Modern working practices strain family relationships, particularly women’s

A new piece of research has discovered something that many busy mums and dads are already all too well aware of.

Modern “human resource management practices” — or in other words, how employees are expected to work, what monitoring systems are in place, and how they perceive their jobs — are placing a significant strain on family relationships. And it’s particularly bad for women.

The strain on relationships has been measured as equivalent to working an extra 120 hours a year. That’s over two hours extra per week.

Employers are finding new ways of attempting to increase productivity, such as team-based forms of work, performance-related pay, individual development, and automated surveillance of how much employees work.

Strain is particularly high in more administrative roles, where monitoring is the standard, such as in call centres.

Both men and women may become anxious about childcare arrangements when they’re under pressure at work, but women are less likely to get help at home from a male partner if the men are under work pressure.

“Computers and IT systems are bringing surveillance to most workplaces. Now for the first time we can see how this development is damaging employees’ well-being,” said Michael White, who co-directed the research study.

(Via NewKerala.Com)