The new generation of workaholics

Yesterday I read again an article about the ‚workaholism‘ in Romania – according to Eurostat statistics, Romania is under the top 3 when it comes to the sum of annual working hours. I must not say that the situation is not really directly proportional to the economic situation or income of the active working population. But this is something we already know – more means not better.

Still, the new generation of workaholics is constantly increasing, as statistics show. When I still worked in Romania, I kinda felt bad when leaving the office after ‘only’ 8 hours of work…working long overtime and feeling exhausted has become some kind of national ‘pride’ among young people. It is normal not to have a good relationship, or a relationship at all, not to have time to go to the gym, to eat in front of the computer, not to have any real hobbies, not to spend time with your friends and drink your brains out on weekends because…remember, you don’t have any other hobby.

This should not be our reality and thinking that you can’t change anything about it is false! People should not work longer than 8 hours a day, and definitely not spend more than 10 hours a day in the office. It is not normal to do overtime just because you can’t step up to your manager and say that the workload is too high for the existing headcount. There is always a solution…but why bother looking for one, when you still have enough workaholics around that do the job just fine? Why hire 8, when you can make your 4 employees work on weekends and give up their holidays? If only we would not be so afraid of….of what, actually? If everybody would change their attitude towards life, and acknowledge that there actually is a life after work, then the employer – employee relationship could shift. The working environment is always shaped by the two parties, not only by the multinational employer who does not care at all about who you are or what you do.

Why has it become normal to sacrifice your best years for company X? In order to prove what? Of course, it is difficult to stand up and leave the office at a reasonable hour, while the rest of your colleagues is getting ready to sleep in the office. Of course that it will shed a bad light on you, regardless of the fact that you have done your job great. This is a collective problem, it needs rethinking from the grounds and a change can only be done if everyone changes attitude.

Our parents already gave up a big part of their personal lives, to work for the communist ‘collective wellbeing’, there is no need to keep up this tradition. I have found a working environment where people are happy, relaxed, work normal hours, have really cool hobbies and can take their vacation days yearly – and guess what, the company still works. They still make profit, they still have a sustainable growth strategy and no, there are no sweatshops in 3^rd world countries. Reality has shown that it is possible to work and live at the same time.

I hope I will see the same in Romania in the near future…I hope people will not sell their abilities, skills, time and best years for 500 – 600 EUR a month anymore! Every single one of us can change the market, we are not a low-skill country and therefore should we not be a low-wage one either!