Perma Work & Offshoring

Paul Kedrosky points to an interesting AP article out that looks at offshoring from an unexpected angle, that of people in North America who hand off programming work to their offshore counterparts as they go home. Those folks, of course, tag it back early the following morning. The result is non-stop effort on technology projects as code is worked on around the clock, but that introduces a new kind of stress for employees - perma-work:
Silicon Valley workers grumble that communicating with colleagues overseas requires midnight teleconferences, 6 a.m. video meetings and the annoying "pling" of instant messages and twittering cell phones all night long. Although many techies swapped social lives for 80-hour weeks during the ephemeral dot-com boom, the 24-hour business cycle seems even more stressful than the caffeinated '90s: Today's long hours are less likely to result in windfall bonuses or stock options, and there's no end in sight. Executives at PortalPlayer, which makes chips and software for portable music devices such as the iPod, say having 90 employees in Hyderabad nearly doubles the amount of engineering work that gets done in 24 hours. That shrinks production cycles and lets the 6-year-old company stay ahead of bigger semiconductor rivals.Guys - it is reality that everyone in this flat world has to work more - think of the set of people in the other side of the continent - same work conditions apply in this globlaised world - am just kidding. Seriously, we need to find a solution for limiting working time and facilitate all to lead a balanced life.