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

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by Dayze

I’m definitely jaded after 25 yeats of busting my ass in project management
My current role I’ve been in since 2021 after getting whacked after yet another major 5+yr project. I recently had my review and had a AA rating which is bacially “exceeds expectations” . It yielded me a whopping 3.3%. Last year I “met expectations” and got a 2% raise. All the pain and aggravation of meeting goals and objectives and busting my ass wasn’t worth the 1.3% extra .

I’m at the point in life I have zero desire to climb back into management or move up the ladder. It ain’t worth it at all. I’ve hated the field I’ve been in for 25 years, soul sucking work. Zero accomplishment. Zero reward. Zero sense of achievement. Zero interest. Just a meat grinder.

I couldn’t believe that 3.3% bullshit, just makes me want to do the bare minimum lime 95% of the office.

Look at the bright side

3.3% is better than being unceremoniously terminated due to yet another org restructure!

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

I was trying a bit ago to think of this in your perspective.

I have a 12' shelf upstairs with a lot of stuff that has been replaced by your phone.
Polaroid camera, 2 Nikon 35mm cameras, early digital cameras, Cannon video camera, early GPS units, wall phones, a battery powered 4 in hand held tv, small recorder, variety of early cell phones etc. etc.

So if you add the price of all of those up they would easily come to the price you are paying for the latest phones.

I guess it is all about perspective.

There are certainly people out there that buy the newest phone every year or two. Those people are going to make poor financial decisions their whole life across multiple avenues.

I’m just in the season of life where I get to pay roughly $1500/month in childcare. A grand ain’t shit anymore unfortunately

[Pablo]

Originally Posted by notorious

Don’t forget those super-expensive flat-panel television sets.

If I look back at electronics from my early childhood there were OBSCENELY priced compared to today. A video game has been $60 for the last 30 years and a system $500 as well

How the hell did my dad, a factory worker, afford that shit unless his dollar was just worth much much more than mine?

I guess at least he had factory jobs that paid a living wage to choose from.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Different priorities. A phone is just a communication device. We didn't walk around bumping into shit while staring at a phone. We were actually involved with our surroundings instead being consumed by the abstract.

When I was 6 I could tell you the make and model of every car on the road as I wasn't looking down at a phone or gameboy etc.

Now it is the norm to see a person driving a 3000 lb vehicle down the road a speed staring at their phone. I wish their was a requirement for the phone makers to have them disabled while driving.

Retired relatives spend about 16 hours/day on their iPad... and I know this because they constantly post dumb shit on FB saying their generation was/is different and "wE'rE nOt ThE sAmE" .....sorry, but shouldn't you be outside interacting with other humans from that high horse of yours?

Posts from the thewaywewere
community on Reddit

[Mosbonian]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Retired relatives spend about 16 hours/day on their iPad... and I know this because they constantly post dumb shit on FB saying their generation was/is different and "wE'rE nOt ThE sAmE" .....sorry, but shouldn't you be outside interacting with other humans from that high horse of yours?

Posts from the thewaywewere
community on Reddit

Actually since I retired I spend less time on places like Facebook, X (Twitter) and other chat rooms I used to frequent.

I will admit to being on here more than I used to be, but my overall time online has shrunk a great deal.

Part of that is due to trying to get healthy...and realizing that the aforementioned places are nothing but trash for the most part these days.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Average salary in the US is currently 64k. A standard 3% raise is less than 2k a year. And they try like hell not to promote many if any people in corporate.

Getting certifications and skills with experience can get you a 10+% raise in a new job. No wonder people job hop

That's just not true, at least not in general. I work for a large corporation and have had several opportunities for promotion. It's true that they don't generally give raises other than year-to-yesr COL but there's plenty of opportunities to move up, maybe moreso because the company is massive.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by HemiEd

Interesting. I can see that if you are going to get your phone as part of a package/contract.

A while back I tried to switch to one of those $25 per month per line spinoffs of our current provider, Verizon, and they told me my old Pixel 3 phone couldn't handle it. It grinds my butt to pay the Verizon bill each month but out here that is seems to be the best choice.

Yeah, my point was that you can somewhat tell what people are paying by what device they are using. If you see your Uber driver with an iPhone 12 or a Samsung A15, they're probably paying $25 a month for Metro or Total. If they have the latest 16 Pro or Galaxy S25, they're probably paying $40 or more for AT&T or T-Mobile.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by notorious

Don’t forget those super-expensive flat-panel television sets.

They're not super expensive. You could buy 4 or 5 55-inch TVs for the price of a new iPhone.

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by notorious

I am an owner of a small business, and I can guarantee that the motivated and productive get raises and often.

Big business are terrible when it comes to this.

Not a big business, but I worked for a guy for a year and half, 60 hours a week and after a year with no raise, I bolted.

It was destiny, because it's what motivated me to jump off the cliff/flap my wings and become self employed.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by Pablo

If I look back at electronics from my early childhood there were OBSCENELY priced compared to today. A video game has been $60 for the last 30 years and a system $500 as well

How the hell did my dad, a factory worker, afford that shit unless his dollar was just worth much much more than mine?

I guess at least he had factory jobs that paid a living wage to choose from.

I was 4 or 5 when my father bought an Intellivision from the local small town drug store.

$300. That's $1200 today. I'd tell my kids to play in traffic if they asked me to pay that for a Switch or XBOX.

We had two Betamax (yep, we were that family) video recorders so we could rent and record. Those things were insane expensive.

I'm not even going to look into what he paid for the Apple IIe I wrote papers on.....

[stevieray]

Originally Posted by Bearcat

Retired relatives spend about 16 hours/day on their iPad... and I know this because they constantly post dumb shit on FB saying their generation was/is different and "wE'rE nOt ThE sAmE" .....sorry, but shouldn't you be outside interacting with other humans from that high horse of yours?

Posts from the thewaywewere
community on Reddit

The difference is, they didn't read it throughout the day.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by notorious

I was 4 or 5 when my father bought an Intellivision from the local small town drug store.

$300. That's $1200 today. I'd tell my kids to play in traffic if they asked me to pay that for a Switch or XBOX.

We had two Betamax (yep, we were that family) video recorders so we could rent and record. Those things were insane expensive.

I'm not even going to look into what he paid for the Apple IIe I wrote papers on.....

I paid about $2000 for my IIc portable with 16-color monitor.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by Pablo

If I look back at electronics from my early childhood there were OBSCENELY priced compared to today. A video game has been $60 for the last 30 years and a system $500 as well

How the hell did my dad, a factory worker, afford that shit unless his dollar was just worth much much more than mine?

I guess at least he had factory jobs that paid a living wage to choose from.

Games actually went down in price in the early 2000's. They were around $50 current gen in the 360 era. Then $60. And now the starting price for a AAA with no battle pass or add-ons is $70.

[notorious]

Originally Posted by stevieray

Not a big business, but I worked for a guy for a year and half, 60 hours a week and after a year with no raise, I bolted.

It was destiny, because it's what motivated me to jump off the cliff/flap my wings and become self employed.

He lost a lot of talent because he was short-sighted.

I have a talk with every one of my employees when they've been around for years. I ask them what they really want in life, stability or wealth. I can provide stability along with a lot of help in their personal lives, but I can't provide wealth. If they want to chase wealth they are going to need to go out on their own.

Most people are happy with working for someone they respect and pays what they are worth. They don't want the stress of being boss/owner, and that's just fine, it's not for everyone.

My best days are when I get to jump in and drag knuckles with my employees. They see I'm pretty damn good at it, and that they are learning from someone that knows exactly what they are doing. It beats the heck out of customer relations, quotes, management (although I enjoy that, too).

[notorious]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

Games actually went down in price in the early 2000's. They were around $50 current gen in the 360 era. Then $60. And now the starting price for a AAA with no battle pass or add-ons is $70.

Games used to be expensive due to material cost. Material cost is now dirt cheap but development of games is basically a movie-budget.