Now They're Worried About Technology Addiction???
We all know about addictions. Real and serious ones like alcohol, drugs, and tobacco. Now the Insurance Journal has published an article suggesting that employers are causing workers to become addicted to technology! Really! The theory, apparently, is that open internet connectivity tempts employees to work 24/7, which could lead to stress and mental illness.
Never mind that there are millions of people who already work or think about work nearly 24/7. They're called the self-employed, and generally they're neither addicted nor mentally ill. They may get stressed on occasion, but that comes with the territory and is generally preferred to the stress of having to deal with a boss.
So what are the worriers at the Insurance Journal up worrying about at night? That technology addiction will result in a flood of litigation, of course! And, I suppose we can infer, higher insurance premiums and higher payouts on policies. (By the way, no technology addiction lawsuits have been filed --- but it could happen, you know.)
You decide for yourself what you think of the technology addiction theory. But just for the sake of argument let's indulge the assumption that it's a real problem. The "solution" proposed by the article makes sense: "employees [should] walk away from their Blackberries, email, and cell phones while on vacation." Hopefully we're all still rational enough to agree on the wisdom of that advice, whether we're technology addicted or not.