# Measuring the Value of Work By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-09-23 It is absurd that most organizations still measure time as the value of work. Even on production lines and farm fields, there is a more direct way to measure the value of work. Certainly, time is almost an unrelated variable regarding productivity and value in offices. Why does the focus on time persist if it is so divorced from what is the basis of economic exchange? It seems that organizations prefer to “own” their employees. If one wants the money, one must rent oneself out to the organization for the required shift. It matters little that the work could be done more efficiently. The organization will simply put the individual on something else. Or not. Maybe the organization will flex the power dynamic and simply consume a portion of the person’s finite existence. The freelance model avoids this dynamic. The work is defined, and a person executes the work. Such a model holds the potential to foster solidarity and is a closer approximation of measuring the value of work. These two reasons alone are sufficient for understanding why it will likely never be adopted as the general work approach. #### Related Items [[Work]] [[Freelancers]] [[Time]] [[Ownership]] [[Organization]] [[Value]]