Does it feel like the average workday has become more intense?

Research indicates that is probably the case, both for workers in the United States and Europe.

Scholars from major universities gathered Nov. 3-4 at Cornell to share research findings at "The Quality of Jobs" conference, sponsored by the ILR School and the Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR's academic journal.

Participants discussed the intensification of work, organizational restructuring and other trends having an impact on job quality and satisfaction.

"When we talk about intensification, this refers to how hard I work during my work hours, and if I have to work longer and more unpredictable hours," said Rosemary Batt, the Alice Cook Professor of Women and Work and editor of the ILR Review.

Based on studies presented at the conference, she added, it's clear that this has become a universal issue, bringing with it growing concerns about worker stress and the ability to have work/life balance.

Batt said job quality is also affected by decisions companies have to make under increasing pressure to reduce costs.

"They often undertake strategies designed to cut labor costs. Companies might restructure benefit plans, cut staffing levels so that those left behind have more to do, or make pay more variable, meaning people get bonuses versus regular pay increases," she said. "At the same time, there are jobs that might be getting better, where people have more leeway in their work or get better pay."

The conference explored various dimensions of this phenomenon to provide insight about how and why the quality of jobs is changing, Batt said.

Other research presented at the conference showed low-wage and immigrant workers are taking great initiative to improve their working conditions, Batt said. "There were some interesting papers that showed how people in what we think of as low-skilled jobs are developing strategies on their own to make their jobs more interesting and showing employers how their skills are really valuable in achieving better quality products and services."

Papers from the conference will be published in an upcoming special issue of the ILR Review.

"We're evolving our academic journal to get more diverse submissions from a broader range of disciplines and to get greater international participation," Batt said.

ILR received 65 conference submissions from scholars in political science, sociology, economics, psychology and organizational behavior, as well as industrial and labor relations. Almost half were international submissions.

In April, an ILR-sponsored conference in Montreal will focus on "the international comparison of working time" and look at policies in different countries that allow flexibility in jobs and that promote work and family balance.

Joe Zappala is assistant dean of communications and marketing at the ILR School.