Dr Helen Hughes comments on presenteeism for BBC Worklife
Dr Helen Hughes comments on the growing flexibility gap in workplaces for BBC Worklife.
In an article, titled ‘Why young workers can't shake presenteeism’, the question is raised of why, even in a changing work world, compared to their bosses, junior employees are much less likely to be able to work flexibly.
Dr Hughes says younger people working from home may now face even greater pressure to show they’re working. She commented:
While presenteeism certainly existed before Covid for junior workers, it manifested differently: managers could see employees more readily, and junior workers had easier access to role models and cues from their work environment on how to behave.
Presenteeism, defined as the practice of being present at one's place of work for more hours than is required, can also manifest in working cultures that practice monitoring account to Dr Hughes.
In those cases, junior workers feel drained from being tracked all day, to the point they feel they can’t go for lunch or leave their desk.
