Extreme Workers

[tryan]

Here's the skinny on the latest extreme worker ....

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/sto...x?guid={EC1EE1B6-BDB9-4A49-BAA5-88A119217734}

 

[Gumby]

..

 

[My Dream]

I can relate, but I I'm retired now and I don't want to second guess the decisions I made even though it took a toll on my and my family. It's in the past, I now look towards the future.

 

[CCdaCE]

I work 60 hr. weeks in the summer, since the Contractor usually works from sunup to sundown. But, outside of this, I don't understand why people have to work 70+ hr. weeks?

Is it the volume of work (employer needs to hire more staff)? Worker inefficiency?

I've seen how worker efficiency plummets after about 50-60 hrs., it seems. To me it just doesn't pay to pay employees after 50 hrs. or so, unless it is mundane/mindless/etc. work. Even then, simple errors are made.

-CC

 

[brewer12345]

But, outside of this, I don't understand why people have to work 70+ hr. weeks?

Firm culture in many cases. Investment banking, traders, research people, etc. are expected to work pretty much around the clock in many firms. Part of it is competition, since even the biggest bonus pool has to be doled out in some fashion. Part of it is the nature ofthe work - you wanna be the one to tell your client that you can't get his IPO done in time because you didn't want to work over 40 hours? Part of it is just idiot face time crap.

 

[REWahoo]

I work 60 hr. weeks in the summer, since the Contractor usually works from sunup to sundown. But, outside of this, I don't understand why people have to work 70+ hr. weeks?

Note that the 70+ hour figure includes commute time which could easily add 15 or more hours to the weekly total.

 

[Goonie]

I do a 40 hour week....and a TOTAL commute time of < 1 hour per week.....2 miles from my driveway to my parking space. About 3.5 minutes in a.m., and 6 minutes in the p.m.

If it wasn't for those loooong commutes, I wouldn't be leaving to FIRE in April.

 

[boutros]

One of the reasons that I like my company so much is that it allows for a balanced work life. I work 40 - 45 hours. The employee who works the longest might log 50 during a busy week. That seems rare for a financial company. Since it is the norm here my compensation does not suffer from lack of face time.

 

[Texas Proud]

With the commute, I fall into the 50 to 60....

But, when I was young and at a big 8 accounting firm, it was not unusual to put in 80 to 100 chargeable hours a week PLUS the 10 or so hours of cummute... that is why I left..

 

[Nords]

Here's the skinny on the latest extreme worker ....

'
Where the $%^& were these people when I was trying to write a submarine duty watchbill?

 

[Arc]

Adding the commute hurt me - 10 hours a week minimum in the car. Using tapes and CDs, I've learned a ton in my 400-500 of annual commuting time.

I'm just grateful you didn't inlcude time spent on work e-mail from home. I would have cried.

 

[Leonidas]

Didn't have much of a commute. Work day usually started at 10 (our motto was "we fight crime, not traffic"), and the drive to the office was about twenty minutes at that time of the day. Of course, the work day might not end for three or four days, but most times I was home around 0200-0300. Averaged 75 + hours a week for 10 years, and a "light" week was 60 hours.

 

[slepyhed]

I think we should make it our duty to ask those extreme workers:

"What do you *DO* all day?!?"

 

[brewer12345]

I think we should make it our duty to ask those extreme workers:

"What do you *DO* all day?!?"

Build extremely detailed spreadsheets to understand how companies generate cash and guess at how much they will generate in the future.

 

[My Dream]

I think we should make it our duty to ask those extreme workers:

"What do you *DO* all day?!?"

Well I'll tell ya, I was self employed and if I didn't work I didn't get paid. First rule of thumb for me was, never let the competition in ( as well as know the comp.).
When it got to busy for me to handle, I tried hiring through newpaper, word of mouth, placement & employment agencies, etc. I didn't have a lot of people to chose from so I picked the most qualified. Bottom line I tried my best to train but let them all go. Let it be know that my best employee was my wife, although she couldn't take the pressure or work load (construction industry). I put in as many hours as need to get the job done. It took such a toll on me and my family but at least now I'm retired.

 

[retire@40]

When I was at my busiest, I never had time to figure out how many hours I was working.

I would put in 12 to 16 hour days, 7 days a week for a long stretch. My life felt like one continuous day. The only good feeling I had is that I was busting my hump for myself, not for an ungrateful company. And I got to keep 100% of the profits, making myself rich.

Made lots of money and saved lots of it, mostly because I didn't have time to spend it.

PRO: Almost no stress now. Put me well ahead of most people in terms of wealth and has allowed me to semi-retire and enjoy the next few decades while I'm still young. More QUALITY time with family and friends, expansion of hobbies, more time to exercise.

CON: Sucked up lots of my young life and caused me to burn out early. Maybe even shaved off a few years from my life (unless stress damage is reversable).

No regrets though.

 

[martyb]

Normally 40 hrs per week, and 1 weekend per month at 18 hours for the typical weekend. My commute time each way is <20 minutes.

 

[azanon]

No wonder why so many of you want to quit ASAP.

Counting leave and federal holidays, mine comes out to 35.5hrs/week average.

 

[brewer12345]

No wonder why so many of you want to quit ASAP.

Counting leave and federal holidays, mine comes out to 35.5hrs/week average.

Must leave you lots of time to stare in the mirror, spout bullshit, and cheat on your wife.

 

[slepyhed]

Well I'll tell ya, I was self employed and if I didn't work I didn't get paid. First rule of thumb for me was, never let the competition in ( as well as know the comp.).
When it got to busy for me to handle, I tried hiring through newpaper, word of mouth, placement & employment agencies, etc. I didn't have a lot of people to chose from so I picked the most qualified. Bottom line I tried my best to train but let them all go. Let it be know that my best employee was my wife, although she couldn't take the pressure or work load (construction industry). I put in as many hours as need to get the job done. It took such a toll on me and my family but at least now I'm retired.

Yes, you were busy and worked long hours. But what were you *doing* during those hours?

Brewer said he's making spreadsheets. This I can understand because I make spreadsheets, but I guess not nearly as many.

I've looked into being self-employed, and its always the same thing: You'll work around the clock. But doing what? That's the mystery...

 

[My Dream]

Yes, you were busy and worked long hours. But what were you *doing* during those hours?

Brewer said he's making spreadsheets. This I can understand because I make spreadsheets, but I guess not nearly as many.

I've looked into being self-employed, and its always the same thing: You'll work around the clock. But doing what? That's the mystery...

You ask what I was doing during those hours, why I was doing physical labor, in other words I was unloading uncrating, installing, cleaning attending deadline meetings etc. etc. etc. It wasn't doing paperwork (usually done on weekends), purchasing, soliciting work and such, it was doing the actual installation of the contract. There was no time wasted on breaks and such, to me time was money, when ever you weren't productive, you stopped making money, when you made mistakes you lost money.

I hope this answered your question

MD

 

[slepyhed]

...
I hope this answered your question

MD

Actually, it does. Thanks!

 

[accountingsucks]

I generally work from 8 to 4:30 although often I work thru lunches, so I'm around 40 hours. I'm a supervisor at a largish company. I'm a bit worried about this b/c there was another supervisor who worked the same hours and she has been replaced - mat leave - by someone who likes putting in 60+ hour weeks (even though she is doing the exact same stuff that the person who left was doing in 40 hours), and now my boss has just handed in his resignation, and he normally put in 40 hour weeks. I'm pretty sure we'll get a NAZI type boss in, and it will look bad for me to put in 40 hour weeks when the other supervisor and the new boss are putting in more time. Sucks that I get my work done in the 40 hour timeframe, but looks like I'll have to put in face time.

 

[Meadbh]

I clocked in as extreme. I am an academic physician specializing in intensive care. What do I do all day? It varies. I spend a lot of time saving lives and that's what generates most of my income. When on the ICU my workweek is generally ~90 hours and I am on call 24/7. At other times I am teaching, doing research and administration. Administration is NOT useless paper pushing; it includes, for example, leading initiatives that help to improve the healthcare we deliver. I travel a lot to speak at conferences and consult. I get a lot of work done on planes. I generally get 40-50 emails a day, about half of which require some action on my part, so I have to keep up when out of town. The powers that be are encouraging us to get Blackberries, but I value what privacy I have and I am not going there!

Meadbh