41 per cent of professionals work full extra day or more

Most people putting in extra 8 to 12 hours: Survey

Forty-one per cent of Canadian professionals work a full extra day or more of overtime each week, according to research by Regus, based on surveys of more than 44,000 business people from more than 100 countries.

Worldwide, working long hours have become the norm, with most workers putting in at least a small amount of overtime every week.

“With our hyperconnected and global work world, it is no surprise many of us are putting in overtime hours,” said Wayne Berger, vice-president of Regus Canada. “It’s important to be aware of long hours combined with a gruelling commute. Workers could be facing burnout all too soon.”

The majority of Canadians who work overtime are putting in eight to 12 hours more each week, compared to globally where the majority report doing around two to four hours more each week. Additionally, 16 per cent of Canadians are teetering close to burnout and putting in more than 15 hours — basically working the equivalent of a seven-day week, found Regus.

Workers are most likely to put in overtime hours on Mondays (18 per cent), while on Fridays, only seven per cent reported they work longer hours. On weekends, 14 per cent and 13 per cent reported they work on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Key findings:

•Workers in central Canada are more likely to put in eight to 12 hours at 20.5 per cent, followed by western Canada at 18 per cent, Quebec at 16.3 per cent and Eastern Canada at 15.8 per cent.

•Only 12 per cent of Canadians report doing one or less hours of overtime, meaning that if Canadians are putting in overtime, it is a substantial amount of time.

•16 per cent report putting in two to eight hours, 16 per cent are working 15+ hours, only 12 per cent are working one hour or less.

•Globally, 38 per cent of professionals work a full extra day or more. In Canada, the number rises to 41 per cent.

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