Nearly half of people at work (45 per cent) want to work fewer hours, and more than two million people (one in ten employees) would downshift by giving up pay for a better work-life balance according to a TUC analysis of official figures published today (Monday) in the run up to Work Your Proper Hours Day (Friday 24 February).
People working in mining and quarrying are the unhappiest with their hours, and have the largest proportion who want fewer hours even if it means losing pay. Hotels and restaurant staff are the least likely to want fewer hours or give up pay for more time off - probably reflecting the large numbers of part-time and low-paid jobs in hospitality.
Other than the relatively small mining and quarrying sector, the two groups who most want to downshift are the education and the financial services sectors. In both nearly one in six employees (14 per cent) want to reduce their hours even if it means giving up pay.
Manufacturing, transport and communication complete the list of sectors where more than half the workforce wants fewer hours.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, Most people enjoy their jobs most of the time, but nearly half would like to work fewer hours. Worryingly, more than two million are so desperate to downshift that they would give up pay in return for a better work-life balance.
But all our long hours are not making us more productive. Too many workplaces are gripped by a long hours culture, which staff and managers could easily work together to tackle.
Work Your Proper Hours Day this Friday is the ideal time to get started with more happy hours and fewer long hours.
The TUC has published the figures in the run-up to Work Your Proper Hours Day on Friday 24 February. This is the day that those who do unpaid overtime would start, on average, to get paid if they did all their unpaid work at the start of the year. The TUC is urging staff to work their proper hours and take a full lunch break on that day, and for employers to thank their staff for their hard work by taking them for lunch, a cocktail or coffee.
At the work your proper hours day website www.workyourproperhoursday.com victors can:
Send their boss an anonymous ’bossagram’ through the site, which will email their boss on Friday 24 February to tell them it’s Work Your Proper Hours Day and that they should take their staff out for a drink to say thanks for their hard work.
Work out how much their unpaid overtime is worth in lost wages using our online calculator.
Play ’9-5’ the addictive Work Your Proper Hours Day game where puppies work like dogs.
Take an unpaid overtime quiz to find out what kind of long hours worker they are and read guidance on how employees and managers can tackle the long hours culture.
The figures come from a TUC analysis of the Labour Force Survey, the government’s authoritative regular survey of all aspects of working life which interviews 60,000 households. The figures below are given by the main standard occupations. A more detailed breakdown by 49 occupations is available at: www.tuc.org.uk/extras/wyphd06downshift.pdf
Sector Percent wanting fewer hours percent wanting fewer hours even if less pay Mining quarrying 56.8% 17.5% Manufacturing 53.7% 12.2% Financial intermediation 52.6% 14.1% Transport storage & communication 51.6% 10.2% Construction 49.4% 9.5% Electricity, gas & water supply 49.1% 10.9% Business services 48.9% 13.0% Public administration & defence 48.0% 11.2% Education 42.7% 14.2% Agriculture hunting & forestry 42.1% 9.4% Wholesale , retail & motor trade 39.0% 9.2% Health & social work 38.2% 11.2% Other community social & personal 38.1% 10.5% Hotels & restaurants 30.7% 6.6% Total 45.1% 11.3%
Nearly half workforce want to work fewer hours
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