Volume VIII Part 2 July 25, 2014 21 Business Advisor

Decent work

In June 1999, the primary goal of the International Labour

Organisation (ILO) was articulated as the promotion of

opportunities for women and men to obtain decent and

productive work, in conditions of freedom, equity, security,

and human dignity. Tracing thus, Decent Work: Insights

from India’s IT industry by Nausheen Nizami, and Narayan

Prasad (Sage), notes that being employed is not enough; it

is important that the conditions of work, nature of work

and the work environment are decent and conducive

enough for the employee to work peacefully. One learns that „decent‟ is a

multidimensional concept, bridging the gap between philosophy of labour

economics and human development. When used in terms of work or

workplace, it connotes the meaning on humane grounds, the authors

explain. “Labour laws are not sufficient to guarantee the existence of fair

labour practices because of the various loopholes it provides to the

employers. However, when an assessment is done on the decency of any

phenomena, it bridges the gap between two things – actual and

recommended.”

Taking up indicators of decent work such as adequate earnings and

productive work, stability and security of work, decent hours, safe work,

work-life balance, fair treatment at employment, social security, and social

dialogue, the authors find that the sample they studied shows good

performance in the first indicator, viz. adequate earnings and productive

work. Companies that provide general training along with project-specific

training account for a decent workplace, the authors argue. “General

training enables a worker to develop skills that are of use not only for the

current job but also for alternative jobs. It was found that project-specific

training and general training for updating knowledge were imparted to a

majority of IT employees (80-90 per cent) by their companies.”

Contrary to the general perception of the IT industry‟s remunerative

employment and high per annum salary packages, one in five employees

stated „better salary‟ as the primary reason for job change, the authors

report. “The finding is in consonance with the features of search and

matching theory of employment which stipulates that workers seek jobs

with salaries higher than or equal to their minimum acceptance wage level.

This is also a part of the current phenomenon of on-the-job search. Also,

the minimum acceptance wage of an IT employee increases with work

experience and acquired skills.”

Volume VIII Part 2 July 25, 2014 22 Business Advisor

To assess stability and security of work, the question posed to the

respondents was about their confidence in holding the current job for a

year, and the result was that 23 per cent found their work relatively less

secure and stable. Stability of current employment is of primary concern for

all employees because it is the most important source for their economic

well-being, the authors note. “Fear of job loss or displacement disrupts the

financial planning of a family and is also responsible for psychological stress

and reduced productivity of a worker. It also retards the process of human

capital accumulation which is acquired through work experience and

technical skills learnt during a stable job.” What about working hours as a

measure of decent work? Alas, longer working hours is a usual phenomenon

for a majority of IT employees, the book informs. “Its consequence was

directly reflected in the imbalance between their professional and family life.

An employee‟s extraneous work effort such as longer working hours is an

indirect way of stabilising and securing the current job.” The authors are

startled that 80 per cent of the employees in the sample work for more than

8 hours; and that 72 per cent of the respondents worked on weekends and

holidays. “It was found that while 49 per cent of the employees reported self-

interest as the reason for „over-work,‟ only 2 per cent reported it for gaining

extra income, and 48 per cent of the employees over-worked due to work

pressures.”

Disturbingly, the industry suffers from unsafe work in the guise of safe

workplace, because of the impact on the employees‟ health. The nature of

work in the IT industry along with longer working hours are the prominent

factors leading to deteriorating health status of workers from a relatively

younger age group in the IT industry, the authors rue. “The study found

that 41 per cent of the sample respondents suffered from eye strain/ weak

eyesight and 24 per cent from frequent backaches. A significant number

also suffered from depression and insomnia owing to work pressures as well

as disturbance in the work-life balance.” The typical office hours of an IT

female employee are long enough to leave less time for family members, the

study finds. “Time for social life and that devoted to oneself go a long way in

ensuring peace of mind which was found to be negligible in case of IT

employees. Employees were found to be depressed and dissatisfied due to

lack of time spent with family and friends.”

Foremost policy suggestion in the book is to provide education and training,

because of the central importance of human capital in the emerging global

economy. The authors also recommend flexi-work culture and restriction of

working hours to 8-9 hours daily.

A study of critical value.

Volume VIII Part 2 July 25, 2014 23 Business Advisor

Zero in

When Cyclops Polyphemus asked the Homeric hero

Odysseus what his name was, the reply was „Nobody,‟ and

the name would reappear a few more times in the epic,

such as when Polyphemus cries from inside the cave,

'Friends, Nobody is murdering me by craft,‟ much to the

advantage of Odysseus. Well, if someone were to ask you

what you are reading, you may profitably say, Nothing,

because the book, edited by Jeremy Webb (Hachette), takes

you on a tour from absolute zero to cosmic oblivion, giving

you „amazing insights into nothingness.‟ Nothing can be difficult to attain,

says Webb. “We haven‟t reached absolute zero and most likely never will.

Nothings can also be messy: what is described as the vacuum of space

turns out to be not one, but many. And nothings can be powerful: sick

people can get better after talking with a doctor even though nothing

material passes between them.”

The opening chapter takes us back by 13.82 billion years, when the

universe we inhabit erupted, literally, out of nothing. “It exploded in a

titanic fireball called the big bang. Everything – all matter, energy, even

space and time – came into being at that instant,” writes Marcus Chown.

“As the fireball expanded, it cooled, and more and more structure began to

„freeze out.‟ Step by step, the fundamental particles we know today, the

building blocks of all ordinary matter, acquired their present identities. The

particles condensed into atoms and galaxies began to grow, then fragment

into stars such as our sun. About 4.55 billion years ago, Earth formed. The

rest, as they say, is history.”

Delving into the secret life of the brain is the essay by Douglas Fox, where

one reads about how the amazing organ that accounts for only 2 per cent of

our body mass devours 20 per cent of the calories we eat and drink,

frittering away much of that energy idling. Researchers have stumbled upon

an organ within an organ, a major system within the brain, supposedly the

„neural dynamo of daydreaming,‟ possibly „selecting memories and knitting

them seamlessly into a personal narrative‟! “Daydreaming may sound like a

mental luxury, but is purpose is deadly serious: Randy Buckner and his

Harvard colleague Daniel Gilbert see it as the ultimate tool for incorporating

lessons learned in the past into our plans for the future. So important is

this exercise, it seems, that the brain engages in it whenever possible,

breaking off only when it has to divert its limited supply of blood, oxygen

and glucose to a more urgent task.” Zero, which is often taken for granted,

Volume VIII Part 2 July 25, 2014 24 Business Advisor

was once banned, informs the essay by Richard Webb. “There is evidence of

counting that stretches back five millennia in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and

Persia. Yet even by the most generous definition, a mathematical conception

of nothing – a zero – has existed for less than half that time.” He traces to

Brahmagupta of India who first treated numbers as purely abstract

quantities separate from any physical or geometrical reality. “The result was

a continuous number line stretching as far as you could see in both

directions, showing both positive and negative numbers. Sitting in the

middle of this line, a distinct point along it as the threshold between the

positive and negative worlds, was sunya, the nothingness. Indian

mathematicians had dared to look into the void – and a new number had

emerged.”

The last of the essays in the „Beginnings‟ sections is by Jo Marchant, titled

„Heal thyself,‟ on the six alternatives to pills and potions. First, leverage the

placebo effect, and believe that a treatment will work, and visualise the

desired improvement. Second, think positive. What researchers are realising

is that positive beliefs do not just work by quelling stress; they have a

positive effect too – feeling safe and secure, or believing things will turn out

fine, seems to help the body maintain and repair itself, the author reports.

“Optimism seems to reduce stress-induced inflammation and levels of stress

hormones such as cortisol. It may also reduce susceptibility to disease by

dampening sympathetic nervous system activity and stimulating the

parasympathetic nervous system. The latter governs what‟s called the „rest-

and-digest‟ response – the opposite of fight-or-flight.” Thirdly, trust people,

notes Marchant. “Your attitude towards other people can have a big effect

on your health. Being lonely increases the risk of everything from heart

attacks to dementia, depression and death, whereas people who are

satisfied with their social lives sleep better, age more slowly and respond

better to vaccines.” The author cites John Cacioppo of the University of

Chicago, Illinois, for the finding that curing loneliness is as good for your

health as giving up smoking. Meditation is the fourth technique to heal

yourself. There is some evidence that meditation boosts the immune

response in vaccine recipients and people with cancer, protects against a

relapse in major depression, soothes skin conditions and even slows the

progression of HIV, the book informs. Hypnosis is the fifth method, and the

sixth is to know your purpose. Having an idea of why you are here and what

is important increases our sense of control over events, the author explains.

“Spending more time doing what you love, whether it‟s gardening or

voluntary work, might have a similar effect on health.”

For a rich learning experience to zero in on, even if at the end you may have

to say that you read „Nothing.‟