A typical week for many people in a non-pandemic work environment consists of working an average of 40 hours per week, occasionally working a few hours of overtime. However, because of the pandemic, research conducted shows that “home-working employees in the United Kingdom, Austria, Canada and the United States are putting in more hours than before” (CNN). There are a few explanations as to why employees are working longer hours compared to pre pandemic times. To start, employees that are working from home do not have to commute to work, which normally takes up a significant amount of time. Instead of driving back and forth to their workplace, employees can squeeze a little more time and productivity into their days. Additionally, home working employees are in their own home environment, which gives people a more comfortable surrounding. According to the chart below, the United states has seen an average of a 32-minute increase for “nine to six” workers. Although the average work week for most Americans is about 40 hours, investment bankers work more than double that. Even before the pandemic struck, investment bankers were working an average of 90-hour work weeks (Investopedia). A junior banker from Goldman Sachs mentioned, “The sleep deprivation, the treatment by senior bankers, the mental and physical stress… I’ve been through foster care and this is arguably worse.” Regardless of the job, there is a clear increase in the number of hours people are working.
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