Transcripts

Commentary: Work's Changing Role

SUSIE GHARIB: Tonight`s commentator looks at the changing nature of work. Here`s Dan Henninger, deputy editor of the editorial page of the "Wall Street Journal."

DANIEL HENNINGER, DEPUTY EDITOR, WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL PAGE: Politics aside, there is one thing most of us have in common these days. Actually it`s what we don`t have: time. Nearly everyone says they`re pressed for time. Now best-selling books teach the art of self- organization. So where`d the time go? Some say, and I`m one of them, that email is to blame or watching TV or time spent downloading music to iPods.

But there is one explanation we can measure: work. That`s right, time on the job. Economists have found that over about the past 25 years, the percentage of college-educated men who work more than 50 hours a week rose to nearly 31 percent from 22 percent and surely that`s still rising. What`s amazing is that the trend for most of the 20th century was to reduce the workweek. So what happened?

Economists Peter Kuhn and Fernando Lozano argue in a new paper that incentives now induce these long hours. They say it`s bonuses, promotions, networking opportunities in a mobile workforce. I`d add one more: work today is more fun. It`s challenging. Under pressure from a globalized economy, people are being asked to step up to the plate and use their brains to devise new ways to compete and prevail. Yes, a balance has to be struck, but most parents hope their children will grow into a challenging job. Well, that is happening now and it`s good news. Now if someone can just solve my email problem. I`m Dan Henninger.