The Depression era
The Depression era
The Depression placed great emphasis on work when it was so scarce that to not work literally meant to starve. Families were separated as men went looking for work wherever it could be found, whatever it was, no matter how menial. Life expectancy in the 1930s was also not as long as the current (2008) expectancies, so the option for a family to "move back in with parents" wasn't worthwhile, as parents either weren't alive, or didn't have the investment environment to have had a "nest egg" to depend on.
[edit]World War 2
World War 2 dramatically flipped the supply and demand of both work and labour. Manufacturing of war supplies created plenty of work, but the absence of men due to recruitment opened the floodgates for labour demand that would be met by women and those who could not enlist and fight.
[edit]Post World War 2
In the post-World War 2 period, the workplace had changed as women who had reported for work during the war to replace the men who had gone overseas to fight remained in the workplace to a significant extent. While the demand for manufacturing wasn't as high once the war ended, the new optimism and new social phenomena including urban sprawl created new demands for supply that would create new jobs in road-building, real estate development, etc. Work remained high in social value.
[edit]Babyboom competition
As the baby boomers left school and started working in the 1970s, the oil crisis and economic lag slowed their engagement in consumerism. As the 1980s dawned, the largest generation were now in their peak employment years, peaking in terms of income, and were now fully engaged in buying, whether homes, or vehicles, or investments for the future.
The sheer number of people in the workforce during this period created heightened competition for work, so that corporations who supplied jobs could be increasingly selective and demanding, and workers would do more and more to keep the job they had. As such, commitment to work became sacrificial, as having a good job and the social status it provided became all-consuming for many. This was the era marked most significantly by the standard introduction of "so, what do you do?"
[edit]Baby bust and echo
The baby bust generation, or Generation X, is the smallest of the last 50 years. As baby boomers retire, there is not as much supply of workers to replace them, so corporations have had to become more accommodating in order to attract the best from this cohort, who have enjoyed less competition and more flexibility than previous generations. Terms like "work life balance", "telecommuting and work from home" and flexible benefits packages have developed in part to offer more attractive options for a generation that has more choice[citation needed].
The Depression placed great emphasis on work when it was so scarce that to not work literally meant to starve. Families were separated as men went looking for work wherever it could be found, whatever it was, no matter how menial. Life expectancy in the 1930s was also not as long as the current (2008) expectancies, so the option for a family to "move back in with parents" wasn't worthwhile, as parents either weren't alive, or didn't have the investment environment to have had a "nest egg" to depend on.
[edit]World War 2
World War 2 dramatically flipped the supply and demand of both work and labour. Manufacturing of war supplies created plenty of work, but the absence of men due to recruitment opened the floodgates for labour demand that would be met by women and those who could not enlist and fight.
[edit]Post World War 2
In the post-World War 2 period, the workplace had changed as women who had reported for work during the war to replace the men who had gone overseas to fight remained in the workplace to a significant extent. While the demand for manufacturing wasn't as high once the war ended, the new optimism and new social phenomena including urban sprawl created new demands for supply that would create new jobs in road-building, real estate development, etc. Work remained high in social value.
[edit]Babyboom competition
As the baby boomers left school and started working in the 1970s, the oil crisis and economic lag slowed their engagement in consumerism. As the 1980s dawned, the largest generation were now in their peak employment years, peaking in terms of income, and were now fully engaged in buying, whether homes, or vehicles, or investments for the future.
The sheer number of people in the workforce during this period created heightened competition for work, so that corporations who supplied jobs could be increasingly selective and demanding, and workers would do more and more to keep the job they had. As such, commitment to work became sacrificial, as having a good job and the social status it provided became all-consuming for many. This was the era marked most significantly by the standard introduction of "so, what do you do?"
[edit]Baby bust and echo
The baby bust generation, or Generation X, is the smallest of the last 50 years. As baby boomers retire, there is not as much supply of workers to replace them, so corporations have had to become more accommodating in order to attract the best from this cohort, who have enjoyed less competition and more flexibility than previous generations. Terms like "work life balance", "telecommuting and work from home" and flexible benefits packages have developed in part to offer more attractive options for a generation that has more choice[citation needed].
