Karoshi is a Japanese word that means "worked to death". It's used when people die after working so hard at their companies, they die of stress, heart attacks, suicide, and other causes related to insane hours of overtime and little work-life balance. Yet, Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer has found karoshi-like conditions in the American workplace: long hours, a lack of health insurance, little autonomy on the job, high job demands. "It's pretty clear that the human costs -- in terms of death -- and the economic costs, in terms of elevated health care spend, are quite substantial," Pfeffer said in a recent interview about his new book, "Dying for a Paycheck." Pfeffer's book, released Tuesday, is built around a 2015 paper that said more than 120,000 deaths a year and roughly 5 to 8 percent of annual health care costs may be attributable to how U.S. companies manage their workforces. A core argument: Instead of adding wellness programs or yoga classes, companies need to focus more on the management practices that lead to substantial health issues, such as layoffs, job insecurity, toxic cultures and long hours -- not only for their own bottom lines but so they don't offload those costs to broader society. As he told a Stanford publication: “I want this to be the 'Silent Spring' of workplace health," referring to the 1962 book by Rachel Carson that spurred the environmental movement. More here: Washington Post, This professor says the workplace is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S. http://wapo.st/2GayzAK Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
coincidentally, i read yesterday that there is a bill in nyc to make it illegal for employees to email after work. both my daughters live and work in nyc, and both have left high pressure, high compensation jobs for lower stress and pay. and they are both much happier not being in the 24/7 meat grinder.
one of my daughters was away for the weekend with no cell service. when she came in monday morning, she found out her boss had emailed her saturday demanding a certain report be on her desk first thing monday morning. when she went in and explained what happened, she was reprimanded, and told that all management was expected to be available anytime, anywhere, even when on vacation. thus began the job search. fortunately, it's an employee's market. funny, they do an exit interview on the way out. i wonder what file those go into?
if the bill actually gets passed, there will be a lot of scrambling and no doubt, a lot of underhanded coercion, not to mention the lawsuits from both sides.
Karoshi deaths have caused a lot of concern in Japan. Overwork-related disorders in Japan: recent trends and development of a national policy to promote preventive measures Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
I'm there myself, but still have about 5-6 years left to retire. It's a real question of what will be my breaking point, or if I'll actually make it another five years. The real catch is that I am very well compensated, and even if anyone else would hire an old fart (like me), it would be for drastically less money with no guarantee the stress would be much less. I'm very health conscious. My nutrition is excellent, and I'm in the gym every day. I try to play my guitar every day for mental health. So for now I'm hanging in there.
My work is OK - it's a 40-45-hour week. But I think I'm at risk of "housewife karoshi" if there is such a thing.
