lifeguards and waiters shows that the transformation that has taken place this year is not fully understood. From a purely practical and pragmatic point, we can see that many of the workers in these sectors have had to reinvent themselves, and find other ways of living. And many have done so. But there is more, it was not just a career change.
This year has been for many, if not all, a re-evaluation of their lifestyle, with a focus on their mental and physical health. There is widespread awareness of the importance of having a good balance between private life and working life. The pandemic has literally put us in front of death, a showdown. What really matters to us? How do we spend our time?
Some research suggests that when we feel that we have enough time to meet our social needs, we feel better, more satisfied, and happier. Conversely, when we feel we don’t have enough time to cultivate satisfying social relationships, we feel more frustrated, and the person’s general well-being deteriorates. In the long run, the state of stress and frustration could lead to real mental illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. Just think of the overtime hours during the summer, and the exhausting shifts of the operators in the holiday villages to realize how exhausting working in these sectors can be.
Work structures and defines, very often, the place where we live, the people we hang out with and the friendships we make. It establishes our economic power and the position we have in society. Work, at times, determines our identity. Some jobs, such as a doctor or a psychologist, are a real vocation to care for those who find themselves in a situation of difficulty or illness. The advocacy responds to the desire for justice. The police embody the values of protection and social harmony. Obviously, not everyone undertakes these professions for a sort of virtuous call, but even if the reasons are purely economic or due to chance, a certain type of work affects the vision we have of the world, the experiences we will have and the construction of our own identity (which is always a work in progress).
The work environment determines our well-being. If at work our skills are highlighted, appreciated and cultivated, we feel more fulfilled and satisfied with ourselves. We would have more energy to improve and cultivate job interests, and new skills and keep up to date.
On the contrary, in a hostile work environment, in which one does not feel appreciated or in which it is difficult to progress at the working level, feelings of demotivation, bad working relationships, tensions and frustrations spread. This undoubtedly leads to a deterioration of one’s psychophysical state which can spread to other areas of life, from social relationships to family life.
Even when we are in a peaceful work environment, we can encounter frequent obstacles, which in the long run negatively impact our mental health. Some research, for example, highlights the difficulty of those working who have a different circadian rhythm (sleep-wake rhythm). Research from the University of Washington Foster School of Business has shown that managers who define themselves as morning people judged better (also from a pay point of view) workers in the first shift, from 9.00 to 15.00, compared to workers in the second shift, 11.00 -19.00. Managers who called themselves not very early risers, on the other hand, showed no significant preference for either group, treating early risers and second shift jobs equally.
Nowadays, especially among Millennials (those born between 1991 and 1995), there is a greater awareness of the role of work in their lives and a greater need to have a balanced family and working life. Proofs of this are the recent short week work experiments, with four working days for equal pay. Spain is funding one of these initiatives. Some European states are considering extending paternity leave for the same period granted to the mother. More and more companies are offering flexible hours or remote work for their employees (some companies have successfully studied and applied these strategies even before the pandemic) to allow their workers to reconcile family and work life.
The challenge we are about to face, both on a personal, social and political level, is to reconcile one’s internal clock with working, family and social life. In the name of bio-psycho-social well-being to build a psychologically resilient society to face new and old challenges.
If your work-life is deteriorating your well-being, contact me.
Bibliography
Bosch, M. J., & Hernández, T. (2020). A Closer Look to Millennials in Chile: How They Perceive the New i-deal Worker. In The New Ideal Worker (pp. 49-72). Springer, Cham.
Gröpel, P., & Kuhl, J. (2009). Work–life balance and subjective well‐being: The mediating role of need fulfilment. British Journal of Psychology, 100(2), 365-375.
https://www.internazionale.it/opinione/annamaria-testa/2021/04/07/lavoro-agile
Kring, C. (2020). The New Ideal Worker Is a Super Navigator. In The New Ideal Worker (pp. 125-135). Springer, Cham.
Dr Vanessa Pozzali 