Experts throughout both the developing and developed worlds have debated the economic successfulness of countries with long working periods in average. Some believe prolonged commitment to work is regarded the norm of wealthy economies, personally I strongly disagree.
There is ample evidence that economic prosperity of any nation can be tumbled if their citizens well being is compromised due to long and stressful workdays. The central reason behind this is twofold, firstly if people sacrifice their health by working longer hours, they will eventually become a financial burden to the health care system. Secondly, the productivity of workers gets affected, which is directly proportional to the overall development of a country. For example, recent empirical research by the UK Government demonstrated that 65% of high-earning individuals who worked more than 60 hours per week showed symptoms of burnout and had to finish their professional career within 15 years because of health issues. Therefore, it is conclusively clear that promoting an all-consuming career can be detrimental to individuals and the progress of domestic economic situation
Although there is a case of additional income from working long hours benefiting financial situation, the impact of this loss of time for personal or family needs cannot be overstated. This is largely because people may struggle to take their time off for raising children. Because of long work hours, some employees will not find time for a relationship or family at all and remain single, which can for example be observed in Japan. Consistent with this line of thinking is that birth rates are likely to fall, as well as the economic potential of the workforce in the future. Thus, it is possible to state beyond doubt that low birth rate might leave a society with an aging population and result in high immaterial and material cost to the country.
From the arguments and examples given I firmly believe that the negative effects of long work hours are a burden to economy whereas advantages exists only short-term.
Experts throughout both the developing and developed worlds have debated the
economic
successfulness of countries with
long
working periods in average.
Some
believe prolonged commitment to work
is regarded
the norm of wealthy economies,
personally
I
strongly
disagree.
There is ample evidence that
economic
prosperity of any nation can
be tumbled
if their citizens
well being
is compromised
due to
long
and stressful workdays. The central reason behind this is twofold,
firstly
if
people
sacrifice their health by working longer
hours
, they will
eventually
become a financial burden to the health care system.
Secondly
, the productivity of workers
gets
affected
, which is
directly
proportional to the
overall
development of a country.
For example
, recent empirical research by the UK
Government
demonstrated that 65% of high-earning individuals who worked more than 60
hours
per week
showed
symptoms of burnout and had to finish their professional career within 15 years
because
of health issues.
Therefore
, it is
conclusively
clear
that promoting an all-consuming career can be detrimental to individuals and the progress of domestic
economic
situation
Although there is a case of additional income from working
long
hours
benefiting financial situation, the impact of this loss of time for personal or family needs cannot
be overstated
. This is
largely
because
people
may struggle to take their time off for raising children.
Because
of
long
work
hours
,
some
employees will not find time for a relationship or family at all and remain single, which can
for example
be observed
in Japan. Consistent with this line of thinking is that birth rates are likely to fall,
as well
as the
economic
potential of the workforce in the future.
Thus
, it is possible to state beyond doubt that low birth rate might
leave
a society with an aging population and result in high immaterial and material cost to the country.
From the arguments and examples
given
I
firmly
believe that the
negative
effects of
long
work
hours
are a burden to economy whereas advantages exists
only
short-term.