I had an office job where I was consistently completing more work than my peers. I probably worked 3-5 honest hours most days. Lunch, talking to coworkers, meetings (I don’t count sitting in a meeting and not contributing work), and corporate garbage take up so much time. Not to mention bathroom breaks. I started working contract and because of this I need to be very honest about my working hours. It can be quite challenging putting in a true 8 hours.
I am not shaming people for not working long enough! production > amount of time working imo.
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You sound like that character from Django Unchained, you know the one…
Depends on the job. Most customer service type jobs (and other types) require you to be “on the clock” working and showing work done, so it’s closer to a full 7 or 8 hours. I work in an office now where there is no “clock in” and the amount of time people spend actually working is way less than that.
I mean I work like 1-2 hours a day and just stare at my screen so I can’t complain. Then again most of my office only works about 2-4 hours of actual work most of the time
“90% of the work is done by 10% of the people” is a saying for a reason. Because it’s true.
Not only do most people not do much work during the day, but they aren’t even good at their job. Many people will only do enough work just good enough to not get fired. They don’t care about doing a good job and will slack off as much as you let them get away with.
5 hours?! HA
I work maybe 2 and scroll reddit for the rest of the day – tomorrow I work from home and will do the bare minimum in the morning and then probably clean my house and start working on my classic truck which I think needs a radiator this year
All emails, texts, messages, phone calls can be forwarded to my phone, it takes me 2 seconds to get to my computer if I “need too”
This actually comes from years of being a top salesperson in my company and working my ass off though, so – there’s that.
No where near 5, maybe 30 mins total
I work about 3-4 hours on a good day making $130k a year. Can’t complain.
There are so many fields of work where this isn’t even remotely true. It’s just true for you at your job…lol.
This is the exact reason I want to get out of construction.
Because, we certainly work 90% of the time we’re at work and we get paid shit for it, too.
I constantly see employees at commercial buildings I go to just chilling and I envy that so much.
Probably put in ten hours a day once you take out breaks and start/shutdown. Wouldn’t say it’s challenging though, you just adapt and it becomes cruisy with experience
Define “most people.”
Nah I feel that man, I worked in restaurants my whole life so I’m used to go go go, started this office job like 4 months ago and I’m still getting used to slowing myself down. On a 12 hour shift I maybe work 4 of those
Sounds like you have a flawed definition of what work is. Just because upper management wastes your time into doing bullshit, that’s still work on the employee’s end. Like If I’m forced to attend some idiotic meeting so the boss can say he’s doing something useful, still work, even if sitting there and “not contributing”.
Guess what? Most people are not working office jobs
This is only true if you Don’t work in a blue collar job. Every factory worker, painter or construction workers often works more than 8 hours. Waiters too
In office jobs.
Most people don’t stop except for their break
I work as a pest technician, and some days I’m working ten straight, struggling to get finished before dusk. So YOU KNOW when I have an easy day, I’m milking that clock and posting on Reddit whilst sitting in my truck. lol
I work in a call center and I am sure working 8
hours 40 hours a week.
I work as a gardener, 9h30 a day, and honestly we end up doing a good 7-7h30. Lunch break is 45mins, breakfast is 15, and we get back to our headquarters about 30mins before the end of the day to change and see if the boss has smt to say to us… sometimes we gotta get food or go to the bathroom and fill up our water bottles.
There’s an interesting trend in America where the more someone is paid, the less work they have to actually do.
Yea my new job is like 40% waiting on feedback/a response from somebody. A lot of stop and go.
If I work too hard. That is now the expectation. And as an employee, I won’t be compensated enough for the extra output. I stay on track with deadlines and that’s all they get.
Customer service jobs are gonna be like that because you have to be available for the entire time the place is supposed to be open whether there are customers in or not.
The entertainment industry has entered the chat. On a load-in day we’ll work 8 or 9am until 10pm. We’ll break at 1pm and 6pm for an hour each time and have two 20 minute tea breaks. That’s 10 hours 20 minutes actively working in a 13 hour day, 11 hours 20 if we start at 8. On our feet, unloading lorries, lifting heavy equipment, installing lighting and sound rigs, putting sets up. If you get to do a few hours work, sat at your computer, over an 8 hour work day I feel you’ve little to complain about.
You are describing mid management and it’s why business culture sucks and why people are changing it
Many posts on r/confession are about slacking off at work. In fact, I think this has become a quite popular opinion. But still, it depends on the job type.
in terms of white collar – I know. so many of you have decided your own efficiency that it is detrimental to people trying to use the services provided. thus how it all gets outsourced or replaced with AI. it’s crazy to admit this outloud in an era you can be replaced with AI and then cry that AI is taking the job you only work less than 5 hours at and get paid above minimum wage.
anyone outside of an office definitely works 8 hours because there is no realistic way of replacing their labour. construction, electricians, plumbers, customer service, bus drivers etc all work really long days and people will still complain if they see them idling at any time.
David Graeber’s excellent book “Bullshit Jobs” is all about this.
It sounds like you’re not counting legitimate work activities. Sitting in a meeting is 100% work.
I guess you are very privileged then
Haha. Fuck off.
As a baker, I worked 10h shifts and had maybe 10min of stopped time.
Should have posted correctly about lazy office jobs.
reddit skews so heavily towards office workers it’s fucking hilarious.
As a teacher, I’m incredibly jealous.
Being productive for 8 hours in an office job is pretty much impossible.
I work 2hrs a day, but I’m on the clock for 12hrs. It fucking sucks. I’d rather be mega busy for 8hrs instead of sitting around for hours on end
I’d say this is accurate for my office job. There’s days where I work plenty hard, but there’s also days where I really don’t get very much done. My performance reviews are always excellent – the bosses tell me that my timeliness and work quality are top notch. Which makes me wonder just how lazy and incompetent some of my coworkers are, given that I sometimes feel like I’m putting in the bare minimum.
Yes, and it’s not a bad thing. The only bad thing is that despite being fully able to maintain a fully functional society with people working less hours, we still have to work 9-5
This is your personal experience that you’ve attempted to apply to most people. It’s just ignorance.
lol dude literally took his one small job and personal experience about said job to represent the masses. Muppet.
Well I am jealous of those people.
I work 8-9 hours a day in my classroom. Sometimes with a lunch break, sometimes not.
I then spend 2-3 hours each evening at home, working on parent communication, conference forms, classroom materials, etc.
In addition, I often go in to work in my classroom on weekends and holidays because it’s the only time I have when there are no children there in extended care.
Basically, I work on average about 60 hours a week. And full-on working. No downtime on my phone, etc.
I mean, maybe in white collar jobs… but there are farrrr more types of jobs than that out there
I run a kitchen. I “physically” work no less than 9 hours a day and probably 2 to 3 hours a day doing paperwork or meetings.
You got a cushy job one time. I wouldn’t base your life off that. Most jobs you actually have to work all day
Lmao I’m a teacher we are working our full 6 hours with the those kids.
Most people in office jobs, right?
Definitely not most people doing jobs in general
Around 3 hours sounds about right, for a specific niche of clerical job.
Where are these mythical jobs because my first “real job” was in a call center that always had people waiting in the queue and my last job was basically the work of 4 different analyst positions combined into 1.
You don’t count a meeting you’re sitting in but not contributing to as work? Why? It’s still something you’re being asked to do as part of your job. No one is asking you to use the bathroom or make coffee or listen to your coworker drone on about whatever show they’re currently watching.
Ya, no. Lots of people work retail or industry where you are REALLY on your feet, lifting, pulling, packaging stuff with your hands, or working a register handling money every minute of every hour on the clock, 8+ hours a day.
I do this currently, although at a slow pace.
My previous job had me doing that kind of work at a constant break-neck pace for 10+ hours every day. There was a several month period where I didnt have the staff so I worked 6 days a week like that. During the holidays I did that for 12-16 hours a day. That job got me 60k a year btw, and Im not kidding, it was a pace where I was moving as fast as I possibly could at all times, breaking down pallets and lifting 35 to 50 pounds, operating light machinery, or standing moving my hands packaging product the ENTIRE time. Im a fit guy too, my “fast as you can” was greater than most people at the time. The only breaks I got was when I got on a computer to place orders and send communications, which I also did as fast as possible, and most of the time at a standing desk, but it was still my only time not doing physical manual labor.
Speak for yourself lol. I work 8 out of the 10 I’m clocked in for. And I’m on salary
As a transit bus driver my current day is 9.5 hours. Total break time maybe 40 mins intermittently. Our work day limit legally is 15 hours but is dependent on availability. Some drivers regularly do that for the $$$$
I’m a teacher and I work 10 full hours almost every day, I’m sure of it
This has not been my experience at all.
I work in a retail-kitchen environment. From the moment I clock in to the moment I clock out eight hours later you have to be doing something. It’s not hard for my breakfast shifts, we stock a hot box and it’s a popular grab and go spot. So I’m running a hot grill, fryer, toaster and pizza oven almost constantly for the first five hours of my shift.
Mix in tons of prep, extra work my manager decided I should do ( I shouldnt for company liability reasons ), and making up for the closer the night before. I have a low grade migraine at the end of each shift, dehydrated and half starving.
Our state doesn’t mandate breaks so our company proudly doesn’t give employee’s breaks. It’s rare to sneak in a quick bite, but meals are also not comped.
I yearn for an office or data entry/administrative job. But I need four years of college for some ungodly reason. Is my 60-120wpm not enough. I even have three years of data entry under Labcorp/RML-Labs
I just realized I need a new job
Getting home from a 12 hour day and seeing this is maddening lol
Nope. You’re simply wrong. You’re using your own experience (probably in the same industry) as the benchmark. That’s a sample of one.
Most people don’t have office jobs. Most people are out working customer service or blue collar jobs – and those jobs are definitely more work than 5 hours a day unless you work short shifts. There’s not really any downtime besides your scheduled lunch break.
The lower the pay, the more you work.
I was making $67k a year at an office job and doing 3-5 hours a day.
I work an approximately $17k a year hourly job now and I work every second of my shift, clock out for lunch, and have to have permission to use the bathroom.
You definitely aren’t a nurse, doctor, lawyer, CPA, teacher, manual laborer, electrician, pilot, plumber, mechanic, stay at home parent, law enforcement officer, physical/occupational/speech therapist, etc. all these people I know work at least 8 hrs a day, usually 10-12.
RN with ~13hrs shifts. I sit down maybe 2-3 hours of that if I’m lucky, and about 2 hours of that sitting time is charting on my 5-6 patients. There is no time or chance to shut my brain off during work.
Work in an icu for a day
If I’m stuck in a place that isn’t my own home without my own atomomy it’s work.