Work has always been an important part of our lives.
Yet research shows that job related activities are taking over more and more of our waking hours.
![Typical discussions about the workweek / source: DilbertBlog](https://i0.wp.com/blog.perengo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/dilbert_wlb_1-1024x319.gif?resize=1024%2C319)
‘9-5’: An Outdated Paradigm
40 hours are widely regarded as a standard workweek and is frequently used as a standard threshold for federal laws like the Affordable Care Act.
Recent research of the U.S. working population has shown the following:
- 50% full-time employees work more than 40 hours/week
- 39% say they work 50+ hours/week
The concept of regular business hours has changed in the past years.
3 Drivers of a Longer Workweek
Research suggests that longer workweeks are not a phenomenon of a particular sub group of workers but rather a general trend in the U.S. labor market.
#1: Need to Work Multiple Jobs
More than 7 million U.S. citizens – mainly members of low-income households – need to take on multiple jobs for a variety of reasons (i.e. meet regular houshold expenses; pay off debt; etc.).
Working different jobs frequently accumulate more than 40 hours a week.
#2: Modern Team Communication – Blessing & Curse
Email or more personal ‘chat interfaces’ give employees a sense of connectedness with the organization.
Some applications are so popular that employees felt they are blurring the line between work and life.
![Team communciation after work // source: own screenshot](https://i0.wp.com/blog.perengo.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Screen-Shot-2015-10-26-at-2.55.19-PM.png?w=1180)
Companies like Slack are addressing this issue via ‘considerate product design ‘ yet it seems to be a cultural problem in the employing organizations.
#3: Own Work Schedules
The promise of the gig-economy is better earning potential at a flexible schedule.
Many workers opt into this type of work but then have to work on multiple services more than 40 hours/week to make the economics work in their favor.
Bottomeline:
40 hours/week are a set standard that originated many decades ago. It is a fact that a large chunk of the U.S. workforce is working more than the average amount of hours.
Employees have the right for a balance between the hours they put into the labor market and the benefits ([health care] insurance; 401k; child care; paid overtime; etc.) they get in return.
Possible Scenarios for Policy Makers:
- Incentivizing/penalizing employers to push for the 40 hour benchmark
- Adjusting federal/local policies to match and support new reality of longer work
![](https://i0.wp.com/blog.radancy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/SpencerParra_Headshot-1.jpg?fit=80%2C71&ssl=1)
- TMP Programmatic Jobs: Audience Extension - October 8, 2020
- Radancy’s Programmatic Jobs – Part 3: Business Intelligence - March 18, 2020
- Radancy’s Programmatic Jobs – Part 2: Budgeting Intelligence - February 19, 2020
- Radancy’s Programmatic Jobs – Part 1: Campaign Automation - January 28, 2020
- Putting Candidates at the Center of Your Recruitment Strategy - December 17, 2019
- In Pursuit of Perfection: Using Testing for Conversion Rate Optimization - November 22, 2019
- Job Content 101: How to Optimize Job Ads for Results - November 5, 2019
- Recruitment Automation: How to Automate Applicant Sourcing - October 22, 2019
- Recruitment Analytics 101: How to Collect and Analyze Data for Recruitment Success - September 11, 2019
- Recruitment Funnel: How to Optimize the Job Applicant Experience - August 19, 2019
You must be logged in to post a comment.