Forget the long hours - here in Wales we are working less…

DESPITE a perception of people working long hours, new figures show that in Wales we are working less.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that, while full-time hours for employees increased in the early 1990s, since 1996 it has eased off – although the survey suggests that people working at home are not necessarily classifying this as working hours.

The average hours per week, worked by people in the UK in 1996, was 38.5 hours per week, while in Wales it was 39. The Labour Force Survey highlights that the level for both the UK and Wales now stands at just over 37 hours per week.

The survey suggests people could feel like working hours are rising because travel to work times have increased and improved networking technologies mean that more workers are easier to contact outside of work.

The research adds, “There has also been an increase in the percentage of households with internet access from 46% in 2002 to 61% in 2007. It may be that people are increasingly engaged in work-related activities at home, but not registering this in their answers to the Labour Force Survey.

People in management positions work on average (including overtime) 41.1 hours a week. The survey also shows that employees in Wales worked on average (from 2004-05) 1.2 hours of paid overtime a week, with 1.2 unpaid. The survey says, “Managers and professionals averaged more than three hours of unpaid overtime per week.

This entry was posted on 07/10/2007 at 06:34 am and is filed under Research. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.