North and the Fondazione Pietro Seveso, Milan. In an economy where services constitute the driving force, where knowledge is a determinant factor of production, and where information and communication technologies pervade the working environment, working conditions are undergoing major transformations. Some of the structural changes that characterize the information society undeniably cause intensification of work.
Technologies are also among the factors which lead to increasingly dense working time.
The smallest delay causes major disturbance in the chain and is considered costly by companies. The pressure of time is transferred to subcontractors, suppliers, distributors in a cascade. At the end of the chain, the pressure of time has repercussions on the worker, who is both the most flexible link of the chain and the only one whose capacity for reaction and adaptation is better than that of the machines and networks. Pressure from the clientele Pressure from the clientele is another important factor of intensification of work. A minute lost may be a client lost.