Why we have a 9 to 5 work culture, and why it endures to this day.

Welcome to another edition of The Company Man! Today we're all about the history of the 40 hour work-week.

Aaah, the drudgery of the 9 to 5! Modern day slavery with people chained to desks, doing uninspiring work in large windowless offices in this hamster-wheel of a life.

How often have you heard this narrative?

I loved Office Space by the way, like many other portrayals of corporate life I’ve enjoyed on-screen (perhaps a topic for a future article).

However I do think this idea of office work sucking the life and happiness out of people is as exaggerated as it is widespread. At the center of it is the regimented ‘9 to 5’, 40-hour work week that has been the norm for nearly a 100 years. In this issue The Company Man explores how this came to be, and why despite the shake-up currently underway in how we work, the 9 to 5 culture will live on.

It was the 1920s - the assembly line had been around for a decade and the mass producing factory of the 20th century had well and truly arrived. Unfortunately for the men working the floors the hours were long and hard, with no strictly enforced regulations about working conditions. 10-16 hours shifts were the norm as factories ran all the time following the principles of efficiency and scientific management popularized at the time by Frederick Taylor.

Then, one day in September 1926, along came Henry Ford and announced a 40-hour week for the workers at the Ford Motor Company, with no change to their pay and benefits. A ground breaking decision at the time, it improved morale and productivity and introduced for the first time the concept of workers deserving leisure. In1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed in the US and further cemented ‘9 to 5’ as the default way to work.

Now I have been a big proponent of flexibility in the work place, and for the first time in corporate circles, thanks to the pandemic, working from home is no longer accompanied by air quotes. That said, all of the flexibility is still within the norms of the established work week and will remain so. Here's why:

Universality: there is a reason it is sensible to have alignment, to the extent possible, on how we measure time, distance and temperature, among other things. Not doing so would make life chaotic. It is the same for working hours - the 40-hour week is well established and the reason you can call into most offices at 11am on a Wednesday knowing they will be open and available.

Availability: The 9 to 5 schedule provides a sense of predictability for both employers and employees. Employers know that their employees will be available and reachable for meetings and consultations during these hours, and employees know that they do not require to be 'switched on' 24/7.

Structure: The 9 to 5 schedule provides structure and can help to establish a routine. This allows for a good balance between work and personal life, and can be particularly beneficial for those who have other responsibilities outside of work, such as caring for children or elderly family members.

Now I am aware that this is all quite controversial - people have been predicting the demise of this way of working for quite some time now. If you're one of them, I'd love to hear from you. You can reply to this email to reach me directly.

Thank you for reading and have a great week ahead!

Yours curiously
Anupam

​

​Unsubscribe · Preferences​

​