Cyclope-Series Team Blog

According to UK researches from the IT Job Board, 35% of techies are working more than 48 hours per week, 7.3% claim between 60 to 75 hours and 3.8% stated that they work in excess of 75 hours. Comparing these numbers with the last year survey (33%, 4.8% and 2.4% respectively) we see that IT pros are working more and more longer hours.

As for the reasons IT professionals stated for working so much, here are the study’s findings:

• 32% of respondents cited that it was due to the high volumes of work,
• 9% advised they were paid overtime,
• 9.5% stated that it was “what the management expected”

Now, the first question that came up in my mind when I’ve seen that is: “do these people have a personal life?” It is OK to be dedicated to your job, and especially when you are an IT professional and you are working on developing the next major piece of technology everybody will be grateful for, but, there is also a must for finding a balance between work and life.

Being dedicated to your work doesn’t mean that you have to spend all your time working. I perfectly understand that the money you could receive for the overtime is a reason for doing this, but still, there will come one moment when you simply cannot take this anymore, neither physically nor psychically. Furthermore, with all the time passing this way you will accumulate frustrations. Remember that money is not everything and there are many other benefits that employees value more than wages.

Another question that rises into my mind is “Do the longer working hours make them more productive?” Well, it doesn’t seem so. When asked about the impact that longer working hours may be having on their professional and personal lives, respondents advised as follows:

• 34% believed that their work productivity has decreased
• 66% stated that their social life has been affected
• 37% claimed their health had been affected in some way

Taking time for yourself will definitely increase your productivity. Managers must know this, but, before that you should know that this it is only up to you to take that time for yourself.

An interesting conclusion of the survey is that 75% of respondents advised that their company doesn’t pay overtime and 54% claimed to taking work at home. Yet, in spite of this, a whopping 82% said that they had not complained about the longer working hours. So, if the management is not informed about this, how could they take a decision? Communication, my friends, is the key.

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