The 150 Year Rise and Fall of The Office Job

The future of work is about to change. At least, for some people. Over the last few decades, the 9-to-5 has been ridiculed for its dehumanising aspects thanks to the iconography of cubicles, employee of the month portraits and office life. [1] The image is now better nowadays, even with open plan offices and free Foosball tables! That’s why for some, the 40-hour work week is a false reality, manufactured by exploitative industries who base their reasoning on a society which no longer exists. For others, it’s a sign of stability and prosperity which we should be thankful for now that technology has become a great equaliser. But whether you think the gig economy [2] will usher in financial utopia or economic catastrophe, there’s one thing we can agree on: the 9-to-5 is a culmination of humankind’s fusion with politics, economics and labour. If you don’t know where it came from, you won’t know where the labour market is going.