4 ms·

Why don’t employers take seriously that for knowledge workers, brain health is brain performance? It’s like we never moved on from manual labor and factories wi

by robg 4y ago

Why don’t employers take seriously that for knowledge workers, brain health is brain performance? It’s like we never moved on from manual labor and factories with long grueling days. Professional athletes know they can’t train or perform for more than a few hours a day. Employers don’t recognize that learning, memory, and attention are finite biological resources.

amw 4y ago
Because chasing those quarterly returns will always trend toward taking money out of the comfort of the workers. Certain individual companies at certain individual times might get a temporary advantage by actually investing in themselves, but eventually they will all either start financializing that away for share buybacks, or get bought out by the company that did.
tvanantwerp 4y ago
Learning, memory, and attention are finite biological resources on the individual level. As long as there's a fresh crop of college grads each year, companies can afford to burn out a few older people.
dilyevsky 4y ago
Not sure if that athlete comparison works here - it’s substantially more than you think especially in big leagues and they basically work around the clock bc when they’re not training they are actively recovering so it’s like being oncall the entire season.
- cmh89 4y ago
  But that's OP's point. Athletes understand recovery is crucial and limit the work they do to make sure they have time for recovery.
  - dilyevsky 4y ago
    Note the word “active” - it’s actually just more training, not spending time with your kids or whatever we think of rest
- LeifCarrotson 4y ago
  That's exactly the point! Pro athletes are maintaining their physical health just like knowledge workers; it's not like they can step onto the field to work our or compete, and it's not like they can just sit at any keyboard, and achieve optimal performance immediately. Resting well, eating good foods, stress management, and other factors that happen away from the actual event are critical for both athletes and employees!
GoToRO 4y ago
We are living the equivalent period of manual labor, for knowledge workers. Then it was "I pay you to sit 8 hours with your hands above your head, what is the problem?" Now it is "We will make sure that you are stressed and have no time to regroup, we pay you, what is the problem?"
unity1001 4y ago
> It’s like we never moved on from manual labor and factories with long grueling days The corporate culture didnt. The existing corporate culture descends from mid 20th century corporate culture, that descends from late 19th century Victorian corporate culture, and that in turn descends from the late medieval feudal culture in which the commoners had to be 'hardworking & honest folk' who would come dutifully to the farm field every morning, work hard for the sake of their feudal lord, and be honest enough not to steal from him. Hence, butts in seats and the expectation that you should devote your life to a company owned by your contemporary feudal lord without you having any shares or say in it...

by robg 4y ago

amw 4y ago

Because chasing those quarterly returns will always trend toward taking money out of the comfort of the workers. Certain individual companies at certain individual times might get a temporary advantage by actually investing in themselves, but eventually they will all either start financializing that away for share buybacks, or get bought out by the company that did.

tvanantwerp 4y ago

Learning, memory, and attention are finite biological resources on the individual level. As long as there's a fresh crop of college grads each year, companies can afford to burn out a few older people.

dilyevsky 4y ago

Not sure if that athlete comparison works here - it’s substantially more than you think especially in big leagues and they basically work around the clock bc when they’re not training they are actively recovering so it’s like being oncall the entire season.

cmh89 4y ago
But that's OP's point. Athletes understand recovery is crucial and limit the work they do to make sure they have time for recovery.
- dilyevsky 4y ago
  Note the word “active” - it’s actually just more training, not spending time with your kids or whatever we think of rest
LeifCarrotson 4y ago
That's exactly the point! Pro athletes are maintaining their physical health just like knowledge workers; it's not like they can step onto the field to work our or compete, and it's not like they can just sit at any keyboard, and achieve optimal performance immediately. Resting well, eating good foods, stress management, and other factors that happen away from the actual event are critical for both athletes and employees!

GoToRO 4y ago

We are living the equivalent period of manual labor, for knowledge workers. Then it was "I pay you to sit 8 hours with your hands above your head, what is the problem?" Now it is "We will make sure that you are stressed and have no time to regroup, we pay you, what is the problem?"

unity1001 4y ago

> It’s like we never moved on from manual labor and factories with long grueling days The corporate culture didnt. The existing corporate culture descends from mid 20th century corporate culture, that descends from late 19th century Victorian corporate culture, and that in turn descends from the late medieval feudal culture in which the commoners had to be 'hardworking & honest folk' who would come dutifully to the farm field every morning, work hard for the sake of their feudal lord, and be honest enough not to steal from him. Hence, butts in seats and the expectation that you should devote your life to a company owned by your contemporary feudal lord without you having any shares or say in it...