Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Opportunity
Working college students and adults in the United States are pressured to answer work phone calls and emails after business hours due to the increase in technological trends and ease of access.
The who: Working college students and adults in the United States
The what: They are pressured to answer work phone calls and emails after business hours
The why: Technological trends have increased and access is easier

Hypothesis
I believe that most working college students and adults in the United States would like a formal system/product to prevent the pressure of answering work phone calls and emails after business hours.

Testing the who: Working adults and college students in the United States who work a job during normal business hours, or have set business hours for being on and off-call, are the people who have this need.

Testing the what: People find it difficult to say 'no' to answering work calls and emails after hours. The workers may want to uphold their reputation, or get a head start on the next day's workload. Other reasons for working after hours may also be the culprit.

Testing the why: Technological trends in recent years have allowed for workplace software to be accessed on personal computers, making it much easier for employees to work after hours. It is also possible that some people genuinely enjoy working extra hours.

Interview 1 (Mid 20s male employee)
Gaining insight from a young adult who worked a few jobs after graduating from college, he shared the pressure he felt for his sales job. His sales job required a quota, so he oftentimes found himself coming home and answering emails. He didn't want to be behind for the next day's workload, as well as ensure that he hit his monthly quota. He wished that there was a way to prevent this pressure, and suggested a computer extension that sent an automated email to anyone who contacted him after hours. The automated email would show contact information in case of an emergency, but would nonetheless relieve the pressure of conducting work outside of working hours.

He agrees that this is a problem because of recent technological advances. If employees don't have access to computer software, then they are unable to work on business tasks. Since most people have a personal computer with internet access, checking work emails and conducting business is much easier to do from virtually anywhere.

Interview 2 (Early 20s female college student currently working full-time)
She expressed the pressure of answering emails after hours more so from an academic perspective. She found herself emailing her professor at night because she was worried about a time-sensitive matter. However, she also currently has a job and is working remotely, and sometimes finds herself working after hours. Her rationale for working after hours is that she doesn't want to get behind on the following day's work, and feels pressure to check her work email to stay up to date on new information. She also experienced her dad taking work phone calls during personal hours, which she found to be slightly disruptive. She wished that there was a way to implement a "Do Not Disturb" feature on work emails or the workplace messenger.

She agrees that this is a problem because of recent technological advances. She has access to her work database because she works from her personal laptop. Lack of access is not stopping her from completing extra tasks outside of normal working hours. In fact, access to work materials is almost encouraging her to work outside of her normal business hours.

Interview 3 (Early 60s male employee)
Gaining insight from a worker who has over 30+ years of experience in the public and private sector of the United States, he stated that he felt pressure to work after hours mainly in his private-sector job. He held the title of Vice President in his private-sector job, and explained that it was expected of him to work after hours and occasionally on the weekends. Since he was compensated well as a salaried worker, he didn't mind too much when working occasionally outside of normal business hours. He currently works with the government and does not have a problem with working outside normal business hours unless it is an emergency. He is also invested in a small start-up company, and finds himself working outside normal business hours for this company. However, he explained that since it is a start-up company, he enjoys putting in the extra hours, knowing that each hour he works, the company is growing and moving in the right direction. Overall, he didn't seem too bothered about working outside normal business hours, so long as he is appropriately compensated. Though he did express a need for some government intervention about encouraging a work-life balance, rather than creating a product.

He doesn't necessarily believe that recent technological trends contribute to this problem. In the 90s when technology wasn't as prevalent as it is now, he owned a work phone and work laptop. Even though most people didn't have a personal laptop, he used his work phone and laptop to complete business tasks outside of his working hours. However, he does agree that feeling pressure to work after normal business hours is increasing for others, as most work databases are accessible from personal laptops.

Interview 4 (Early 20s female college student with a part-time job)
While attending school full-time, she works a job that does not have normal business hours. She works with kids in an afterschool program, but she still finds herself putting in extra hours at home. This includes drafting up newsletters, organizing the client's profiles, and more. She often feels pressure to put in extra hours because she works for a small business and wants to see it succeed. If she doesn't put in the extra work, she knows that tasks are going to get delayed, which ruins the reputation of the company. She genuinely cares about the company, as well as her reputation, which is why she puts in the extra hours and conducts business-related tasks outside of her normal hours. In terms of finding a solution, she thinks the problem of feeling pressured to work after hours is more so a company problem, rather than a problem that the government needs to regulate. She believes that the company should limit the worker's ability to work at home, possibly making work software inaccessible or removing the expectation of completing tasks after hours.

She believes that recent technological trends slightly contribute to this problem. She thinks that once the global pandemic is over, working after normal business hours is going to significantly increase. Because companies are finding ways to conduct business at home at different hours of the day, she thinks that the pressure to work after normal business hours will significantly increase.

Interview 5 (Early 20s female college student with a part-time job)
She expressed the pressure of completing work-related tasks after hours, and have witnessed her colleagues and middle managers doing the same thing. She works in the marketing industry, and explained that sometimes clients answer time-sensitive emails late, which makes it imperative to work outside of normal business hours on urgent matters. She finds herself working outside of normal hours about three times a week. She does this partially to stay informed, and partially to uphold her reputation of completing tasks on time. To manage a work-life balance, she refuses to complete any task that is not urgent. This ensures that she is taking time for herself to focus on school, hobbies, or other personal matters. She doesn't know how much a tangible product, such as an app, will do to fix this problem.

She believes that to relieve the pressure people feel about conducting business outside of working hours, the United States needs to experience a cultural change. Although she thinks that recent technological advances are partially to blame for this pressure, a cultural change contributes more to this problem. Part of the reason she checks her work emails outside of business hours is the societal expectation to go above and beyond to be successful. She doesn't think the government should get too involved, as many people enjoy putting in extra hours at work, but admits that minimal government regulation may be necessary.

Summarize
Given these five interviews, I found that there is a clear generational difference in terms of this problem. The third person I interviewed has way more experience than the other interviewees and justified working outside normal business hours with financial compensation. I also found that my problem cannot only be fixed with a product; government regulation or company policies will have to be put in place. Some interviewees suggested a product such as an app or browser extension, while others didn't and thought the government or society needs to make a change. Overall, it was interesting to see everyone's opinion on the matter, since overworking is becoming a problem in our society.