On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane
Recommended by: Donna Murphy
Posted in: Working Class Experiences
Purchase →Laid-off journalist Guendelsberger works low-end jobs at an Amazon warehouse; Convergys–a call center; and McDonald’s. She talks about the ensuing physical and psychological stress of workers who are watched, timed, and treated as something less than human beings, all for a pittance of what white-collar workers earn. She starts out with the question: “What does being ‘in the weeds’ mean to you?” Your answer can identify you as a white or blue-collar worker.
This is an important, highly readable book about the work lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans–and a real eye-opener for me. Working low-wage jobs is far different than when I was young. People are now often managed by computer programs, and treated like robots. At her McDonald’s job, Guendelsberger says there was always a line of customers, no matter the time of day, since the number of employees was cut to the bare necessity for any time period. There was no downtime for workers to “lean,” to chat with each other and become friends. She still didn’t know her co-workers by the time she left.
At Convergys, they weren’t concerned about high turnover –of the 20 people who trained with the author, 9 were left 5 weeks later. Rather than improve working conditions, they just hired more people.
At the Amazon fulfillment center, they kept vending machines filled with Advil and other pain relievers, free with the swipe of a badge, because workers’ bodies were constantly in pain.
The author supplements the account of her personal experiences with interesting discussions of the history of employment management, research on the impact of NAFTA, interviews with other
low-wage employees and doctors, and more. I highly recommend this book.