First, as manufacturing became more mechanized, the business interest in seeing equipment put to intensive use increased. Employers prefer relying on fewer workers working longer hours because they cannot count on finding additional workers with sufficient skill or experience, Schor contends. Third, in the post-World War II era, the structure of fringe benefits has led employers to favor longer hours. Finally, among salaried workers, overtime is free time for employers, giving them a strong incentive to demand long hours. From the worker perspective, things look very different.
Individual workers have very little power in setting their hours.
But she rejects the view that this reflects workers choices. It is not the case that workers get what they want, she argues. Rather, they want what they get - they adjust expectations in response to prevailing circumstances. Citing various opinion surveys, Schor argues that while workers are unwilling to give up their present material standard of living for less work time, they express a strong preference for sacrificing future increases in their material standard of living in favor of more free time. Due to the efforts of strong trade union movements, West German workers put in eight less weeks of work a year than their U.S. counterparts and Swedes 11 weeks less.