Retiring Surveyor

[Thomas Okken]

(01-29-2018 08:02 AM)Harald Wrote:  Well, If you think about it, what should automation mean? It should lead to us all having to work less while maintaining the same standard of living. Instead some are left behind completely while others have to work hard and still struggle. I guess something is going seriously wrong. We are all generating wealth for someone else but not really ourselves...
Unfortunately I have no solution for that...

Is it really so difficult? Productivity is rising faster than consumption, so, on aggregate, people should be working fewer hours, and/or retiring sooner. We're long overdue for a shorter workweek, lower retirement age, or more paid vacation, or any combination of those.

We've been here before. The work week used to be more than 40 hours, the retirement age used to be death, and vacation days used to be zero.

In Germany, the idea of the 24-hour work week is being seriously discussed. I was thinking 32 myself, but hey, I'm open to other ideas, too. :-)

[Harald]

(01-29-2018 09:17 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  

(01-29-2018 08:02 AM)Harald Wrote:  Well, If you think about it, what should automation mean? It should lead to us all having to work less while maintaining the same standard of living. Instead some are left behind completely while others have to work hard and still struggle. I guess something is going seriously wrong. We are all generating wealth for someone else but not really ourselves...
Unfortunately I have no solution for that...

Is it really so difficult? Productivity is rising faster than consumption, so, on aggregate, people should be working fewer hours, and/or retiring sooner. We're long overdue for a shorter workweek, lower retirement age, or more paid vacation, or any combination of those.

We've been here before. The work week used to be more than 40 hours, the retirement age used to be death, and vacation days used to be zero.

In Germany, the idea of the 24-hour work week is being seriously discussed. I was thinking 32 myself, but hey, I'm open to other ideas, too. :-)

Thomas,
I am in Germany as well, and I am on 40 hours. I wouldn't mind working less, but I don't think it would go down well with my employer. Also I am still hoping to buy a house before the children have grown up. With the current price situation reducing hours is probably not a good idea financially either.
And why are house prices so high? Because massive amounts of cash are being pumped into the market. And that is to save banks who have speculated. So all of us are working to build a huge pile of money somewhere... It's all nonsense if you think about it...
Oh, and retirement age is rising, not falling. But let's not get into health care madness as well...

Cheers,
Harald

[CosmicTruth]

(01-27-2018 05:19 PM)CosmicTruth Wrote:  My diagnosis is a brain tumor, parkinson's disease, and I had some mini strokes. But the sad part is the way in which my last employer chose to let me go. He asked how my disability claim was going, told me he had hired my replacement and I had to train him, after 3 weeks of training he laid me off, then fought my Unemployment Insurance claim and won, so I get no UI. It is a complicated series of events, luckily I was approved for SSA Disability, but the payments dont start until the end of April.

Automation is a good thing, but the employees being replaced have to be treated with some care. It might have been better for my employer to have said "hey we plan to replace you, your laid off, go get unemployment and talk to SSA to get disability going". Or something better than the way he decided to handle it. I did a good job my entire career, even when I trained my replacement. I think my short term memory problems added to my not seeing it coming when my employer gave me the boot.
Oh and back to HP calculators; I programmed them most of my career so I could just plug in numbers, push buttons, and get answers. I had to write a program to calculate my age because after about 50 I kept forgetting

[Thomas Okken]

(01-29-2018 11:35 AM)Harald Wrote:  I am in Germany as well, and I am on 40 hours. I wouldn't mind working less, but I don't think it would go down well with my employer.

I was talking about the work week as it is defined by law. Reduce those hours, and your employer won't be allowed to make you work 40 hours any more. Of course it's also time to clean up the exemptions that employers abuse to make people work unpaid overtime, like Walmart classing everyone, including shelf stockers, as "management."

(01-29-2018 11:35 AM)Harald Wrote:  Oh, and retirement age is rising, not falling.

Yes, yet another way in which economic policy is making sure that productivity gains do not end up in the hands of workers. It's unfair and unsustainable, but it's Universally Accepted Dogma in the West, not even the so-called Left is willing to do something about it -- quite the contrary.

[CosmicTruth]

(01-28-2018 01:33 PM)RMollov Wrote:  

(01-27-2018 05:19 PM)CosmicTruth Wrote:  My diagnosis is a brain tumor, parkinson's disease, and I had some mini strokes.

I'd be glad to help you with a small donation to a fellow surveyor. Say how.

I apologize in advance if this post breaks forum rules, but I could really use a little help.
<clipped>
Thank you in advance if you can help.

4/16/18:
Thanks to those who helped me out, I still have a week before my retirement checks begin, but I have all my bills paid thanks to you.
God Bless you all