Engineering Life Work Integration

2 thoughts on “Engineering Life Work Integration”

  1. HI Luis
    The David Attenborough clip always brings a huge smile to my face – and how right you are to say that getting the life work integration/balance (whatever you like to call it) right is really what matters. But is it really that simple “just ask”?
    Having read the article on “unlimited vacation days” that you linked to and the comments below that article about the reality of unlimited days off (i.e you have to reach your quota of 2000 hours per year first – or else….) paints an interesting but quite different picture. In times of austerity and economic difficulties this is further compounded by the need of commercial organisations to rise out of the mire (if they were stuck in it!) or just stay above it!
    From what I understand we are lucky in the Uk in that annual holiday allowances are generally very generous compared to the US (4-5 weeks/annum as opposed to 2) and these weeks off were fought for in past decades by workers you did “ask” and strove to achieve for the benefit of others both then and for future generations. Those entitlements are now steeped in employment legislation as a minimum guide.
    Most corporate organisations still use those same allowances and hours work per week. What has changed is the mind set of the knowledge workers and the view that working as many hours as you can to the sacrifice of all else is better for them and better for their employers – which as you rightly point out is not good for anyone!
    So assuming we do not need to ask for those weeks off we are already entitled to – what needs to be asked for increasingly is “flexibility” on “where” and “how” one can work best and “how can one get more time off if needed at any given time”? A good employer should be able to meet all those needs and no-one (as you say) should ever be afraid to ask!

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