Do you like working?

Hector Savage · 13-04-2018 09:12AM

stimpson wrote: »

I’ve had plenty of shit jobs, but 2 fantastic ones, one of which I’m doing now. If I had a shit one again I’d happily leave it, but I look forward to work now.

They say when a man finds a job he truly loves, he no longer works.

Fantastic!

job seeker · 13-04-2018 09:19AM

I'd nearly leave my current job and prefer not to have money. As it makes me feel like driving into oncoming traffic on the way in the morning.

As for the original quistion. Alot depends on your current circumstances. If you are in a job you love, I'm sure anyone would be happy enough to continue working. In any other case, I'd say free money would be the more enticing option..

dan786 · 13-04-2018 09:20AM

It depends on the job. Even if I didnt like it I would prefer to make a living myself rather than sitting home doing nothing.

FizzleSticks · 13-04-2018 09:24AM

This post has been deleted.

chrissb8 · 13-04-2018 09:27AM

If you can't go 4 days without work and fill your time then something is wrong in your life. You're obviously not doing anything for yourself. Like having hobbies, friends, things to do. There's so much to do and see just get off your backside and do it. I know people who live for work and they're just pathetic. Really are. No zest for life and are usually boring individuals with tame personalities. Now if work is your passion and pastime...that's a different story. That's a great place to be in.

That said I do feel you need to have something to feel productive in as humans I think we're much happier contributing towards something. I could live without work. I'd just make one of my past times my job as it were. I do like working though as when I do have the time off I feel more inclined to do something with it and enjoy it that much more. Plus I love that feeling of working together towards a goal and being in the "zone" as it were. If someone was to tell me I could make music or write fulltime and get paid a wage I'd definitely take that instead.

CruelCoin · 13-04-2018 09:27AM

I'd need about 4k nett to consider not working to sustain my current lifestyle.

There are going to be 2 options longterm:

1 - Small group of people own the means of producing the robots that put everyone out of work, they are mega rich, the rest of the world are in mostly abject poverty.
2 - Means of production are socialised, everyone can live on a modest (because socialised anything is never efficient) work-free lifestyle.

Humans being humans, and socialism being ****, it'll be option 1 in the end.

Caliden · 13-04-2018 09:30AM

It's called work for a reason that's why you get paid to do it.

Hector Savage · 13-04-2018 09:31AM

CruelCoin wrote: »

I'd need about 4k nett to consider not working to sustain my current lifestyle.

There are going to be 2 options longterm:

1 - Small group of people own the means of producing the robots that put everyone out of work, they are mega rich, the rest of the world are in mostly abject poverty.
2 - Means of production are socialised, everyone can live on a modest (because socialised anything is never efficient) work-free lifestyle.

Humans being humans, and socialism being ****, it'll be option 1 in the end.

Depressingly true

Wanderer78 · 13-04-2018 09:35AM

CruelCoin wrote:

Humans being humans, and socialism being ****, it'll be option 1 in the end.

Or maybe it ll be option 3 or 4 or 5.......

We somehow think the only options on the table are effectively neoliberalism or socialism, what a strange breed we are!

Eponymous · 13-04-2018 09:36AM

I really enjoy my job, I like where I work and the people I work with.

The fcuking commute though...

CastielJ · 13-04-2018 09:42AM

well I enjoy my work and the salary, its better then sit at home

ChikiChiki · 13-04-2018 09:44AM

Project work building workflows that will eventually be ran by robots replacing a lot of FTE. :-(. I don't think governments are doing enough to warn people about what is coming down the track in this area thus many will get caught out.

Do I like it, everyone is sound but to be honest not really. Hate the whole thing of taking work home. I.e, no real close and daily job satisfaction of a good days work done as always thinking of deadlines and schedules. Plus to many meetings meaning difficult to get stuff done during normal business hours.

Honestly thinking of giving it all up to drive as a van courier or even get out labouring on the building sites. Especially out here in Oz where labouring is relatively well paid. Huge financial trade off but theres more to life.

CruelCoin · 13-04-2018 09:46AM

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Or maybe it ll be option 3 or 4 or 5.......

We somehow think the only options on the table are effectively neoliberalism or socialism, what a strange breed we are!

Why is it always neoliberalism with you? When did plain vanilla capitalism stop being a word?

You always frame your comments along the lines of socialism or "insert vaguely menacing sounding term for the opposite side of the spectrum"

sbsquarepants · 13-04-2018 09:47AM

As jobs go - mine is OK I suppose. I could do it with my eyes closed, it pays OK and I like most of my colleagues, so it's not like i dread coming in every morning.......but - if by some miracle I was offered my salary to stay home, there's not a snowballs chance I'd come in - I'm far happier at home than I am here. Work is a chore, that's why they have to pay you to do it!

Anyone who wins the lotto and goes back to work should be boiled in a barrel of their own piss:mad:

Trigger Happy · 13-04-2018 09:48AM

I am going to a self imposed period of unemployment at the moment and I have not been as happy and contented since I was a child. This is my first 'break' from work since 1994.

I will get a new job and hope to get one that gives more money and job satisfaction than I have had before - with less pressure. But there is no question of it - if I had enough money never to work again I would be very happy. So many things I want to do.

Foxhound38 · 13-04-2018 09:50AM

"Like" is a strong word, but I have a strong feeling that my life would fall apart if I stopped working and suddenly had all of this free time for the rest of my life. It's not good for people, I've never seen it be good for people.

Don't get me wrong, it would be great for the first 6 months or so... then I imagine it would get very boring very fast.

sbsquarepants · 13-04-2018 10:31AM

Foxhound38 wrote: »

Don't get me wrong, it would be great for the first 6 months or so... then I imagine it would get very boring very fast.

I f you were "unemployed" in the traditional sense of the word then maybe. But with money to spend, give me free time over work obligations every single time!
Personally speaking, I only work to pay bills, I have no trouble filling my days.

carzony · 13-04-2018 10:35AM

I like work but not the current job i'm in.
I'm actually back Monday after a weeks holiday and all I can think is why I didn't book 2 weeks off.

Wanderer78 · 13-04-2018 10:37AM

CruelCoin wrote: »

Why is it always neoliberalism with you? When did plain vanilla capitalism stop being a word?

You always frame your comments along the lines of socialism or "insert vaguely menacing sounding term for the opposite side of the spectrum"

its important to realise the use of terms such as neoliberalism, the world of capitalism has moved on, and its chosen most predominant form is indeed neoliberalism, and id have to agree with many well respected commentators, that it is one of the main reasons why we re experiencing instabilities within our economic and financial systems. its also important to realise the benefits capitalism has brought to mankind, and id agree with some of these commentators, its here to stay, but we must learn to tame this beast, or it has the potential to completely destroy us. i do think its time for us to move onto another form of capitalism, but we ve become stuck, and many turn this argument into capitalism v's socialism, but that may not be the actual argument at all.

Huntergonzo · 13-04-2018 10:44AM

chrissb8 wrote: »

If you can't go 4 days without work and fill your time then something is wrong in your life. You're obviously not doing anything for yourself. Like having hobbies, friends, things to do. There's so much to do and see just get off your backside and do it. I know people who live for work and they're just pathetic. Really are. No zest for life and are usually boring individuals with tame personalities. Now if work is your passion and pastime...that's a different story. That's a great place to be in.

That said I do feel you need to have something to feel productive in as humans I think we're much happier contributing towards something. I could live without work. I'd just make one of my past times my job as it were. I do like working though as when I do have the time off I feel more inclined to do something with it and enjoy it that much more. Plus I love that feeling of working together towards a goal and being in the "zone" as it were. If someone was to tell me I could make music or write fulltime and get paid a wage I'd definitely take that instead.

4 days isn't a long time though, it's not even a week off, surely everybody could eaily fill 4 days off work with something worthwhile without getting bored. The problem is when you're 4 weeks, 4 months, 4 years or in some cases 4 decades without work....that's a lot of time to fill and where do you get the money to go places and do things?

Making your past time your work is probably everybodys dream, but that's largely what it is....a dream, the reality is a lot of people don't and will never have that luxury.

Ush1 · 13-04-2018 10:46AM

I enjoy my job but there is a lot of waffle and messing about in office environments, I think the working week for a lot of people could be condensed into four days.

I'd easily fill my free time, I think people would maybe have better physical health since they would have more time to exercise and spend time outside with the family.

SAMTALK · 13-04-2018 10:49AM

If anyone is willing to fund this I am willing to be a guinea pig !

I will report back to you all on a weekly basis (maybe monthly) ..

Princess Consuela Bananahammock · 13-04-2018 10:52AM

Kind of like my job, but I'd probably drop down to part time if it was an option. Nothing to do with work or money, I'd just like the extera fewhours to put into other things.

Mr. teddywinkles · 13-04-2018 10:53AM

CruelCoin wrote: »

I'd need about 4k nett to consider not working to sustain my current lifestyle.

There are going to be 2 options longterm:

1 - Small group of people own the means of producing the robots that put everyone out of work, they are mega rich, the rest of the world are in mostly abject poverty.
2 - Means of production are socialised, everyone can live on a modest (because socialised anything is never efficient) work-free lifestyle.

Humans being humans, and socialism being ****, it'll be option 1 in the end.

Off topic I know but how the hell is option 1 going to work if everyone else is poor. Where do people get the money to buy the product and services these robots provide if we are all poor to make a certain percentage of the population rich. Flawed economics there me thinks.

weldoninhio · 13-04-2018 10:58AM

If you are offering it now, I'll walk right out of work and never come back. I actually like my job, but I hate having to get out of bed in the morning and commuting.

Also, if everyone was off there would be plenty to do socially. It wouldn't be like now where you might book a week off and be the only one of your friends with the time off.

seamus · 13-04-2018 10:58AM

CruelCoin wrote: »

I'd need about 4k nett to consider not working to sustain my current lifestyle.

There are going to be 2 options longterm:

1 - Small group of people own the means of producing the robots that put everyone out of work, they are mega rich, the rest of the world are in mostly abject poverty.
2 - Means of production are socialised, everyone can live on a modest (because socialised anything is never efficient) work-free lifestyle.

Humans being humans, and socialism being ****, it'll be option 1 in the end.

How do you become mega rich when there's nobody to sell anything to?

Your cynicism is well-founded, but at the end of the day robots don't buy stuff. And if nobody has money to buy stuff, robots have nothing to produce and rich people can't make money.

Sure, there will be mega-rich people who own the robots and earn money for basically doing nothing, but your average person will have money to buy stuff.

As the quote goes; "when the poor have nothing left to eat, they will eat the rich". A stable country is one where the majority are provided for. Countries with huge wealth and equality divides are unstable sh1tholes - look at South Africa and Russia.

Starving the 99% and hoarding cash doesn't make good business sense, and business people know that. They will happily row in behind taxation initiatives which tax corporate profits and use that money to fund universal basic income, because those taxes will just come back to the corporations again.

At least 50% of most companies's cost base is salaries. Reduce salary costs to 10% through automation, UBI tax then takes 30% and the shareholders are still making an extra 10%. Why wouldn't they get behind it?

To the OP, if I was guaranteed 3k a month for the rest of my life for doing nothing, I'd be out of here like a hot snot. Money is of little importance in the grand scheme. You can't take it with you, and it won't make you happy. The only thing that's important is family and friends, so if I could ditch working to spend all my time with them, I'd be all over it.

That's not to say I wouldn't be doing "stuff" to keep myself entertained; but it would be more fulfilling stuff - community projects, outdoor work, tinkering about in the shed - stuff that doesn't pay well, but is worth doing.

Yer Da sells Avon · 13-04-2018 11:15AM

If I won the lotto, I'd consider it my duty to never work in a paid position again, thus freeing up a job for someone who needs it.

CruelCoin · 13-04-2018 11:28AM

Mr. teddywinkles wrote: »

Off topic I know but how the hell is option 1 going to work if everyone else is poor. Where do people get the money to buy the product and services these robots provide if we are all poor to make a certain percentage of the population rich. Flawed economics there me thinks.

It's an argument lifted directly from people much smarter than myself (Degrasse, Sam Harris). I can't claim to be an economist but i think the thinking is sound.

Debtocracy · 13-04-2018 11:56AM

One of the problems with work is the increasing lack of meaning. So many middle management, communications analyst, innovation expert, organisational consultants that contribute zero to their company. It’s a phenomenon that is observed in both the public and private sector.

Capitalism shouldn’t allow this in the private sector. However, it’s hard to accurately assess the values of roles, the only option seems to be to employ a bunch of people and hope some of them will get the real work done. This will usually happen according to the pareto principle, with 20% of employees producing 80% of the output.

I think it’s inevitable though that as performance metrics become more accurate, this explosion of meaningless roles should stop. The guys who just pass on emails, who use 100% task delegation or who manage people that don’t need managing should be weeded out by our new HR robot overlords.

topper75 · 13-04-2018 12:06PM

I actually love 'work' in the immediate sense - forming a plan, executing it, getting stuff done for myself. Definitely the only way I can feel alive. Digging my own veg, putting up a new shelf, getting bills paid, washing car etc.

Modern industrial jobs though - narrow task specialisations, dealing with strangers with whom you have no natural link, heartless robotic processes designed to control minutiae, the tyranny of the clock, less-than-sympathetic supervisors, every day/week much the same - would love to see the back of that. I've been at it for decades across a variety of roles/orgs and so little of it put a smile on my face.

You have to recall that it is a new thing in the big picture. We were hunter/gatherers for hundreds of thousands of years. A lot of recent research is showing that such a life wasn't the worst. Only the fit had to 'work' and even at that 15-20 hours a week. And that work was very direct - food into mouth. No alienation from the work (the one valid Marx point).

Do you like working?

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