A pilot study of the experience of modern working life

Productivity increase or unsustainable intensification of work?

seminar presented by Professor Michael Bittman, Adjunct Research Fellow, UNE

11th September 2014

Following a request to be studied, I have devised a ‘random time sampling’ study to measure how academics use their time and in particular how they use their employment related time.

This talk will present preliminary findings from this study, revealing how many hours academics devote to their jobs, what days of the week and what times a day they do their jobs, as well as the extent to which they feel under time pressure, have manageable job demands and feel secure in their jobs. I believe this study has wider implications because of the spread of occupational settings employees are managed by targeted outcomes (performance indicators) but are given apparent autonomy over how these targets are met.

Michael Bittman, is a former Professorial Fellow in Sociology at UNE. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and an internationally recognised expert on time use data. He has published on the sexual division of labour, intrahousehold bargaining, work-family balance, ICTs, children’s activities, and the reliability and validity of time diaries.