It’s official: Gen Y employees work the least amount of hours compared to any other age group and business owners are working the most, a new study by BankWest reveals.
But BankWest business chief executive Ian Corfield says there has been a downward trend in working hours across all age groups over the past 10 years, and that new technology is allowing workers to strike a balanced work/life relationship.
Corfield says business owners should consider investigating new ways to integrate technology into their businesses so they can work on-the-move.
“People should be looking at how they can use technology. At the end of the day, this is about productivity. Personally, I don’t care whether someone puts in nine hours or 10 hours, as long as they get their job done.”
The survey found Gen Y workers put in the lowest hours out of any age group, being the only generation to work under an average of 40 hours each week. Those aged between 14-24 put in an average of 39.5 hours, with 25-34 year olds working an average of 40.6 hours each week.
But small businesses owners are still the hardest working, the survey found, with entrepreneurs working an average of 50.7 hours every week. Government employees in the public sector worked the fewest at 36.8 hours.
Corfield says he is surprised at the results, but also says the survey shows how employers can learn from Gen Y in striking a good work/life balance.
“We think a couple of drivers are pushing this trend forward. One is the use of new technology, as people obviously have BlackBerrys, computers and so on, meaning they are tied to their desk a bit less.”
“But I also do think there is a genuine shift in the attitude of workers and bosses, getting a bit of balance in their lives. As you can see from the study, expectations are shifting and you just can’t expect Gen Y workers to be putting in 18 hours every day.”
Corfield says gone are the days where younger workers, who are hoping to move up in their career paths and make contacts, will be putting in the long hours. However, he says business owners are still expecting them to make those commitments, creating a psychological divide.
“You can see that entrepreneurs and business owners are still putting in a lot of hours. Expectations are still high that other generations will follow.”
“What surprises me is that Generation Y, given they want to try to climb the greasy poll, aren’t putting in the same amount of hours. In fact, they’re putting in less.”
However, Corfield doesn’t believe this to be a bad thing. In fact, he says the survey clearly demonstrates a downward trend for working hours across all generations – Australian full-time workers now put in an average of 41.4 hours each week, compared to 42.7 hours 10 years ago.
As a result, Australians have given up an equivalent of eight working days over the year compared to 2000. And the over-55s generation has recorded the largest decline, losing two hours each week over the past 10 years.
Even business owners, the hardest working group, have reduced their hours from an average of 53.3 hours in 2000 to 50.7 in 2010. Corfield argues that trend will continue as more technology allows bother owners and employees to work remotely.
“That trend applies across all generations. We’ve done previous studies on the use of technology, and actually, baby boomers are some of the biggest adopters of this stuff and as a result, they’ve begun to cut back their hours.”
“And I don’t think this is necessarily a bad trend, either. I think Gen Y have seen the long hours being put in by Baby Boomers and Gen X over the past decade, and have decided they want a better work/life balance.”
Corfield points to a statistic showing the number of workers putting in over 60 hours per week has fallen from 13% to 11%. The proportion of employees working 35-39 hours per week has increased from 20% to 23% of workers.
The survey also reveals workers in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries work the hardest, with average hours remaining at 50.9 for the past decade. Mining comes in second with a 0.7 decline to 45.5, while accommodation and food services workers have seen their hours fall by 1.3.
Workers in the information media and telecommunications, health care and social assistance and public administration and safety industries work the least, with 39.9, 38.1 and 36.8 hours each week respectively.
One particular statistic reveals hours worked by both full-time and part-time employees increased during the global financial crisis. He says although many business owners are putting in more work as the economy continues to recover, he notes the survey should act as “hope” for many SMEs.
“The clearest thing for business owners through this study is that, you can see during the financial crisis that hours increased. Many business owners are putting in a lot of hours, but there is some hope as the general trend over the last 10 years has been a downward trend in hours worked.”
The study also found one quarter of part-time workers want more hours each week, 6% of part-time workers are searching for more full-time work and Western Australian full-time workers are putting in the most hours at 42.2 every week.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
