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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
While some Australians may think they are working harder than ever, new research has found that people are spending less time on the job.
According to the Bankwest Working Times report, full time workers put in an average of 41.4 hours a week – slightly less than the 42.7 hours worked on average last decade.
Small business owners were found to work the longest hours in Australia, with an average of 50.7 hours a week, while government employees worked the least amount of hours.
Bankwest Business chief executive Ian Corfield said the Bankwest analysis of the latest quarterly Labour Force data openly challenges what many Australians have long taken for granted - that we are all working longer and harder than ever before.
“I’m sure many of us would be astounded to learn that as a nation we each are actually working fewer hours than we were back in 2000,” Mr Corfield said.
“I think there’s little doubt that many of us are working harder than ever before, but our research shows this doesn’t mean we are necessarily working longer.
“The thing to remember of course is that for many of us the day doesn’t end when we switch off the computer and go home, many Australians are still working with blackberries and laptop computers at home at night and over the weekend.
“Even so, our research shows we are actually spending 68 hours less in the office every year, which equates to more than eight working days off compared to 2000.”
