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165 reviews for:
On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane
Emily Guendelsberger
4.28 AVERAGE
165 reviews for:
On the Clock: What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane
Emily Guendelsberger
4.28 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Medical content
Moderate: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Classism
Some of this was eye-opening (like how up until the week before the author started at the call center, agents had to pitch sales offers to people calling to cancel a deceased family member’s line, or the fact that Amazon keeps ambulances outside its warehouses during heat waves for when employees inevitably need medical care). Other parts seemed a bit more obvious (pay is generally crappy, commutes are generally awful) but nevertheless it was good to be reminded of the low wage work that makes so much of America run. It will certainly make you think twice before your next Prime order.
There was one chapter about PTSD and the flight/fight stress response featuring a cavewoman character named Wanda that I found particularly compelling. The stress of these jobs is not only expected, it is manufactured by these corporations, and not without harmful side effects on its employees. I feel like if she wanted to turn that chapter into an article for more widespread readership it would do really well.
There was one chapter about PTSD and the flight/fight stress response featuring a cavewoman character named Wanda that I found particularly compelling. The stress of these jobs is not only expected, it is manufactured by these corporations, and not without harmful side effects on its employees. I feel like if she wanted to turn that chapter into an article for more widespread readership it would do really well.
This book is important for anyone who has never depended on low-wage work for their life. It will expose you to a reality of market-dependent society and what it is doing to low wage workers.
Intriguing Premise Hurt By Lack of Evidence. This is one of those books that has an intriguing premise and brings some often overlooked aspects to the table and is thus worthy of and even needed in the national conversation, but that is ultimately tainted by the author's own biases and lack of empirical evidence and lack of extensive bibliography. The author does a phenomenal job of showing what it is like to work in the environments she chose to work in - an Amazon Fulfillment Center, a call center, and a franchise McDonald's - and the people who work there. But as she admits repeatedly, she could always leave at any time she wanted - while she rarely if ever mentions what her husband does for work, she does mention during one ordeal at the call center that her father in law is a doctor - and the entire point of getting these jobs was to "test the waters" to see what people who worked them were really like and what their concerns really were. Very well written, just with significant flaws in reasoning due to her own biases, particularly in her ultimate conclusions. Could have been far stronger, but still a recommended read.
read for POL 3464 - funny & real look at work in the U.S. literally makes me never want to work and at the same time fight labor laws because this shit sucks
challenging
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
The premise for this book was really interesting, and the author's voice is strong and funny throughout. It was an interesting expose on blue-collar work in different fields and what the actual lived experience of workers in these industries are.
The chapters on Convergy and Amazon were really interesting and illuminating. They looked at so many frankly dystopian elements of those workplaces, tying them into theories around surveillance and management at the expense of worker well-being. The interviews with different workers at both of these workplaces, especially Amazon, revealed some very interesting perspectives on work and on their relationship to these exploitative companies.
This being said, the chapter on McDonald's fell really flat for me. There were no interviews with coworkers and no clear examination of the effects on workers short of noting that they did experience physical abuse from customers. It led to this chapter feeling sort of confused and without any real clear point or examination of the worker experience. The ending chapter lacked a clear thesis, and the claims that were made were not backed up by research or science as other claims in the book were. Some analogies used to explain theories, like Wanda and Ayn, felt more complex and over-explanatory than they needed to be.
I finished the book without a really clear sense of the reasons behind is creation as a whole, besides the author trying out service work after being laid off. I wish the author had gone a little further with the points she was trying to get at, because I feel the book had a lot of potential that ultimately wasn't fully realized.
The chapters on Convergy and Amazon were really interesting and illuminating. They looked at so many frankly dystopian elements of those workplaces, tying them into theories around surveillance and management at the expense of worker well-being. The interviews with different workers at both of these workplaces, especially Amazon, revealed some very interesting perspectives on work and on their relationship to these exploitative companies.
This being said, the chapter on McDonald's fell really flat for me. There were no interviews with coworkers and no clear examination of the effects on workers short of noting that they did experience physical abuse from customers. It led to this chapter feeling sort of confused and without any real clear point or examination of the worker experience. The ending chapter lacked a clear thesis, and the claims that were made were not backed up by research or science as other claims in the book were. Some analogies used to explain theories, like Wanda and Ayn, felt more complex and over-explanatory than they needed to be.
I finished the book without a really clear sense of the reasons behind is creation as a whole, besides the author trying out service work after being laid off. I wish the author had gone a little further with the points she was trying to get at, because I feel the book had a lot of potential that ultimately wasn't fully realized.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Mental illness, Classism
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
This book is so good, and I'll immediately be recommending it to everyone I know!!! Will come back to edit review with more detail, but wow.
Fantastic book. I had a small panic attack when she described the call center screamer as I flashed back to doing a combination sales/billing/complaints line job, and remembered the exact same interminable systems nonsense. On The Clock offers a detailed, empathetic look into working in the awful jobs that make the world run, and as someone who's worked several similar jobs it's a stark reminder of how utterly dehumanising they are.
Emily is a wonderful, relatable protagonist, and the writing never slows or becomes too dense, as she clearly had a wealth of experiences to draw on. When I started reading I found it extremely hard to put down.
5 stars. Read this book and get your boomer parents to read it too. Left me more politically motivated than anything else I've read in a long time. Emily go on Chapo.
Emily is a wonderful, relatable protagonist, and the writing never slows or becomes too dense, as she clearly had a wealth of experiences to draw on. When I started reading I found it extremely hard to put down.
5 stars. Read this book and get your boomer parents to read it too. Left me more politically motivated than anything else I've read in a long time. Emily go on Chapo.
informative
medium-paced