Perhaps the time pressure we associate with ICTs, then, has as much to do with changes in the quality of working time, that is, an increase in the tempo or intensity of work, requiring us to work harder or faster. There are lots of ways we could think about this aspect of time pressure. The most interesting angle, in my view, is to explore three related aspects of work intensification: the pace of work, interruptions, and multitasking.
ICTs and the Pace of Work: Too Much Too Quickly?
Few American researchers have explored the impact of digital technology on work pacing.17 However, for many years the British economist Francis Green has argued that the difusion of ICTs is correlated with an increase in work efort, that is, a rise in “the proportion of efective labor performed for each hour of work.”18
This is evident in the finding of a British employment survey that the number of workers who report “frequently working at very high speeds or to tight deadlines” has risen to record highs.19 This is especially the case in workplaces where ICTs have recently been introduced. The report notes that the drivers of this intensification of work efort include management’s ability to monitor the flow of work, employees’ engagement with the new technology, and the heightened competitiveness brought on by the severity of the recession. While it is dificult to separate out the interconnected causes of rising efort levels, it is clear that ICTs increase management’s ability to track workflows and improve coordination and monitoring of employees’ performance, especially when staf are away from the ofice. Using ICTs, documents can be sent and received on the move while the flow of work is observed and maintained. Therefore, schedules can be altered at short notice, improving the microcoordination of tasks. Such flexibility encourages discretion, allowing an identification with project tasks rather than conformity with regulations, resulting in greater employee engagement. Green thus believes that the intensification of work is the result of managerial practices facilitated by technology and is not some pure efect of the devices themselves.20
Chapter fOur
94