2018’s Hardest-Working Cities in America

Research shows that Americans work 25% more hours than their counterparts in Europe. Why do Americans work so much more, and is it worth it?

There’s no single factor, but let me suggest the most important reason: American workers are far weaker compared to their European counterparts due to the collapse of unionism in America’s private sector. Whereas fifty years ago, about one in three American workers belonged to a union, now it’s about one in ten. In the private sector, it’s under seven percent. As a result, American workers are far less able to stand up to employers’ demands, whether it be hours worked, workplace safety, health insurance and pensions, wages, and the like. By contrast, one of the largest, most powerful unions in Germany, IG Metall, just negotiated an incredible package with a group of its employers, including Mercedes-Benz. This deal will give a large portion of the union’s two-plus million members more flexible working hours and a 28-hour week -- down from the current 35-hour week!

Does working more hours always translate into higher productivity? Does this vary by industry or job type?

Not to my knowledge. In fact, let me suggest the opposite. Generally speaking, workers who labor for more hours get tired and, as a result, make more mistakes. Just think about our personal lives: when does one get hurt, say, playing basketball or skiing? It’s when we’re tired, i.e., late in a shift. No doubt, productivity varies by industry and job, but a growing number of countries in Europe have argued that productivity will increase if the total number of hours worked is decreased. For instance, a recent study in Sweden examined what happened when nurses’ shifts were reduced from 8 to 6 hours, and found that productivity rose and workers were happier. Let me suggest another benefit of reducing hours: increasing the number of people with jobs. As population rises and automation continues, spreading work among more people seems quite wise and humane.

What is the ideal numbers of hours to work per week?

No doubt, it varies by occupation, but also by the sort of worker -- age, skill, etc. Let me return to my previous point: as population in the United States and world rises -- and as the pace of automation quickens -- the number of hours each worker will need to labor should decline. American employers ferociously resisted the implementation of 8-hour days for three quarters of a century. Since the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 established the 8-hour day and 5-day week as the norm for hourly workers, there literally has been no movement on this issue. None. Seeing that the FLSA was passed eighty years ago, I believe it is high time that the United States moved to the 6-hour day.

What policies should governments and firms adopt to improve the quality of life of American workers?

Let me suggest that without strong unions, the only other way to seriously improve workers’ quality of life (be they blue-collar, white-collar, whatever), is through public policy. Few employers voluntarily introduce policies to improve quality of life, because they are laser-focused upon this quarter’s profits. I think the most important policy improvement would finally recognize what has been the reality for more than a generation: in most families, every adult works. As a result, there is no one able to look after young children or even school-aged children after they finish school for the day. In short, the United States desperately needs a national system to provide affordable, quality daycare. It’s a no-brainer that it would be immensely popular with most Americans. Instead of claiming to be pro-family, a national daycare system would prove it.

My second suggestion is to create a cheaper, more rational health care system. Sadly, the United States spends more money (in actual dollars and as a percentage of GDP) than any other nation, and gets middling outcomes. That’s bad for people and for business. Sure, America’s got plenty of fancy surgical procedures and prescription drugs, but what we need is a public health system that delivers preventative care at low cost. It has existed in many other countries for decades. Want to improve the quality of life of Americans, workers and non-workers alike? Create a government-run, national health care system, i.e., Medicare for all. It would be way cheaper and would eliminate the profit motive from decisions that should not be dictated primarily by cost. I don’t want someone putting a price tag on my health.

Remember when Sarah Palin famously decried so-called “death panels?” Guess what? They already exist. We call them insurance companies. Caring for our health and our children would be game-changing improvements to America’s quality of life, that would benefit employers, too, as they also are human beings.

Research shows that Americans work 25% more hours than their counterparts in Europe. Why do Americans work so much more, and is it worth it?

Workers in the U.S. work more hours because unions here, which have become smaller and weaker, have been unable to negotiate either a shorter work week, or higher real wages for the past 30 years. Since wages are flat, the only way to earn more is to work more.

Does working more hours always translate into higher productivity? Does this vary by industry or job type?

Productivity, which is the number of person-hours necessary to produce a unit of product, is up 243 percent since 1948. If workers shared equitably in this huge increase in our efficiency, we should either be working half as many hours, or our real wages should have doubled, or some combination of higher wages and shorter hours. Weaker unions have been unable to either raise (real) wages and/or shorten the hours of work in order to share in the productivity bonanza.

What is the ideal numbers of hours to work per week?

Given the increase in productivity, 28-hour work week, like that recently negotiated by German union IG Metall, seems fair.

A shorter work week would be of great benefit to workers, but businesses would benefit as well. Happy, well-rested employees are, it seems to me, likely to be more efficient, and even more productive workers

Research shows that Americans work 25% more hours than their counterparts in Europe. Why do Americans work so much more, and is it worth it?

Americans typically work more hours than workers in Europe, because American employment regulations promote greater working hours. For example, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows hourly workers to get paid time and a half of their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 hours per week, while exempting salary workers with annual salaries greater than $23,660 (the equivalent of an hourly rate of about $11.38). However, the FLSA does not regulate the minimum hours that can be offered to wage workers, and does not cap the maximum number of hours which salary workers can work.

Depending on the industry, the FLSA’s pay regulations have the impact of incentivizing firms to hire many salary workers above the $23,660 threshold, with the understanding that hired workers will need to work more than 40 hours a week, or firms will employ many part-time wage workers in lieu of full-time wage workers who may occasionally work hours in excess of 40 hours per week.

The consequence of firm strategies to minimize paid overtime leads low-skilled workers to work multiple part-time jobs with hours typically totaling more than 40 hours a week, instead of working one full-time job. Alternatively, higher-skilled workers end up working more than 40 hours a week because their higher-salaried jobs require them to. Employers also use independent contractors or temp worker agencies to avoid paying over-time and other employee benefits. Employers’ labor strategies are largely being driven by financial and competitive pressures to keep labor cost down. However, the consequence is that workers are working more hours, while pay rates have been relatively stagnant.

Does working more hours always translate into higher productivity? Does this vary by industry or job type?

Working more hours does not always translate into higher productivity. In fact, higher productivity stems from workers doing more with less, as in working fewer hours of work. Data show that productivity has stagnated, especially after the Great Recession. Therefore, the evidence likely supports the idea that firms, in the aggregate, have not been able to translate more hours into higher productivity. In fact, when you think of the employment strategies I mentioned above, it’s likely that productivity is hindered by the redundancy and waste that comes from workers working multiple jobs in short stints, and from employers keeping salary workers on the clock just because they can and not because of productivity gains.

What is the ideal numbers of hours to work per week?

The ideal number of hours to work per week likely differs from firm to firm, even within the same industry, because of the issues of scaling and access to supply chains. What’s clear is that employers are largely dictating the number of work hours without much input from workers. The latter is supported by recent research into the rise of monopsony employers. This phenomenon is likely contributing to suboptimal returns in productivity.

What policies should governments and firms adopt to improve the quality of life of American workers?

The quality of life of American workers will be greatly improved by greater enforcement of existing labor and anti-trust laws, cracking down on the misclassification of employees, minimizing the use of non-compete agreements, and supporting labor unionization. Together, these policies would restrain employers with monopsony power and increase labor market competition. Furthermore, employers and workers can gain a lot from promoting greater transparency in pay and hours.

Research shows that Americans work 25% more hours than their counterparts in Europe. Why do Americans work so much more, and is it worth it?

In recent decades, several European governments reduced legal working hours, and some collective bargaining agreements in some nations cut working hours. The U.S. did not do so, explaining why Americans work more hours. It’s worth it for those who love their work more than anything else, and it’s not worth it for people who prefer other things (like being with their family or going on vacation). Also, it is far from clear that working more hours is the same as more individual productivity. Studies indicate that some of the time that people spend at work is not very productive at all.

Does working more hours always translate into higher productivity? Does this vary by industry or job type?

The U.S., Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Germany are very competitive in the international economy, though workers in the last three countries work shorter hours. Difference in working hours don’t seem to make much difference in the nation’s productivity. After looking at some data, I find it hard to know how working hours vary by industry. Production workers and transportation workers (truck drivers) are reported to have longer working hours than the average. But some professionals work 60 or more hours a week. These may not be typical for their industries (banking and finance, for example), but the number of people working such hours was increasing a few years ago. Part-time work also can have an effect.

What is the ideal numbers of hours to work per week?

Between 0 and 70 (or 10 hours a day, 7 days a week), depending on how a person wants to spend their time, and how much they value their paycheck compared to how much they value spending time away from work.

What policies should governments and firms adopt to improve the quality of life of American workers?

Americans want good jobs and good wages -- a paycheck that allows them to live comfortably, a job that is secure and not in danger of disappearing, a job that provides some financial security through health insurance and some kind of retirement benefit, a job that protects their dignity, and a job that allows them a reasonable amount of time to spend on their own lives and personal priorities.

Research shows that Americans work 25% more hours than their counterparts in Europe. Why do Americans work so much more, and is it worth it?

I would suggest that Americans work 25% more than our European counterparts because of the culture we have created. We are the United States of America, the land of opportunity and the American Dream. We have been raised in a culture that you get what you work for, and tend to reward the same. I do believe that this may change with our most recent generation of college graduates. They are more comfortable with the idea of a flexible schedule and working to complete something, and not necessarily the hours expected of you.

Does working more hours always translate into higher productivity? Does this vary by industry or job type?

I believe that in any job, there is a breaking point to productivity that is related to both physical and mental fatigue.

What is the ideal numbers of hours to work per week?

I would suggest that this varies depending on industry or job type. Further research and examination of the industry or job type may reveal a breaking point physically and/or mentally, which would help us better identify productivity levels and loss.

What policies should governments and firms adopt to improve the quality of life of American workers?

If any policies are adopted, I believe they should be on a company or firm level. Holistic policies or a "one size fits all" strategy only seems to harm some companies and employees, while helping others. If anything, I would encourage resources to help companies identify when productivity levels may falter at their place of business, and adapt their hours of work based on findings.