Shaping Labor Landscape: Working Hours, Policy Evolution, and Technological Advancement from the Industrial Age to the Digital Era

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-459-4_52How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Working Hours; Labor Law and Policy; Technology Advancement; Digital Age; Industrial Age

Abstract

This paper examines the intricate interplay of technology, social policy, and working hours in Western society, spanning a historical trajectory from the industrial age to the digital age. The evolution of working hours is shaped by a confluence of technological advancements and legislative and political interventions of laws and policies. In the digital era, there has been a significant improvement in work efficiency, accompanied by the widespread adoption of remote and flexible work arrangements. However, the development of digital technology has also introduced challenges, particularly in delineating the boundaries between professional commitments and leisure time. The objectives of this study are to retrospectively examine the impact of technology and policies on working hours during the industrial age, predict the future influence of technology on the future of work, and propose strategies for policy adaptation to address the challenges brought by flexible working hours in the digital age. The research findings suggest a substantial enhancement in future work efficiency; however, a proportional reduction in working hours may not be inevitable. Achieving the goal of enhancing public welfare requires a coordinated approach to address challenges stemming from problematic labor practices and social structures that impact workers, particularly in terms of their psychological process of reference generation and adjustment. As such, forthcoming technological advancements are anticipated to significantly boost work efficiency, but the length of working hours may not necessarily decrease. To enhance the well-being of the population, it is essential to improve necessary labor standards and consider the psychological wellbeing of workers. This paper offers insights into the dynamic relationship between technology, policy, and working hours, providing a foundation for anticipating and addressing the challenges posed by the evolving nature of work in the digital era.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Ningxuan Zhang
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/07/23
TI  - Shaping Labor Landscape: Working Hours, Policy Evolution, and Technological Advancement from the Industrial Age to the Digital Era
BT  - Proceedings of the 2024 9th International Conference on Social Sciences and Economic Development (ICSSED 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 432
EP  - 441
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-459-4_52
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-459-4_52
ID  - Zhang2024
ER  -