Accelaration at work

The periodical European Working Conditions Surveys show that workers experience since a few years a continuous increase in work speed and work intensity. Workers not only report working at high speed, under high pressure or overtime, but also experience increasing levels of intensity, flexibility and "destandardization" at work. In an attempt to merge these dynamization experiences in a social scientific theory of acceleration, the sociologist Hartmut Rosa (2005) developed the concept of acceleration as a constitutive feature of the modernization process. Rosa analyzes the causes and consequences of acceleration on all levels of society. Examples are technological acceleration phenomena, increased changes in employment relations, and general decreases of time resources. One may expect that these phenomena lead to new demands in the world of work. Until now, a comprehensive analysis from the perspective of work and organizational psychology is missing. The main goal of this research project is the transfer and empirical test of the sociologically described phenomenon of acceleration from the perspective of work and organizational psychology and the integration in current research models describing job demands and work-related coping processes. Furthermore, effects of acceleration perceptions on quality of working life will be investigated. The research project consists of three research modules: Acceleration on the job level: Based on a questionnaire study the perceptions and coping processes related to acceleration at work are investigated. A longitudinal analysis allows a causal analysis of the relations between acceleration related demands, coping processes and quality of working life. Acceleration on the level of day-to-day work activities: A more detailed analyses of new acceleration related demands will be realized with diary studies. Diary studies allow a more in-depth analysis of the phenomena, a better understanding of acceleration perceptions and coping processes in day-to-day work situations. Acceleration at the career level: An extension of the time frame of investigation is planned in the third research module by conducting and analyzing job biography interviews. This allows for instance the analysis of differences in perceptions between older and younger employees, leads to an expansion of the time frame and allows the analysis of long-term effects of acceleration processes at work.

Many employees share the perception that they have to achieve more in less time and keep pace with constant change. Demands arising from such an accelerated pace of life were examined in the research project Acceleration at Work. The aims of the project were to identify acceleration-related demands in the world of work and to assess their consequences for employees and organizations. Specifically, three acceleration-related demands were identified: work intensification, intensified planning and decision-making demands, and intensified learning demands. Nowadays, employees are required to handle more work in less time. Moreover, management tasks have been handed over to individual workers and organizational rules and regulations have been reduced. Therefore, employees are increasingly required to take work-related decisions and to plan and structure their work autonomously. Finally, rapid technological and organizational changes force individuals to get acquainted with new technologies, programs, guidelines etc. within shorter periods of time. Hence employees are required to constantly keep their knowledge and skills up to date. A repeated survey of over 2.000 Austrian service sector employees (administration, health care, IT) showed that acceleration-related demands are evaluated differently: work intensification was mainly appraised as a hindrance and was associated with reduced well-being, reduced job satisfaction as well as higher levels of work-home conflict. Intensified planning and decision-making demands were perceived as challenges and had positive (high work motivation and job satisfaction) as well as negative consequences (exhaustion). Intensified learning demands were mainly positive: they counteracted exhaustion and contributed to job satisfaction. In dealing with intensified demands, employees showed two different strategies: On the one hand employees tried to actively manage intensified demands by increasing their pace of work, working longer hours or reducing idle time. On the other hand, employees showed passive coping strategies meaning that they reduced the quality of work in order to meet intensified job demands. The most crucial resource for employees to cope effectively with intensified demands was the support provided by organizations (e.g., participative climate). Individual abilities (such as time management abilities) however did not help employees to better manage intensified demands. Hence organizations need to provide employees with adequate working conditions to help them deal with intensified demands and to preserve employee well-being and foster personal growth at work.