European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 10, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                New pressures in the work place by Jonathan Peterson los Angeles times w orking harder working faster. Feeling tense does your Job seem less like the livelihood you once enjoyed and More like the sure fire formula for stomach ulcer you re not atone. A Broad spectrum of the . Work Force a from Blue Collar workers to corporate chairmen Hospital nurses to flight attendants a struggles today with work that is faster More tension packed and Overall More exhausting than it used to be. Quot there Are new pressures in the work place and they take a human Cost Quot says Harley Shaiken a professor of work and technology at the University of California san Diego. A work and pressure have always kept close company. But lately certain realities have been pounding the Lone employee harder than Ever. Foreign Competition is an abstract concept a until the threat of a shutdown hovers Over your factory. Even for highly paid executives Job Security has eroded sharply in an Era of merger mania. At All Levels of the Job ladder millions of people struggle with the migraine inducing balance Between work and childbearing. Not surprisingly Job related stress claims have skyrocketed. And if anything the varied pressures facing workers will increase in the coming years. Quot i done to think there a any question that this is going on and it will continue and its going to accelerate a said Eric g. Flamholtz a professor of management at the University of California los Angeles. Many . Manufacturers for instance now race faster than Ever to be first out with new products a key to surviving in the increasingly global Economy. At Home deregulation of airlines and other industries has meant that flight attendants now must Cater to More passengers per flight and pilots spend More hours mane vering through crowded skies. Quot its a Job that i done to know if i could Start today Quot said Shirley Barber an Irvine calif., resident who has worked 19 years As a United airlines flight attendant. The 1980s Vogue of carving bloated companies into lean and mean corporate machines has left a Trail of confused emaciated labor forces in its Wake at the top Levels executives struggle As hard As Ever for profit gains but with less Job Security than Ever before. And everywhere it seems workers scramble to keep a. A a a a a United airlines the jobs of flight attendants in the Early 1930a differed vastly not Only in style and service but also in the Type of stress involved. Up with technology such As computers and facsimile machines that enables them to finish work and deliver it to impatient customers More quickly than Ever certainly such pressures Are not All bad. Quot american Industry Doggone right better Start working harder if it s going to keep up with the rest of the world Quot said James Man. Stanchi a University of Southern California professor of finance. Competition often results in lower prices end faster service. Higher living standards depend on productivity gains. And Progress need not always take a human toll experts agree that the biggest improvements in personal performance Are attained when people work smarter and not just harder. Only the Ideal of working smart is not always met the pressures to produce have transformed the climate of work in Many places creating Quot a feverish Pace that seems to have emerged in the last three to five years Quot said Edward Sanford chairman of Pepperdine University a economics marketing and quantitative methods department. The stress level in business he added Quot is making life very  at Cache computers in the san Francisco Bay area the key to survival is Rushing High tech products to Market faster than rivals in Asia and the United states. For employees that often Means 12-hour Days As Well As strict deadlines imposed on subcontractors the performance of suppliers can make a crucial difference in a product s profit. Keeping up in the fast paced world Quot is a Little like trying to shoot ducks a and they re coming off the Pond quicker one after the other Quot observed Bill Fenley vice president of sales and marketing at the Fremont company. Not that he a complaining. Quot we re All working harder but at the same time there a the thrill of Victory when you know you be done a Good Job Quot Fenley said unbridled Competition is not ail caused by the global Economy. For Many industries operating inside the United states has gotten tougher. The deregulation movement for instance has subjected such once stable industries As airlines trucking buses and Telephone service to the Jolt of new Competition. Employees feel it for Long haul truckers keeping to schedule has taken on new urgency. And airline employees once the beneficiaries of predictable secure employment a have gradually been squeezed harder by their employers consider flight attendants at the time of 1978 airline deregulation United airlines dc-10s had 242 seats and up to 10 flight attendants per flight. Since then United and its rivals have packed More and More seats into their jetliners. Today it is not unusual for eight flight attendants to handle a United dc-10 with 287 seats. And that adds up to More bending reaching walking stowing suitcases and other chores for a typical flight. Quot i deliver a lot More things to a Tot More people than i did before deregulation Quot Barber said. Its a far cry in terms of stress from what faced the first flight attendants in the 1930s. In the quest to Cut costs industries have tried various strategies. More is expected of employees. Hospitals for instance have tried to combat healthcare inflation by admitting Only the truly sick for overnight stays. For nurses this Means a Sharp Rise in intravenous medications dressing changes careful monitoring and other sorts of care required by the acutely ill virtually All patients Are in serious shape. In other Fields new technologies have had the effect of an electronic poke in the shoulder to workers who once could take a bit More time. Take facsimile machines which enable documents to be transmitted almost at once. While enormously convenient the technology also can put new pressure on employees to finish work sooner than before. The . Signs treaty with Greece to keep bases on Crete open in Kim m it to a i it do m m the w he a a a aim w a bit in n 1 pm in Kim Lieut v no to i a to a w i a i Llulia pm a Pite nor we Impi  his i Htu re a -1- a a a Quot stt3ri leaders split on Sci of Aid re e a a of my Tow an m l 4 it Mil a i a \ i. Ill ican make a Worlo in a world that never takes a Day to rest every Day can make a world of difference. A Day can mean the difference Between a Campaign and a Victory. A budget and a budget Cut. A revolutionary idea and a revolution. The stars and stripes has All the news it takes to keep you on top of the world s events. And a subscription to the stars and stripes can assure you that you la never fall a Day behind. Call one of our circulation offices today listing on Page 11 for your subscription to the stars and stripes. Or write to so attn sales promotion Apo 09211 the stars and stripes a we can make a world of difference in your life. Every Day. Tuesday july 10,1990 the stars and stripes Page 17