It’s safe to say that working long hours (>8, but especially >12) is unhealthy and detrimental to the workers’ efficiency. Why do many employers still make their employees work in such long shifts? Medical Doctors and security guards come to my mind straight away. Why not just rotate 3 people within the day to cover it with 8 hour shifts, so that you have rested employees who perform better and make fewer mistakes? Especially since employers usually pay extra for the long shifts and can’t have that employee come in again for 24 or even 48 hours. Someone please shed some light on this…
In: 6
Some people already touched on this and it’s certainly not true for every case or possibly even most, but some jobs have crazy logistics to get the workers on location or set up to work.
One example is in oil and gas. Sometimes the sites are very remote. It can cost thousands of dollars and hours or even a full day to get workers where they need to be. In such cases, you can’t realistically shuttle workers daily. So you work 2-3 weeks then have some time off. Also, wherever the workers are, it’s not like their families are present or there is a bar or any outside entertainment. Most of them would rather work a 12 hour shift and make some more money than an 8 and have 8 hours a day to sit around without much to do and make less.
From the companies perspective, it is almost certainly cheaper to pay for 2 12s than 3 8s, but even excluding that, it’s less housing to provide, less travel, less food, less space needed, and many other factors.
Latest Answers