80% Of People In The U.S. Work “After Hours”

Sites include good.com . Published on July 14th, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

There was a time when etched into the American dream was the desire to work less and enjoy more time with friends and family. The robust march of technology was supposed to lighten the burden on Americans and give them the freedom most people would kill for. Well, it hasn’t happened. In fact, quite the opposite is taking place.

A new study conducted by enterprise mobility company Good Technology, found that 80% of Americans work after hours—the majority of these people feeling a sense that they ‘have to’. Pushing this relentless drive to do more outside of the office is the rising demand of consumers and businesses that are struggling to make profits. These days shopping and consuming is a 24 hour affair; gone are the days when you punched out and that was it.

The study found that half of the 1,000 people polled check their emails in bed; 68% check their emails before 8 AM. But the constant connectedness doesn’t end there. Many respondents admitted to checking their email and doing work on family outings. No wonder then that Good Technology found that most people work an average, an extra 7 peer hours per week.

Of course this wasn’t how it was intended—even without the promise of the American dream. The quality of life and relationships will naturally suffer as a result of this constant grind and we are starting to see it already. Juvenile delinquency is up; divorces are at an all time high and the whole society is starting to look like a powder keg.

One thing is for certain: technology isn’t slowing down, its speeding up and so that 80% could very well become 100% in a few more years.