9 to 5 workday disappearing
You may have noticed the 9 to 5 workday disappearing. With people increasingly living their lives according to our schedules, although this rarely being in our control. Work-life becomes increasingly 24-7. People need to work harder to get schedules up to sync, even for a short time to catch up with friends and family.
Not working 9 to 5
As part of the Life Patterns Project, 500 Australians were monitored from their final years of high school through to the age of 30. Noticing that most make the transition from casual and part-time work into full-time work and ongoing contracts. Although, getting a foot on the career ladder wasn’t easy.
Non-standard hours the new standard hours
Life Patterns longitudinal survey sample, tracking respondents from ages 23 to 29, 2011-2017.
| Age | On a permanent contract | Working full-time | Working standard hours* |
| 23 | 37.9% | 43.8% | 35% |
| 24 | 52.0% | 52.1% | 36% |
| 25 | 62.4% | 60.7% | 33% |
| 26 | 68.8% | 62.9% | 35% |
| 27 | 69.7% | 64.8% | 31% |
| 28 | 70.7% | 69.9% | 25% |
| 29 | 70.0% | 70.3% | 33% |
*From a recurring question asking whether paid employment regularly involves night shifts, working weekends, public holidays.
Source: Life Patterns Survey, Author provided
Many in their earlier years moved from hospitality and retail into professional jobs. Even though only a few still work shifts, most found themselves needing to do work in the evening and on the weekends.
Out of sync
As well as monitoring participant, 50 of them were spoken to. The participants said that working non-standard hours affected relationships. To find out how they were managing relationships around their schedules, they did something different in their newest interviews.
Both the participant and partner/ close friend were monitored. Using a mobile app to check in with them every day for the week they were monitored. They were asked how their week was structured, who they spent time with, and how time together was organized.
The participants found it hard to share quality time with partners and friends. It involved a lot of organizing and messaging and sometimes scheduling apps. One participant reflected:
We’ve got a WhatsApp group and last week I just asked, ‘Is anyone free on Saturday?’ There’s been a few saying, ‘Oh, I could potentially do that.’ But nothing’s set in stone yet. Often when it actually comes around it doesn’t work out. […] There’s a lot of people who can’t, generally because of work commitments.
Who is getting you in sync?
With our lives being so busy we have more associated and acquaintances than our parents and grandparents. But now having to work hard to synchronize free time with friends and family.
Research shows that we are not sharing this work. It tends to be women who do this job for partners and mixed-friend groups. Even before children, making scheduling even more complex. Voicing a common experience:
I do all the scheduling as you might have picked up on. My husband doesn’t do much of that. So I take care of that, I suppose. And that helps us to run things smoothly.
Many others observed that women will do the task of managing the rest of life outside paid work. No matter how much paid work they do, they will do this for the whole family. The job is made harder as non-standard work patterns become more common.
Got time?
Dealing with caring and housework carried by women, the younger generation increasingly facing burnout.
Maybe it’s time to reflect who is carrying the load in our lives. It seems this extra work of synchronizing lives is not being shared equally.
Maybe take them out for thanking them for being so organized. If you can find the time that is…
