Work — It has always characterized our way of life. One could posit that no matter the circumstances, mankind will always find some work to engage in, that is, labor ourselves with activities we believe are key to survival. From the primal days to the present, the work scene has shifted significantly — we will be zooming in on the developments within the 20th to 21th Century, which saw rapid growth across domains in the world.
The 19th Century saw the Industrial Revolution, which kickstarted the shift from rewarding solely hard labor, that is, body movement, into the placement of greater value on thought movement; knowledge and brain activity, as it is today. In that sense, while work used to be visible activity down assembly lines, it has evolved to become ‘made of thought’, where the desirable outcome is the product of relevant insight, intangible before actualisation.
Resultantly, the modes of work, both in life and environment, and its ideals, have adjusted accordingly. Where work action used to be visible and identical, collective work spaces, such as ‘bullpen’ offices, where the eye could watch all hands at work, were key to an organization’s running. Such fixed working spaces and strict arrangements formed the collective work life design, where stringent uniformity was seen as ideal.
As the global scene shifted, demand changed. Technology heightened efficiency and connectivity, diminishing the need for uniformity from which productivity was seen to stem from. Institutions adapted to view each individual’s insight as the basis of value, and with technological allowances across space and time, the individual work life design became the current ideal. Rather than encouraging identical modes of working, each individual is now empowered to hold distinct insight, where optimal resources are provided for an employee to develop such value. We thus see the international shift into varying nodes of working, where spaces and modes are diverse, formed on the principles of enabling autonomy to tailor one’s work environment to relevant needs and wants.
Seeing such advancements in work connectivity and accessibility, and further spurred on by virtual concepts explored in the COVID pandemic, many have found new avenues for increased productivity.
With this as an end-goal for many, people increasingly derive glory and affirmation with increased productivity. That dopamine boost then drives the desire for more work done, and when many around you are in that chase for extreme productivity, a culture is born: the Hustle Culture.
And herein lies the problem: when this becomes a culture. There now inadvertently is a status quo of participating in the hustle culture, and an undue burden is placed on those who are not drawn into the concept of over-exerting to advance career goals. They often face demands that push boundaries such as expectations of immediate replies when “flexible work hours” are exploited.
Notably, Japan is Exhibit A of hustle culture. As the birthplace, and an exemplar, of the サラリーマン (salaryman), conservative Japanese culture places a heavy emphasis on one’s extreme dedication to their company, which is usually expected to be white-collar. With a sense of pride, Japanese society sees the サラリーマン as a reminiscence of their strict work ethic during the prosperous Japanese economic miracle. As a society that ameliorates the 過労死 (death by overwork), the Japanese are notorious for their extreme hustle culture.
In response, the government has halfheartedly taken a few actions, mainly awareness-building, such as designating an 80-hours-a-month overtime threshold to decrease the likelihood of a 過労死 threat. Only half-heartedly of course, out of nostalgia for that long-lost productivity. Despite festivities held during the famous Golden Week of public holidays, the Japanese are still consistently considered the second-most vacation-deprived people in the world.
Westward in Europe, however, the work culture has a completely different outlook. In direct contrast to Japan’s “live (or die) to work” mentality, Europeans work to live. From 3-hour lunch breaks in Greece, to 29-hour workweeks in the Netherlands, hustle culture is mostly unheard of in Europe. In Europe, people view work as simply a part of life – that one needs to get through to get to the “good part”. And they really do value that “good part”. In 2017, France passed legislation recognizing the “right to disconnect”, whereby employees are legally entitled to be disconnected from their offices outside of work hours.
Cultural reasons aside, the Great Resignation that stemmed from job dissatisfaction and lack of benefits, mostly occurred in Europe. As such, European employers have been finding it especially difficult to boost office productivity, while ensuring employee retention.
Another perspective of work culture worth mentioning is the differing interactional dynamics between workers from different cultures. For example, in the bustling, cosmopolitan city-state of Singapore, its highly attractive work culture has its nuances that many in the liberal West may not be that used to. Due to the strict regulations in place, and far-reaching employment opportunities, employee stress is kept in check – provided one stays on top of the tight competition coming from the high population density. But beyond these, the work culture in this Southeast Asian island is… simply Asian. Albeit largely in touch with the liberal West’s meritocratic hierarchy, local firms still run on traditionally Asian structures, which especially value seniority, which is linked to wisdom, in determining competence. Apart from stern distinctions of authority, whereby respect must be explicitly shown, the bare age of employees are also noted. Simply put, if one is significantly younger than another in a similar leadership position, respect must still be centered around the elder.
The Modern Office: Format of Working
As we increasingly value the collaborative nature of work, the offices today are poised to transform with the rise and rapid popularity of hot-desking and coworking spaces. This new model of office planning does away with a fixed workstation for each employee. Instead, workers are regularly rotated through different workstations depending on the availability on that particular day. Advocates cite more intangible benefits that can be reaped from such an arrangement, from closer bonds within the workplace (achieved through the breaking of traditional hierarchies) to even enhanced creativity.
While hotdesking has its fair share of benefits, not all types of firms are suited for the adoption of such. For example, paperwork-oriented industries like clerking or teaching, should probably think twice before such a transition due to its logistical limitations. Furthermore, another source of resistance comes from the need for certainty in many industries. As hotdesking necessitates a level of adaptability to consistent changes and re-shuffling of working environments (office orientation, neighbouring colleagues), high-focus industries like the medical profession prefer assigning indivual cubicles for their staff.
With that said, the majority of companies are open to the concepts of increased collaboration and interactivity, turning the operation of such office concepts into a lucrative business model. Major operators such as WeWork and JustCo have recently found huge success in enticing firms with more flexible leases across all of its office locations in a city instead of being bogged down by a traditional rental lease.
With the pandemic bringing about talks of the ‘New Normal’, it is no wonder then that the notion has translated into developments in the work scene. The increasing conceptualisation and implementation of innovative work arrangements are testament to the spreading diversification of work spaces. Already, we see hybrid working, mobile workstations, shift arrangements for work weeks, 4-day week trials, and many more instances of experimentation with the work space across the globe.
Hybrid working has been in for a while since the pandemic struck, with platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Workspace and more connecting work from homes and offices alike across the globe. In offices, mobile workstations have become quite the trend, seen as additions of organisational adaptability and empowerment of fitting work environments for all. More recently, various countries ran the 4-day work week pilot scheme. It saw 86% of surveyed UK firms responding that they would keep it going, signalling impending waves of major change. Increasingly, an employee’s sense of comfort and alignment at the workplace has become relative to heightening productivity and efficiency.
While such modes of working mean greater autonomy in space and form for work, it has also blurred the lines between work and relaxation, in both place and time. With catering for greater autonomy increasingly being seen as a propulsion toward greater efficiency, it is important to consider the flip side of the coin.
Moving forth, as we see the coronavirus ebbing around the world, Asian economies have embraced the pandemic-induced shift towards remote work by offering hefty incentives catering to Western expatriates. From extended residency permits to exemptions from local income tax, many Asian countries have sought to tap on this lucrative income stream, creating a win-win situation for both parties. Attracted by the significantly lower cost of living, expatriates eager to escape spiraling inflation in their home countries have flocked to Asia. For instance, Malaysia’s newly launched DE Rantau program is specifically catered towards high-income digital nomads. It offers an extended stay of up to a year for foreign applicants and has been a roaring success thus far, with 20000 applications received in Sep 2022 alone. Expected to generate RM 4.8b (US$1.02b) by 2025 in Malaysia alone, the concept of digital nomads are seen to benefit both the expatriates, and the local economies. With similar programmes being rolled out in Indonesia and Thailand, it is clear that digital nomads are here to stay.
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