It is half past seven in the office but the lights are still on. PCs are still running, office pantry guy is still dipping tea bags in steaming hot water cups. So much of work! Take a closer look. Most of them are bachelors, very hard working species.
Ask any of these and here is what you get a common reply, “No one is waiting for us at home. So it is better to spend time here. At least we have comfortable environment, no power cuts. Phone, food and coffee and sharbat, almost everything is within reach.”
Hitesh of a pharmaceutical unit in SIDCUl Industrial Area has many important formulations to make and so he works till 8 pm on all days. “It is easy to work when your boss is not around. That is why I am working late hours. Formulations work out nicely while chatting online with friends side by side.”
This is the scene in most of the factories in SIDCUl and Haridwar Industrial area of the district. Even Sundays are not spared for office working by the house- keeping staff. It is completely ball of a time on weekends. “We can freely move the furniture and do proper cleaning. I even wash my uniform and clothes in the factory laundry,” says Satish Kumar of Prabhat Chemicals.
Bachelors passing time during late hours in the office are becoming part of the office culture. It gives good amount of overtime pay and forms a good impression on the bosses as well. Annual confidential report highlights you as ‘most hard working’.
A very reasonable reason was highlighted by an employee of Sreejee Packaging Company of SIDCUl. “Where is the energy left to relax and cheer after 8 hours of workIJ Instead of going to some club and get jammed in traffic snarls, surfing on web gives much more relaxation. Social networking sites come as a handy tool. It is our right to relax at the company’s expense. After all, we give so much to the company. The company needs to take care of us too.”
A recent study published by American Sociological Review says, “One reason men make more money than women is because they work so much overtime. The gender gap in pay persists due to the fact that men are more likely than women to work 50 hours-plus a week. The extra hours or overtime result, on an average, in an extra 6% hourly wages across all occupations. This difference has exacerbated the gender pay gap by around 10%, the study claims. A psychological counselor at district hospital Namrata Mishra states, “The family pressure is more on working women than men. They rush after the office back home while men are never questioned of being late. Their working overtime is readily accepted by the society while we women lag behind since working late hours is not acceptable.”
The heads of the institutions are also not oblivious of this overtime business of bachelors. Plant Head of Akums Pharmaceuticals told The Pioneer, “It is absolutely human to relax in office. Even I unburden my worries at office before I go home. But it is a harsh fact that bachelor workers want to hang around in office while we married people have to rush homes for other responsibilities.