Extended Working Hours Are the Norm

According to a recent global survey conducted by Regus, a provider of flexible workspaces, one in two workers in the U.S. work well over eight hours a day and more than half regularly take work home with them.

Remote Work Does Not Mean Less Work

The study polled more than 12,000 business people in 85 countries and found extended working hours to be the new norm.  Regus attributes this to a tight job market with fewer resources at employees’ disposal, and employees’ desire to keep and excel in their jobs.  Some of the more interesting findings included:

• 35 percent of U.S. workers usually work between nine to eleven hours every day compared to 38 percent of global workers.
• 11 percent of workers in the U.S. and 10 percent globally regularly work more than eleven hours a day.
• 56 percent of U.S. workers take work home to finish at the end of the day more than three times a week compared to 43 percent globally.
• 14 percent of remoter workers globally are more likely to work eleven hour days than fixed office workers.
• 59 percent of remote workers globally are likely to take work home with them compared to fixed office workers.
• 13 percent of U.S. workers in small businesses were three times more likely to work eleven hour days than large business employees.

This study finds a clear blurring of the line between work and home,” claimed Regus.  “In the U.S., where the American Institute of Stress reports that coronary heart disease is much more frequent in individuals experiencing high levels of job related stress, the long-term effects of this over-working could be damaging both to workers’ health and to overall productivity as workers drive themselves too hard and become disaffected, depressed or even physically ill.”

But Don't Abandon Remote Work

Although the study found that remote employees worked longer hours, telework has been shown to produce higher job satisfaction, higher productivity, and lower stress levels.  Therefore, one might conclude that by allowing your team members to work from more convenient locations and operate more independently, you might mitigate the negative impact of a longer work day.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

 

Comments

[Gabriel Gonzalez]

Hi, I work for Regus and I just wanted to thank you for the mention in this blog.

I also like to point out that we have an infographic based on the report mentioned in this post which you can find here:

http://regusblog.tumblr.com/post/12790133032/from-dedication-to-medication

If you click on the image you can enlarge it.

Once again, many thanks

Gabriel

[Marty Nemko]

Some of the most contented people I know work long hours. And they make the biggest difference.

That can be true even if their job is mundane, for example, accountants. Their choosing to spend Saturday morning working means that their clients more promptly get the information they need to run their business, that their suppliers get paid promptly, etc. And take, for example, the physician who chooses to work evenings, thereby ensuring that patients can get to see him or her without undue wait.

Especially if what the person would otherwise be doing is unimportant--watching TV, doing discretionary shopping, etc., perhaps people who work long hours should, instead of being pathologized as workaholics, be respected as hard workers or even unsung heroes.

[Alexandra Levit]

@Gabriel: It's my pleasure. Thanks for doing such great work!

@Marty: I think that as with anything, there is a fine line here. Working a lot of hours at something you are good at and feel passionate about is noble and only becomes detrimental when other areas of your life begin to suffer.