Americans are working less

[HemiEd]

I have my own theories on this, such as the stay at home working during covid and the stimulus money being the worst thing that has happened in a very long time.


Why Americans Are Working Less

Gallup finds that average hours worked have dropped progressively since 2019 when U.S. employees reported working an average of 44.1 hours. In 2024, they work 42.9 hours per week.

The decline in hours worked is more pronounced among younger (those younger than 35) than older workers (those aged 35 and older). Between 2019 and 2024, older employees have seen an average reduction of just under one hour per person per week, while younger employees have reduced their hours by nearly two hours.

Over a year, that’s the equivalent of older employees taking an extra week off of work and younger employees taking two weeks. These trends apply to full-time employees working at least 30 hours per week.

Possible Reasons for the Drop in Average Hours Worked per Week
Several new findings may explain this shift:

Overall employee wellbeing has been on the decline.
Employees now have less trust in institutions in general and feel more detached from their employers.
After a decade of steady improvement, employee engagement has reverted to its 2014 level.
Advances in technology may be making work more efficient. Gallup finds that nearly half (45%) of employees say AI has helped them improve their productivity. However, a workforce that is becoming more technically efficient and less engaged may lack the motivation needed for long-term growth.
Employees -- especially younger ones -- now place a higher priority on their overall wellbeing. In fact, work-life balance and better overall wellbeing now rank among the most important considerations when choosing a new job.
Additionally, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows declines in overall hours worked per person, particularly in industries that traditionally employ more young workers such as retail, leisure and hospitality.

The Connection Between Hours Worked and Employee Burnout
Burnout may be a major reason why employees are working fewer hours. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified “burnout” as a work-related syndrome resulting from chronic stress.

Previous Gallup research has found that an unmanageable workload is one of the contributing factors to burnout. This may help explain why employees report higher burnout (very often or always) as the number of hours they work rises above 45 hours per week.

more here

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/658...78644b3aaad4a0

[RaidersOftheCellar]

Work harder, slaves! More, more!

[Mr_Tomahawk]

The worst thing I ever did was load my work email onto my cell phone...

[DaFace]

Thinking about this a little more, I also wonder if there's an impact from fewer people having kids (or at least that's my situation). When you don't have a family to provide for, you can get by with a little less.

[wazu]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

Working hard is still rewarding, it just unfortunately takes hopping from job to job to realize that cash in. Not in all cases, but the need to do that is growing.

Tends to be the case too often in corporate America. A "just okay" employee gets a 3% raise. A "super star" gets a 4.25% raise. Meanwhile same company is hiring more "just okay" people at the current market value, which is more than their current "super star" employee is making after their raise. Then next year if the star player is still around they'll get another 4.25% of a smaller amount, while the new "just okay" person who makes more than them will get a 3% raise of a larger amount and still make more. It's maddening.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by DaFace

There's a pretty consistent view among younger generations that hard work (in terms of hours) doesn't necessarily lead to higher pay. That probably depends on the type of job, but I can't say I disagree with them. With real wages stagnant for ~50 years and seemingly everyone laying people off in the past few years, it's tough to feel particularly committed to your employer.

I wonder if some of that is job hopping, too... you don't necessarily have to bust your ass for one company when you can often work a year or two and get your next promotion and/or raise from the next company. And the major differences there is how much easier it is to find jobs, plus you now have recruiters reaching out via LinkedIn as opposed to sending out resume after resume.

It also seems like a lot of people think of raises/promotions as some black box... I see all lot of questions posted on reddit that lead me to internally scream, have you simply asked your manager?! It's just a foreign concept to me to not have those conversations and then assume you won't get raises... or assume it won't happen so you don't put in the effort, then say "yup, I knew it!" (and that may sound dumb, but I've seen people do it, like they're giving themselves an excuse not to work harder).

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by DaFace

Thinking about this a little more, I also wonder if there's an impact from fewer people having kids (or at least that's my situation). When you don't have a family to provide for, you can get by with a little less.

I don't know how married people with kids who work 50 hours a week have any me time at all. How do they have time for ANY hobby? It is mind boggling to me.

The amount of time I spend on my hobbies is astronomical. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

I think quarantine and the stimulus gave people time to reevaluate their priorities. Working ourselves to the bone to maybe someday retire with security just didn't seem as appealing. Plus with wage stagnation and employees being increasing disposable, it seemed more difficult to even achieve that.

Also, recent appreciation for mental health and self care has people less likely to sacrifice their well being and happiness for a company that probably doesn't really give a shit about them.

I know that's not every company or boss, and I hope the good ones are flourishing in an environment where more employees are demanding to be treated like people.

Basically this.

The concept of loyalty to a single company for your entire career seems archaic and naive. I like being busy and working, but I'm VERY wary of why I'm doing it and who I'm doing it for.

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't know how married people with kids who work 50 hours a week have any me time at all. How do they have time for ANY hobby? It is mind boggling to me.

The amount of time I spend on my hobbies is astronomical. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

I feel this, too. Unless you love your job to death, how does anyone live a fulfilling life working that much at a job they hate? Providing for your family is one thing, but if thats the only thing, you're effectively throwing yourself into a human meat grinder. In fact, this generation probably saw their parents doing exactly that and the consequences of it, and vowed NEVER to live their life like that.

[chiefzilla1501]

I've seen a lot of impact to middle management. I know people think of robots when it comes to automation. But I've also seen a ton of management move to AI. For example using AI instead of a bunch of researchers. Means not only less entry level researchers but also less need for someone to manage them. Or having a lot of management analysis handled by dashboards.

Workplace productivity is being automated at lightning fast speed and I think the job markets are still massively adapting

[wazu]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't know how married people with kids who work 50 hours a week have any me time at all. How do they have time for ANY hobby? It is mind boggling to me.

The amount of time I spend on my hobbies is astronomical. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Kids become the main hobby, for sure. As mine were growing up I coached their sports and was a boy scout leader. Personally that was good for me, and definitely the most meaningful era of my life. I still had other hobbies, just spent less time on them. Now that my kids are grown I have more time for other things, and I'm enjoying this part as well.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

You are going to feel less connected to your job and company if you work remotely. It's just true. Some of my best memories are working with friends at a fortune 500 company right out of college. Great times and I worked hard for the company, as you should, because I agreed to the pay. Most employees prefer more pay in today's job hopping world than a defined benefit retirement/pension plan. This allows them to contribute to a 401k and that money is theirs. If a person saves appropriately, they would be able to purchase lifetime income at retirement that most likely would be similar to what a pension plan would be, but would have more flexibility to make those decisions. If pension plans were offered, the employer would have to pay less in salary, and this is not appealing to the current workforce. This isn't the big bad employer attacking workers. This is the employer's reaction to the current hiring marketplace.

[Pepe Silvia]

Originally Posted by BWillie

Definitely true. I work 20 hours a week. Feels good.

Is that a Sasquatch Pig in your av?

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by Bl00dyBizkitz

I feel this, too. Unless you love your job to death, how does anyone live a fulfilling life working that much at a job they hate? Providing for your family is one thing, but if thats the only thing, you're effectively throwing yourself into a human meat grinder. In fact, this generation probably saw their parents doing exactly that and the consequences of it, and vowed NEVER to live their life like that.

I think it's easy to get sucked in, even if you don't love your job or get large raises... if you take a lot of pride in your work, you may view it as a personal failure if you aren't able to complete all of your work (even if the workload is too much for one person)... or if people rely on you to get shit done so they can do their job, you don't want to let coworkers down or to be the bottleneck, which also points towards not wanting to be a target for layoffs and thinking working lots of hours means job security.

A lot of people work far out of scope of their normal responsibilities, too, especially if you've been promoted and people still ask you questions or have issues you can fix that were related to your previous position... so then if you'd a people pleaser, it never really crosses your mind to ignore those emails and requests, even if it makes you disgruntled.

Almost all of that comes down to open communication with leadership and a lot of people suck at that, too.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

I think it's easy to get sucked in, even if you don't love your job or get large raises... if you take a lot of pride in your work, you may view it as a personal failure if you aren't able to complete all of your work (even if the workload is too much for one person)... or if people rely on you to get shit done so they can do their job, you don't want to let coworkers down or to be the bottleneck, which also points towards not wanting to be a target for layoffs and thinking working lots of hours means job security.

A lot of people work far out of scope of their normal responsibilities, too, especially if you've been promoted and people still ask you questions or have issues you can fix that were related to your previous position... so then if you'd a people pleaser, it never really crosses your mind to ignore those emails and requests, even if it makes you disgruntled.

Almost all of that comes down to open communication with leadership and a lot of people suck at that, too.

Yeah, I was guilty of all that at a job site. Not because I wanted to stay employed but the way I'm wired when I was working. Tons of time would be devoted to fixing something because I could but my other duties for which I was hired still need to be done too,

[luv]

"In fact, work-life balance and better overall wellbeing now rank among the most important considerations when choosing a new job."

I wonder if the people saying that have mortgages or children. For me, it's still wage and benefits package. Of course, I'm considered an older worker now.

Regarding technology, something I do love is that I now have the opportunity to work from home when my kid is sick or the roads are bad.

It also helps to have an awesome boss who allows me to occasionally alter my schedule (come in early, work through lunch, etc) whenever my kid or I have some sporting thing early in the evening that I need to leave a little early to make.