What is the meaning of work? Is it about a salary, life direction or personal identity? Or is it about corporate social responsibility and working to live? When it comes to deeply-held beliefs such as the 9 to 5 rat race, can we change them? If recent times have shown us anything, it’s that our perspectives are less ”fixed” than we think. And this seems to be the case in the workplace no less.

Image courtesy of Pexels, Tetyana Kovyrina

When consultant Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) flew across the US in the film Up in the Air to help companies downsize and lay off their employees, the storyline took a rather unexpected turn. The employees saw the event as the worst thing that could happen to them (one even tried to commit suicide). But Bingham offered them a different perspective.

He said things like, “Anybody who ever built an empire, or changed the world, sat where you are now. And it’s because they sat there that they were able to do it.” The film dates back to 2009, and especially around that time this was a rather unusual take on what it means to have a 9 to 5 job. And specifically what it means to lose it and all it represented: stability in life, our identity etc.

Never waste a good crisis

Speaking of why you should never waste a good crisis. It is especially during recent global challenges, that we’ve started to rethink the workplace and the purpose of work. It wasn’t that long ago that businesses and governments worked feverishly on what media called the new normal. We started to move away from 9 to 5 thinking. You only had to look at headlines about the Anti-Work Movement and the Great Resignation. We had begun to change our views on the meaning of job security, the commute, our work life balance, everything. Whilst we were wondering if working from home is achievable, now we could try it. We might never have thought working from home even possible, but: can we change our views on what it means to work?

Raving reports

Meanwhile, four-day working week reports were coming in from Iceland to Toronto. Elsewhere, the India Times was writing “From UAE To New Zealand: These Countries Have Shifted to Four-Day Work Week.” The creators behind the initiative called 4 Day Week Global had seized the opportunity of tidal change. They provided a framework for working smarter, not longer. So, they promised improved productivity, no loss of income, as well as health and well-being in the workplace. By moving away from 9 to 5 thinking.

There were enthusiastic accounts about increased company revenue, job satisfaction, brand loyalty and even organisational commitment. Employees were talking about how working less but earning the same was improving their lives. It was making them feel more relaxed, healthier, and happier with their improved work life balance. Even from Britain, known for its long working culture, there were positive reports from the wide variety of partaking sectors. One company director, Nicci Russell of Waterwise, said: “We all love the extra day out of the office. We come back refreshed and it’s great for our well-being. We’re certainly more productive.”

Valuable 9 to 5 lessons?

Valuable lessons were learned for those type of organisations trying to change decades of ingrained workplace cultures and systems, said 4 Day Week Global. “The pandemic has created the perfect environment for business to use the lessons from the enforced change to our work habits,” said Charlotte Lockhart, who together with Andrew Barnes established the initiative. She also told us: “We hope to change the world by changing the way the world works.”

“The pandemic has created the perfect environment for business to use the lessons from the enforced change to our work habits. We hope to change the world, by changing the way the world works.”

The Big Boreout

One thing that all this activity had highlighted was that we were not happy at work. We are now no longer just talking about Burnout. We were also talking about Boreout. After all, the rat race is something that denotes a kind of endless, relentless pursuit. One that might even be pointless or self-destructive. “80% of global employees are either continuously watching the clock, or actively working against their employer’s goals,” a Gallup spokesperson told Perspective Living about the 2020 figures. “Worry, stress, anger, and sadness at work have been rising since we started measuring them in 2009,” he added.

“We are checked out and sleepwalking through our days. We are putting little energy into our work,” wrote Quartz in 2015 in a similar vein. According to the business news provider, many people simply hate their job. Aren’t so many of us going through the motions, muddling ourselves through the week? Looking forward to Friday, and dreading Monday, again and again?

“We are checked out, sleepwalking through our days, putting little energy into our work.”

It’s not just working

But, going back to our before-mentioned uplifting reports about working shorter and smarter, not everyone is positive about such new approaches. There are companies that say they simply aren’t working. That flexible, remote and hybrid-working patterns ask for too much of an overhaul in organisational structure. Or that they threaten our workplace culture where people need to meet in person.

9 to 5 no more?

Still, others can see a future in these changes. Or that we should at least consider it. Forbes for example, has labelled the 5-day-working-week an antiquated relic. That the time has come to revise it. Then there are those that say it’s time to return to the most basic question of all. What is the meaning of work? That the focus when implementing changes should be on the people, and not necessarily on technology. That creative solutions can be found.

Will the changes last? Professor Barry Schwartz, author of Why Do We Work? calls the answer to that question: surprising, complex, and urgent. He told us: “The big question in my mind is whether the ‘great resignation’ is just a blip. Or whether people will persist in asking more from their work than a pay check. No matter how generous it is. Time will tell,” he concluded, adding it needs dissatisfied individuals to start banding together and demanding more.

The future of work

No one knows what the future of work will look like. But 4 Day Week Global’s Andrew Barnes has pointed out that new approaches give businesses opportunity. The chance to be innovative, progressive and forward-thinking. And, says his business partner Lockhart, it’s time for a shift on behalf of a healthier planet and society. Plus a move towards the understanding we now have about workplace well-being.

“Now more than ever, people are placing importance on how and where they work,” Elliott Smith told us in a similar light. His UK-based Love your Employees offers an online marketplace for all things well-being at work. He explained: “For some roles, flexible and remote working options are now expected as standard. Employees are looking to build better work-life balances without losing out financially.” Things are changing it seems, and he added: “Employees will be seeking out companies who are prioritising their mental and physical health. This is one of the things that will be the key to remaining competitive in the market,” he added, underlining how the times they are a-changin. And most certainly when it comes to the meaning of work.

“The big question in my mind is whether the ‘great resignation’ is just a blip. Or whether people will persist in asking more from their work than a pay cheque. No matter how generous it is.”

Is 9 to 5 still working for us?

Do we work because we need an income for our mortgage, or for our children’s education?

More people are changing that need by moving to a more afforable country. Or start a different kind of life where they replace a focus on money with something else, something that they care about.

Others are changing the meaning of work by going about it differently. For example, they might shift their focus from money to making a difference. Or by changing their career to something completley new, such as urban rooftop farming as a business.

Such entrepreneurs and career-changers might find added benefits along the way. Take the above rooftop farming as an example: If they live in the building itself, or nearby, there is no longer a stressful commute. They can find restaurants nearby that can become clients, and they can distribute their produce on a bicycle.