The other day someone asked me what my office timings were. I replied that it was 24/7. She looked at me aghast and I couldn’t help laughing out loud. Really, I explained, my work could be done in a few hours in a day or could require me to work till midnight even on a Saturday. Because I work from home, I end up working longer than I would otherwise have done, I rued.
Yes, when I sit down to think about it, I realize that I have so much to do and in such little time. And after doing all what I do, I am not happy or satisfied with my output. I feel I can do much more but find it physically impossible. Not only impossible but also because I do not want to push myself to the brink of a health breakdown.
It will be very easy to do so, though. Because workplace or work-related illnesses are on the rise now and as the world grows more competitive with each passing day, each of us are trying to push ourselves more and more. In fact, the other day I was reading this news item on one of the sites that a report submitted by a private company after a survey in the UK said that “an ageing workforce and higher rates of illness and disease among employees will pose a serious threat to British business by 2030”. This report warned that rates of mental and physical diseases are on the rise among office workers which could ultimately harm all companies’ long-term productivity.
In the study, which was conducted by a private healthcare company, Bupa, it was estimated that heart problems, diabetes, asthma, musculoskeletal disease and mental illness would rise among workers by a substantial percentage unless some drastic measures were undertaken by the companies to keep their workers healthy.
One of the reasons for this ill health, says the report, is the increasing age of the workforce. It adds that by the year 2050, the average age of the workforce will be 43 and average age of retirement will be 68.
Now, these figures are definitely alarming and call for serious introspection by employers. Workers health would of course be most important for good economic prosperity - not only for the company but also the country. So, alarm bells should now be ringing.
Boss, can you hear it?!