Many of us enjoy the luxury of working at a desk job. I mean, I don’t have a desk job so much as I have a couch/kitchen table job (#blogger), but I relate nonetheless. And while I do miss the days of slingin’ lattés Cocktail-style, chatting up the ‘regulars,’ making those little leaf designs in the foam, and maintaining some composure while explaining why a Caramel Macchiato isn’t actually a thing (I’m insufferable, I know), I do enjoy the rather stationary internet job lifestyle. But alas, everything has a downfall.
According to a survey of roughly 3200 people conducted by CareerBuilder, people have plenty of objections regarding their desk jobs. Namely, that they get bored and don’t feel very active, despite the fact that desk jobs have clear advantages like a far higher chance of earning a six-figure salary, higher potential for upward mobility, staying “in the loop on new company developments,” and, um, the Internet. Chad Brooks at Live Science reports:
More than half the employees who are deskbound said in the survey that not getting enough physical activity, staring at a computer screen for most of the day and being stuck inside are the biggest disadvantages of having a desk job. Additionally, 24 percent said they don’t like working at a desk because there isn’t enough variety in their work, while 23 percent said the biggest downside is that there are too many distractions, including numerous disruptions from co-workers.
Also, nearly half of those surveyed who worked a desk job gained weight after working their current position. Now, if there’s one god-given right every American, nay, every human, should be able to enjoy, it’s the right to complain about your job. Still, it definitely seems a bit ridiculous that some of the bigger complaints amount to boredom, being distracted, and having to keep still particularly when there are so many career advantages at hand that non-desk workers do not so readily enjoy:
The study discovered that workers in non-desk jobs cite being exhausted from working on their feet all day, being more prone to injury or illness, and not getting recognized as much for their efforts as the largest shortcomings of their work environments.
Among the other disadvantages that come with having a non-desk job: not being informed about new company developments, having less chance for upward mobility, and having fewer face-to-face interactions with company leaders and peers.
But non-desk job workers enjoy more flexibility, being physically active, and avoiding cumbersome office politics. So, obviously, no type of job is invariably better than any other, merely more well-suited to an individual, but either way, work sux, amirite? WHY CAN’T WE JUST BE HAPPY!? (Answer: Because then I’d probably be out of a job.)
