Americans are working less: The reason why the work week in the US is decreasing
A trend has been developing over the past five years of Americans that work full-time putting in less hours on average. Here’s what’s behind the shift.
American workers with full-time jobs have been working less and less hours over the past five years according to a recent Gallup analysis. The weekly average has dropped by over an hour between 2019 and 2024 from 44.1 hours to 42.9 hours.
However, this downward trend is more pronounced among younger workers, those under 35, compared to older workers. The younger cohort is working nearly two hours less per week versus less than one hour on average among those age 35 and older.
Over the course of a year, that reduction in time adds up to one week for older workers and two weeks for the younger ones. So, what is driving this trend? The analytics and consulting company has a few ideas from other data they’ve collected.
Technology is helping worker productivity but employee motivation and wellbeing is declining
Artificial intelligence, while there is a threat that it could make many workers redundant, holds the promise of making workers much more efficient. According to the data collected by Gallup, 45% of respondents to their survey said that AI has helped make them more productive at work.
But on the other hand, employee engagement has sunken to a 10-year low, which could spell trouble for long-term growth. Additionally, there is increased detachment from employers among workers as their trust in them falters.
Furthermore, especially young workers nowadays consider their wellbeing and maintaining an adequate work-life balance as one of the most important factors when choosing a new job. In another survey, Gallup found that less than 30% of respondents to a life evaluation survey in 2023 said that they were thriving. The rest said that they were struggling or even suffering.
Burnout potential major factor in fewer hours worked
Gallup warns that “leaders and managers should view burnout as a red flag.” Not only can it hurt the employee’s motivation and performance, but also overall productivity and be costly for the organization due to higher turnover. Among employees who say they always or very often feel burned out, 74% are more likely to be seeking another job.
Factors that can drive burnout beyond working too many hours include ”being treated unfairly at work, receiving unclear communication from managers, lack of manager support and experiencing unreasonable time pressure,” notes Gallup.
It’s up to managers to tackle these issues in the workplace and not solely focus on the number of hours workers are putting in. Gallup recommends “staying closely connected to each employee, ideally weekly.” That way they can align the tasks that need to be accomplished with each worker’s strengths while at the same time accommodating for the unique work-life needs of each of their employees.
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