It is slowly becoming more common to have a female supervisor. It is also becoming gradually more common for employees to have at least partly supervisory roles. In 1997 the proportion of workers in such employment was 32 per cent. The studies reveal that despite all efforts, employees feel that their physical work environment has deteriorated. They report worsening extremes of heat and cold, more disturbance at work, more dust and more noise.
Workers increasingly have to perform repetitive limited movements.
Hardly any category of attitude towards the physical work environment shows improvement. The studies also included questions about working hours. Even though employees have increasing freedom to choose the time of starting and finishing their daily shift, in 1997 fewer employees feel that there are enough breaks than thought so in 1990. The proportion of those doing unpaid overtime has grown surprisingly rapidly. In 1984 it was 20 per cent, but by 1990 this had already reached 30 per cent and last year it stood at 34 per cent.