Yulissa G, Los Angeles, CA
I work the graveyard shift at a warehouse. It’s common for my coworkers to suffer sleep deprivation while working this job.
According to the National Safety Council, sleep deprivation affects 43% of American workers and 62% of those who work night shifts. It can lead to cognitive impairment, heart disease, a weakened immune system, dementia, and more.
The other day, I learned eight of my coworkers have second full-time jobs and only sleep four hours a day. At most, they’re sleeping 20 hours from Monday through Friday, while playing catch-up on the weekends.
Each day, they’re working 16 hours. Eight hours is all they have left to eat, sleep, and commute to and from two different jobs. Forget finding time for the things that make life worth living. Every minute is squeezed for the bosses.
Someone overheard one of the managers saying he was investigating which workers had second or third jobs so he could replace them, since they typically arrive late and won’t stay late.
How is it that so many of us are overworked while around one in four Americans are functionally unemployed? Your options are either to overwork yourself or languish in poverty. Capitalism exploits the most vulnerable and discards them when it is no longer profitable.