It’s no secret Americans have a reputation for becoming workaholics. Time is money, right? Perhaps. But if you fall victim to workaholism, you might pay a steeper price than sleep deprivation and caffeine addiction. Recently, two episodes of workplace violence that made national news suggest that perhaps we ought to be more wary of the American obsession with work and its potentially deadly consequences. Houston nurse Misty Ann Weaver was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and arson for setting fire to her six-story office building. Weaver allegedly started the fire because she was afraid she would be fired for failing to complete an audit she had been assigned. The fire, which she claims was intended to be a distraction, killed three people and injured six others. Then there’s Anthony LaCalamita, the accountant in Michigan who was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder and two counts of intent to murder, among other things. Monday, LaCalamita, who was fired from his job last week, returned to his former workplace and shot three former co-workers, killing one of them. His motive has not yet been determined, but eyewitnesses said he was clearly targeting specific employees. It’s shocking that job-related anxiety can drive nervous or unhappy employees to such extreme behavior. Work can’t put that much pressure on a person, can it? Apparently, it can. To assume episodes like these are few and far between is a common misconception. Unfortunately, workplace violence happens fairly often in the United States According to a USA Today article from July 2004, “in an average week in U.S. workplaces, one employee is killed and at least 25 are seriously injured in violent assaults by current or former co-workers,” and it seems violent incidents in the workplace are more common today than they were a hundred years ago. Boston-based criminologist James Alan Fox cited a decrease in job security, larger differences in pay between workers and administrators and stressful work environments as possible causes for the increase in violence among employees and former employees. The stressful workplace environment is key. Workaholism – that is, an “addiction” to working – as well as stressful workplace environments have become fixtures in American culture, so much that the problems of workplace tension and anxiety have become fodder for satire in film and on television. There’s “The Office” on NBC, for example, which follows a socially inept, hopelessly incompetent boss and the hilarity that often ensues at his paper supply company. Then there’s “Office Space,” the 1999 film about disgruntled, overworked employees at a software company and their idiosyncrasies and pet peeves. Two of the most memorable scenes in the film feature employees resorting to violence to vent their frustration. In one scene, three employees smash a temperamental fax machine with baseball bats. In another, one employee steals the company’s stash of traveler’s checks and sets the office building on fire after his beloved red Swingline stapler is taken away. Situations like these are amusing because they hit home for so many American employees. Regrettably, real-life workplace violence is no laughing matter. Currently, it seems no studies have linked workplace violence with workaholism specifically, but the connection is plausible. It seems likely that the American convention of developing an “addiction” to work has contributed to the creation of more high-stress workplaces, which have been identified as a possible cause of workplace violence. We swear we won’t let our jobs get the better of us, but here in the United States, the temptation is real. Much of the rest of the world works to live. Americans typically live to work, and the effects of the “time is money” attitude can be seen not only in episodes of workplace violence but in our own lives as well. Most of us have listened to a classmate complain about hating their major but sticking with it because they feel pressured to graduate as soon as possible and get a “real job.” Why the rush? If Weaver, 33, and Lacalamita, 38, are any indication, it looks like work-related stress causes some employees to crack under pressure while still in their thirties. Sure, those are isolated incidents, but they’re certainly something to think about as we prepare to graduate and enter the workforce. In most European countries, there is a legal limit to the number of hours employees can work per week, and employees are required to take longer vacations than the typical American employee. If American employers and workers let work remain their top priority, then violence in the workplace will only become more common. If our generation sorts out our priorities – if we decide that we want to work to live, not live to work – perhaps incidents of violence in the workplace will decrease, and the cultural phenomenon of workaholism will one day be a thing of the past.
—–Contact Emily Byers at [email protected]