IELTS Essay on reducing working hours due to technology and automation

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Advances in technology and automation have reduced the need for manual labour. (opinion) Therefore, the working hours should be reduced.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Essay on working hours in the office due to technology:

Introduction

Automation is pervasive across all industries and has reduced human efforts. At the same time, it has given birth to many phenomena ranging from industrialisation to globalisation, keeping people discussing whether to decrease the number of working hours or not. It seems that the number of working hours must be kept similar to today’s conditions.

Body Paragraph 1

Let’s consider the manufacturing industry. Indeed, the automation has reduced the human labours drastically but also has a reduced number of labourers instead of working hours. At the same time, the globalisation and revolution in transportation have increased the consumer demands of goods many-folds. To manufacture for such soaring demands, the fired workers work in other industries, help bridge the gap of demand and supply, in turn, creating new jobs. These task forces put in 24 hours a day which in fact demand more number of working hours.

Body Paragraph 2

On the other hand, one can argue that in the Information Technology (IT) sector, automated programs assist the personnel by reducing the number of hours required to complete the tasks. Additionally, better hardware makes it easy to have sophisticated programs which can reduce the need to work extensively. However, increasing productivity standards demand constant improvement in such codes and hardware. Improving these both aspects requires additional working hours ultimately beating the goal of why they were there in the first place.

End Paragraph

Looking back, in traditional industries like manufacturing as well as non-traditional sectors like IT, increasing demands of customers, productivity standards and subsequent improvisations make it difficult to even maintain the same number of working hours forget reducing them. So, I believe the number of working hours should be kept at least constant.

For more ideas on effect of technology on working hours, watch the video.

Niraj Deobhankar

Niraj has completed his Masters in Nuclear Engineering in India. He has worked with Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and other multi-national companies. While working in a consulting role, he found his passion for teaching. Since then, he has worked with numerous students to find their way after their bachelors. He has a knack of simplifying complex concepts and strategies in Writing and Speaking for everyone. You will find his lectures practical and useful. A typical introvert, he loves reading, especially exploits of Sherlock Holmes and Poirot, fictitious detectives who worked in England. He also spends his spare time in Yoga and Meditation.