On the Clock

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The bitingly funny, eye opening story of a college educated young professional who finds work in the automated and time starved world of hourly laborAfter the local newspaper where she worked as a reporter closed, Emily Guendelsberger took a pre Christmas job at anfulfillment center outside Louisville, Kentucky There, the vending machines were stocked with painkillers, and the staff turnover was dizzying In the new year, she travelled to North Carolina to work at a call center, a place where even bathroom breaks were timed to the second And finally, Guendelsberger was hired at a San Francisco McDonald s, narrowly escaping revenge seeking customers who pelted her with condiments.Across three jobs, and in three different parts of the country, Guendelsberger directly took part in the revolution changing the U.S workplace ON THE CLOCK takes us behind the scenes of the fastest growing segment of the American workforce to understand the future of work in America and its present Until robots pack boxes, resolve billing issues, and make fast food, human beings supervised by AI will continue to get the job done Guendelsberger shows us how workers went from being the most expensive element of production to the cheapest and how low wage jobs have been remade to serve the ideals of efficiency, at the cost of humanity.ON THE CLOCK explores the lengths that half of Americans will go to in order to make a living, offering not only a better understanding of the modern workplace, but also surprising solutions to make workhumane for millions of Americans. Free Read eBook On the Clock By Emily Guendelsberger – kino-fada.fr As a former factory worker salaried 7.25 min wage 10 cent raises as top producer in two departments as a merchandise processor with a 25 one time bonus for associate of the month I know all too well about the American Dream falling to the waste side.For many years I ve been told work harder, success comes to those who work for it, nothing is handed to you.That ideal is what propelled me to keep working hard even after getting hit on the head with a 50lb metal trolley from second floor above As a former factory worker salaried 7.25 min wage 10 cent raises as top producer in two departments as a merchandise processor with a 25 one time bonus for associate of the month I know all too well about the American Dream falling to the waste side.For many years I ve been told work harder, success comes to those who work for it, nothing is handed to you.That ideal is what propelled me to keep working hard even after getting hit on the head with a 50lb metal trolley from second floor above and not being worth enough to the company to even call an ambulance.The companies today want the young, the inexperienced, the college educated who will work for peanuts and work like dogs not caring about benefits or other accolades.When I worked I produced the highest amount of merchandise per hour which was not an easy task We worked in deplorable conditions without fresh air or hell air conditioning We had to breath in the truck s diesel as they pulled up ...free review copy You ll want to sit down for this No really Go get a cup of coffee and settle in, because I have a LOT of thoughts To start with, here s my rating math for this one Subject matter 5My actual fondness for the writer 2Ability to hold my interest 5Academic content to back up assertions 4Word choice 1Math says my overall rating is 3.4 and I DO recommend this book.Subject matter Since I first read Nickel and Dimed WAY back when it first came out, and then later in a grad pr free review copy You ll want to sit down for this No really Go get a cup of coffee and settle in, because I have a LOT of thoughts To start with, here s my rating math for this one Subject matter 5My actual fondness for the writer 2Ability to hold my interest 5Academic content to back up assertions 4Word choice 1Math says my overall rating is 3.4 and I DO recommend this book.Subject matter Since I first read Nickel and Dimed WAY back when it first came out, and then later in a grad program, I have listed it as one of my favorite books I haven t read it since 2004, though, so I can t give actual evidence for why I respect Ehrenreich so muchthan Guendelsbe...An essential update to Nickel and Dimed, On The Clock turns the drudgery of work in 21st century America into a compelling and elucidating narrative that should be required reading for policy makers, business leaders and anyone else who hasn t held a low wage job in the past decade This book documents the daily realities of those jobs, examines the economic climate that fosters them, chronicles the creepy history of workplace productivity schemes and delves into the science of what these jobs d An essential update to Nickel and Dimed, On The Clock turns the drudgery of work in 21st century America into a compelling and elucidating narrative that should be required reading for policy makers, business leaders and anyone else who hasn t held a low wage job in the past decade This book documents the daily r...This is a very good book Look at me being a professional reviewer, lol My actual review goes up on Shelf Awareness right around pub date, but here are my informal thoughts On the Clock both infuriated and entertained me Guendelsberger is a journalist, which means she cites lots of sources and provides a long list of supplemental reading should you wish to do a deep dive BUT she s also funny as hell, having written for places like The Onion The resulting book is that rare non ficti0n tome t This is a very good book Look at me being a professional reviewer, lol My actual review goes up on Shelf Awareness right around pub date, but here are my informal thoughts On the Clock both infuriated and entertained me Guendelsberger is a journalist, which means she cites lots of sources and provides a long list of supplemental reading should you wish to do a deep dive BUT she s also funny as hell, having written for places like The Onion The resulting book is that rare non ficti0n tome that kept me up reading until I should have been in my second REM cycle.She worked three jobs for this book in anwarehouse, a Convergys call center, and a McDonald s Each is repetitive hell in its own way, with stres...A sobering look at three industries that use low skill workerswarehouses, McDonalds, and a call center for several national accounts All of these companies use contractors so that they don t have to provide any benefits All used sophisticated software models to control every minute that employees were in the building Being one minute late, or taking an extra minute in the bathroom, or talking to other employees was stealing from the business Turnover was extremely high but there al A sobering look at three industries that use low skill workerswarehouses, McDonalds, and a call center for several national accounts All of these companies use contractors so that they don t have to provide any benefits All used sophisticated software models to control every minute that employees were in the building Being one minute late, or taking an extra minute in the bathroom, or talking to other employees was stealing from the business Tur...I devoured this book Guendelsberger takes you inside anwarehouse, a call center, and a San Fransisco McDonald s and exposes the ways in which technology is making workers lives miserable The book is funny, heartbreaking and enli...This review is going to be long as I organize my thoughts Feel free to not read it but I think you should read this book This book tackles the invisible The working poor in this country that are often called lazy, stupid and unambitious while they work their a es of every day just to barely survive.What politicians refer to as flipping burgers has turned into a well oiled money making machine understaffing, timing their employees every action, and giving no real dignity to their workers This review is going to be long as I organize my thoughts Feel free to not read it but I think you should read this book This book tackles the invisible The working poor in this country that are often called lazy, stupid and unambitious while they work their a es of every day just to barely survive.What politicians refer to as flipping burgers has turned into a well oiled money making machine understaffing, timing their employees every action, and giving no real dignity to their workers.You often hear that low wage jobs are supposed to be temporary or for teenagers but that is not the reality The reality is that many adults with children live off of these ...On the Clock is a compelling, eye opening, and necessary read for all Americans Emily Guendelsberger gives us an up close look at what it means to work the daily grind of low wage work Businesses boast that productivity is at an all time high, but at what cost Apparently, the heart and soul of the country.Guendelsberger does such a great job taking us through the three jobs that she took as a journalist undercover , each for about a month or two anwarehouse, a customer call cente On the Clock is a compelling, eye opening, and necessary read for all Americans Emily Guendelsberger gives us an up close look at what it means to work the daily grind of low wage work Businesses boast that productivity is at an all time high, but at what cost Apparently, the heart and soul of the country.Guendelsberger does such a great job taking us through the three jobs that she took as a journalist undercover , each for about a month or two anwarehouse, a customer call center, and McDonald s At each job, she was micromanaged to the second, with each job warning her about time theft which is when workers might gasp take a few seconds to catch their breath The jobs were all high paced and stress inducing on purpose to make sure that the workers didn t have time to think, talk, or otherwise act like humans After all, if robots are so efficient, it pays for workers to try to emulate them, right This is the new work in America, where everything is timed and where managers as...On the Clock is must read, this book is equal parts funny and heartbreaking with an eye opening look at how efficiency in business impacts the mental health of regular people and the psychological and evolutionary perspective of what that means who are happy to just have their jobs.If you don t work in the service industry like McDonald s, a call center or anwarehouse like Guendelsberger did you know that their jobs are tough, but I didn t have a real appreciation for what it s like On the Clock is must read, this book is equal parts funny and heartbreaking with an eye opening look at how efficiency in business impacts the mental health of regular people and the psychological and evolutionary perspective of what that means who are happy to just have their jobs.If you don t work in the service industry like McDonald s, a call center or anwarehouse like Guendelsberger did you know that their jobs are tough, but I didn t have a real appreciation for what it s like a mile in their shoes and all that I ve worked difficult jobs, but it didn t follow me throu...I ve read many articles about howexploits its warehouse staff, and I know enough people who ve done call centre and food service work to understand it s a jungle, and not in a remotely fun way Even with that prior experience, nothing prepared me for Emily s vivid account of her time at , Convergys, and McDonald s I felt embarrassingly naive as she described the intrusive ways companies have found to survey and punish their lowest level workers, pitting them against each other and I ve read many articles about howexploits its warehouse staff, and I know enough people who ve done call centre and food service work to understand it s a jungle, and not in a remotely fun way Even with that prior experience, nothing prepared me for Emily s vivid account of her time at , Convergys, and McDonald s I felt embarrassingly naive as she described the intrusive ways companies have found to survey and punish their lowest level workers, pitting them against each other and ridding their jobs of what little joy they once offered.Working these sorts of jobs in warehouses, call centres, and restaurants has never been especially coveted, but a combination of overbearing technology and impossible performance targets has made these positions h...Full disclosure I received this book for free from Goodreads So, I ll have to come back finish the review In reading the reviews of others, however, I noted 2 things, First, people complaining about curse words in a book about stress desperation Are you fucking kidding me Secondly, people are complaining about a lack of references, when the book is only JUST out, even I read an ARC Where are these people supposedly getting completed books from that they can gripe a Full disclosure I received this book for free from Goodreads So, I ll have to come back finish the review In reading the reviews of others, however, I noted 2 things, First, people complaining about curse words in a book about stress desperation Are you fucking kidding me Secondly, people are complaining about a lack of references, when the book is only JUST out, even I read an ARC Where are these people supposedly getting completed books from that they can gripe about references so early out of the gate To that matter, I found the information presented to be thorough quite solid So these folks bitching then touting their degrees as if that makes your...Would recommend to people who like books like Nickel and Dimed, Educated, Maid, etc The author is a journalist who, after being laid off from her newspaper, went to work at , Convergys a call center that did tech support for ATT, among other huge companies , and McDonalds My mouth was a big O while reading even though I knew before that these companies treat their workers terribly, seeing these details really made it salienthas painkiller vending machines in their fulfil Would recommend to people who like books like Nickel and Dimed, Educated, Maid, etc The author is a journalist who, after being laid off from her newspaper, went to work at , Convergys a call center that did tech support for ATT, among other huge companies , and McDonalds My mouth was a big O while reading even though I knew before that these companies treat their workers terribly, seeing these details really made it salienthas painkiller vending machines in their fulfillment centers It also made me want to change my behavior in concrete ways for example always completing the survey when I get help from tech sup...On the Clock is a must read for anyone looking for an interesting, funny, fast paced but most of all SMART look into low wage work in the 21st century Guendelsberger deftly weaves in the latest scholarship on labor and capitalism with an outsider s look into the sometimes mind numbing, frequently painful and always non stop nature of modern capitalism in the U.S She has a keen eye for description and storytelling, and some many of her anecdotes spoiler alert , from the Advil dispensers at On the Clock is a must read for anyone looking for an interesting, funny, fast paced but most of all SMART look into low wage work in the 21st century Guendelsberger deftly weaves in the latest scholarship on labor and capitalism with an outsider s look into the sometimes mind numbing, frequently painful and always non stop nature of modern capitalism in the U.S She has a keen eye for description and storytelling, and some many of her anecdotes spoiler alert , from the Advil dis...A book that should make you angry that the unrelenting desire for higher profits leads to treating labor as disposable Guendelsberger s firsthand accounts of just a few mechanized jobs shines a light on to something everyo...Listen up Next time you need to talk to a customer rep to dispute a billing charge, inquire about a change in service, or just complain about a lack of good service, chances are you are chatting with someone in a call center who is not at all associated with the company you are doing business with One of the important lessons I learned from this book is to never ever get mad at a customer rep again unless they are rude OK, so now that s off my chest, here is what I thought about this book I Listen up Next time you need to talk to a customer rep to dispute a billing charge, inquire about a change in service, or just complain about a lack of good service, chances are you are chatting with someone in a call center who is not at all associated with the company you are doing business with One of the important lessons I learned from this book is to never ever get mad at a customer rep again unless they are rude OK, so now that s off my chest, here is what I thought about this book I was captivated Ever since Barbara Ehrenreich s Nic...

On the Clock
  • 17 February 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 352 pages
  • 0316509000
  • Emily Guendelsberger
  • On the Clock