The Global Workweek Debate: How Many Hours Should Employees Really Work?

The classic nine-to-five work schedule persists in many parts of the world, yet its actual implementation varies significantly across industries and cultures. According to a comprehensive new survey of labor-force data conducted by Amory Gethin of the World Bank and Emmanuel Saez of the University of California, Berkeley, the world's employed adult population works an average of 42 hours per week. This figure, however, masks considerable diversity influenced by gender, age, and levels of economic development. While the 40-hour week remains a normative benchmark, the reality of work schedules is far from uniform, with many jobs not neatly fitting into five eight-hour days.

Cultural Perspectives on Work Hours

How long people should work is a question that elicits varied responses based on cultural norms and economic conditions. A revealing research paper by Gregor Jarosch, Laura Pilossoph, and Anthony Swaminathan of Duke University explored this by asking workers in three countries what pay adjustments they would accept to modify their workweek. The findings highlight stark contrasts:

In Germany, workers expressed a preference for a shorter workweek of around 37 hours, willing to sacrifice some income for more leisure time.
In Britain, similar tendencies were observed, with employees valuing work-life balance.
In contrast, Americans indicated a desire to work longer hours for higher pay, possibly reflecting financial insecurities or differing cultural attitudes toward work.

This divergence underscores how national contexts shape perceptions of the optimal workweek, with some prioritizing leisure and others focusing on monetary gain.

Productivity and the Diminishing Returns of Long Hours

From a productivity standpoint, evidence suggests that excessively long work hours may not yield proportional benefits. John Pencavel of Stanford University analyzed the output of British munitions workers during World War I and found that beyond 48 hours, each additional hour contributed less to overall output. After 63 hours, extra time did not increase total production at all. This pattern, observed even in high-stakes environments, raises questions about the efficiency of extended workweeks. As Jarosch notes, people rarely perform their best work on Friday afternoons, hinting at the universal challenge of maintaining productivity over long periods.

Cost, Safety, and Quality Considerations

Managers must also weigh factors like cost, safety, and quality when determining work hours:

Cost Efficiency: Increasing the hours of existing employees can spread fixed costs, such as healthcare benefits, over more time, potentially making it more economical than hiring new staff with additional overheads.
Safety Risks: Fatigue from long shifts can have serious consequences. A study by Tanguy Brachet of Charles River Associates and colleagues on paramedics in Mississippi found that performance declined during emergencies at the end of long shifts, sometimes with fatal outcomes.
Quality of Work: For some roles, experience gained through longer hours might offset fatigue. Research by Marion Collewet of Leiden University and Jan Sauermann on part-time call-center agents in the Netherlands showed that while extra hours did not increase call volume, work quality improved slightly, possibly due to increased practice with specific customer issues.

The Ethos of Long Hours in Business and Innovation

In certain sectors, long work hours are seen as essential for success. Startups often require all-nighters as founders scramble to launch their ventures, with heavy workloads falling on few shoulders. Even as companies grow, some leaders advocate for maintaining high intensity. For instance, Sergey Brin reportedly suggested that a 60-hour week is optimal for productivity in Google's AI teams. Similarly, Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, has argued that India's prosperity depends on workweeks exceeding 70 hours. In established firms, putting in extra hours is often viewed as a pathway to promotion, echoing Elon Musk's belief that world-changing achievements rarely happen on a 40-hour workweek.

Alternative Approaches and Managerial Signals

Beyond these perspectives, some argue that the optimal workweek should be defined by output rather than hours, or that policymakers and advancements in AI might reshape work norms. Ultimately, how one answers the question of ideal work hours reflects not only industry and national culture but also personal priorities as a manager. Whether emphasizing work-life balance, productivity, cost, safety, quality, or work ethic, each approach sends a signal about what is valued in the workplace, making this debate a revealing lens into leadership styles and organizational goals.