Why do we have to work 9-5?

Question

I have just read an answer from a certain Mr m4rkowen, and it raised a question that I have pondered over for a long time now....

Why on earth do we all have to work 9-5???

Ok, not all, but that is still typical office hours. Nearly all offices run at some time between 8 and 6pm, meaning everybody is on the road at the same time, to take a doctors appointment means time off work (costing the economy) and its tricky for some to pick up the kids from school.

Would it not make sense for working hours to be staggered between different workplaces? After all, most business to business requires admin time, this could be done when the other side has gone home or before they arrive to work and vice versa.

We live in a global economy and I cant see the UK shutting down overnight from this, after all we can currently do business with anyone from a one hour to a 12 hour time difference.

9-5 is sooooooo 20th Century! Would another way work?

Nobody is moaning and it would make sense for everything to run 24-7 that way we could, to a certain extent, choose what works best for us

Answer 1

A large enough organisation could have its staff working round the clock. Many industries rely, in fact, on the availability of skeleton staff/key workers to work unusual hours in order to communicate with people in areas like the Far East. Some industries couldn't continue unless people were prepared to work in round the clock shifts (airports, hospitals, police, for example). However, we are human beings and social animals. Not all of us fancy the idea of being stuck at work in the middle of the night, in social isolation as far as keeping in touch with family and friends is concerned, simply for the sake of avoiding the rush hour/being able to keep medical appointments/picking up the kids from school. Indeed, lone parents should be discouraged from being absent from home at such times, for obvious reasons. With our present system, we know that we can in general terms get in touch with people at their place of business during conventional working hours, and they with us. Flexi arrangements give sufficient leeway to those workers lucky enough to have them to expand the main working day of their place of employment and to be more available for keeping appointments with doctors and schools. Maybe your suggested new order of things will be introduced at some point in the future, but I don't see it happening for a very long time indeed.

Answer 2

A lot of people work different hours from that, though it is the accepted business "norm", mainly so one business can expect another to be up and running at the same time. Even businesses operating those hours often work a flexi-time system, where workers in some posts can come in earlier, leave earlier, whatever.
I have a son who starts at 0430 and finishes at 1230, so he's there to accept and process early deliveries. Loves it, as he can go the the beach in the afternoons, well, weather permitting, but it cramps his partying style!

Answer 3

you will find alot of major workplaces have already started to deal with this issue, in offering flexi time and shift patterns. thi sway the work gets done and the ecomony booms.

do the call centres not prove that to you ..
i remember a time when helplines were only available within a couple hours of office hours.

my career has led me to work with all the major global economies, USA,China, Japan, Germany .. and to be honest , business flows whatever the time difference ....

and generally these hours are chosen as they represent daylight hours ..... and it makes sense that all business work at a generl time (09-4) ..so all comapnaies an schedule deliveries, meetings and dispatches etc

Answer 4

i know very few people that work 9 to 5.. most are on a flexible system..

9 to 5 was once adhered to for the convenience of daytime as in daylight..due to technology of the day. a lot of things at the time were just not feasible for night time work, and some were of a more traditional nature as in marriage, there was no day care or child care at the work place . in a nut shell at those times it was simple logistics


as progress has evolved we have moved on to a system better suited to the world in stead of each country.. a lot of companies now employ a 24 hour type system for world wide trade..

Answer 5

I would love to work 9-5!!!

I think very few places work these hours now.

I'm a nurse and I'm sick and tired of doing early shifts, late shifts and night shifts all in the same week, sometimes with only a few hours turnover.

You try finishing work at midnight (when you couldn't get away on time), arriving home at after 0100 hours, then back in work at 06.30. Would you be moaning about 9 to 5 then?

Answer 6

Because Dolly Parton would have sounded silly singing 8 till 4

Answer 7

I wish i can work from 9 to 5.....its the other way around pal I work from 8 Pm to 6 Am...and sleep like owl.

Answer 8

Business hours are standard to allow businesses to do business with other business.

I run a supplier manufacturer and wholesaler. My customers want to have access to me during a set time just as I want to have access to my vendors. we receive a lot of shipments and sent a lot of shipments, those need to occur during set hours. If everybody worked staggered hours there would be a lot of overtime in the world as somebody needs to be ther to take call, accept deliveries and meet customers during their working hours.

Answer 9

would be a good idea for working parents i suppose. also for banking purposes as most banks shut at 4.30.

I would prefer to come in at say 8 o'clock and go at 4. or even 7 oclock and go at 3.

Answer 10

It works all the ways now. It now depends on which time you want to work. There is no 9- 5 anymore