We came across an interesting article from HR Review recently, which looked at how hard employees in the UK are currently working. Below, we have summarised accordingly.
A recent survey has revealed some surprising statistics on the working state of UK staff, with numbers showing that almost half of us are working much harder than we were last year. Randstad has undertaken a study of 2000 British workers across a number of sectors, which has shown that 40% of participants admit to having to knuckle down compared to September 2012.
43% of all workers quizzed during the survey admitted to being unable to work any harder, with almost two in every five people nearing breaking point. Additionally, more than half of UK workers are working beyond the capacity of one person – which is the equivalent of working seven days a week.
On top of this, the research has also uncovered a minority of incredibly overworked employees who are handling the workload of two or more people. 22% of respondents thought that their jobs should be covered by at least 2 people, with 6% even handling the work of 2.5 employees.
The silver lining is in the financial services sector, where 43% of overworked staff admit that it has helped progress their career. 23% attribute a promotion to the overworked conditions, 13% are thanking it for a recent pay rise and 24% say that it has improved their skills.
Men are seeing the light sooner than women, with 53% of males attributing career progression to their intense workload, whilst only 39% of overworked females are seeing the benefits.
The study also revealed that there are certain professions which are spread thin over the UK, with social care workers being at the top of the pile. 54% of those asked said they work hard already and cannot work any harder, whilst 49% of legal workers have the same worries as do 49% of IT and Technology Professionals.
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