A holiday weekend is upon us with the celebration of Labor Day on Monday, September 6. Today, many people think of Labor Day as a national holiday that marks the unofficial end of summer, rather than thinking about the underlying history that resulted in its origins.
Labor Day came about in the late nineteenth century to honor workers and their achievements at a time when people were working mandatory 12-hour days, 7 days a week.
Funny how today we don’t think twice about working 24/7. When you look at it analytically, people “voluntarily” work 24/7 in today’s work environment, with some carrying it as a workaholic badge of honor.
In the nineteenth century, however, people were forced to work these hours under terrible conditions, with no benefits, and limited choices for better working environments.
Obviously, working through the pandemic has changed how we view work, and the future of work has many unknowns. McKinsey has compiled an extensive report on The Future of Work After COVID-19 that is well worth a look.
This report offers an analysis based on the physical dimension of work. Three trends emerged from this study: (1) the continuation of hybrid remote work, (2) the continued growth of e-commerce and the “delivery economy”, and (3) companies’ use of automation and AI to manage disruptions.
Consider the content of this report with an open mind to how their observations may have an impact on your company. The Labor Day of the future is likely to be reimagined based on the extensive number of changes happening so rapidly as a result of the disruption from the pandemic.
In the meantime, enjoy the holiday weekend and appreciate the fact that you don’t have to work 24/7 based on crummy working conditions. Celebrate your time off so you can come back next week ready to hit the ground running.
Header image by Ono Kosuki of Pixels.
