Working 9-6pm: how the extra hour of work crept in and why it matters
How we quietly started working an extra hour a day
- The standard 9-to-5 workday has become increasingly rare in the UK, with many workers now contracted for longer hours, often 9am to 6pm.
- While average weekly working hours in the UK have decreased over the past 30 years, many people report working 40-hour weeks or more.
- Though the eight-hour workday was championed as early as the 1800s and adopted by some companies like Ford in the 1920s, current UK law allows for longer work weeks with employee consent, leading to a culture of unpaid overtime.
- Studies suggest longer workdays do not necessarily equate to higher productivity, with some research indicating a decline in output after 50 hours per week.
- Trials of shorter workdays, such as the six-hour workday in Sweden, have shown positive results, including increased profits and improved employee well-being.
