Reflecting on our initial group discussion and tutorial for the Future of Work collaboration project today, conversation with the group and tutor started with a personal introduction round, highlighting our different experiences and backgrounds. My unique position in this, being the only person who has spent some significant time in a corporate environment, provides me with some personal experience which I can draw upon. At first, we touched on the issue of burnout at work, which is something I have personally experienced, this is something that I have struggled with for a long time, and have never really worked out how to combat this issue. I loved video games, and I worked in the video game hardware industry. There is a direct link between my professional work and personal hobby, this seemed like the perfect match. However, it led me down the path of overwhelming burnout, where I dread going to work and I avoid my gaming devices, which I used to love so much, it affected both my work and personal life.
Transitional to the topic on work-life balance, we found something that we were all very interested in. We think that this is a critical issue, especially from an Asian perspective. Our group, being predominantly Asian, shared insights on our own observation of cultural differences in work ethic and expectations between Asian and Western labor. We went into the subject of manufacturing labor outsourcing to Asian countries and its ramifications, of how these “blood” factories produce the world’s electronic devices, brand wear, and more, and how these Asian laborers are exploited while the rest of the world enjoys the goods produced by them. Nina’s comparisons of these practices to modern-era colonialization was really spot on, and I agree with her. I also shared my own personal observations of the stark work culture differences between Asian and Western counterparts in a global companies. The expectation for Asian employees to adjust their schedules for Western colleagues really shows the deep cultural disparity in valuing personal time and work commitment.
Our discussions brought up the societal differences in perceptions of labor rights in Asia and Western cultures. From my own observations, strikes in the UK are often met with public sympathy and support, this shows an understanding and respect for laborers. On the other hand, in Taiwan, public and media reactions to strikes are really harsh. Strikers are often labeled as selfish, and I think this really highlights the cultural divide in value placed on individual versus collective needs, which is another area of Western vs Asian culture.
As we move forward, our decision to potentially narrow our project’s scope to this cultural comparison is still tentative. We are open to integrating new insights from tomorrow’s speculative design lectures, which might add to, or allow us to pivot our project direction. This initial dialogue with the team today has laid a great foundation for our collaborative journey, and made clear the importance of personal experiences and critical reflection in tackling this new project and bringing on ideas of a more inclusive and equal global work environment.
very interesting.