Survey: Working 8 to 6 the New Way to Make a Living

Nearly one-third of American workers say they are putting in longer hours and suffering more stress while at work, according to the findings of a survey released Aug. 21 by Melville, N.Y.-based Adecco, a workforce solutions company.

In their Labor Day Snapshot of the American Worker report, Adecco finds that U.S. employees are no longer working 9 to 5.

In fact, 29 percent of workers polled claimed they work longer hours than they did this time last year, with 32 percent saying they experience more on-the-job stress.

The three chief concerns expressed by survey respondents about their careers were the ability to retire comfortably, the rising cost of health care and a stagnant paycheck.

/zimages/4/28571.gifRead morehereabout IT workers employment situations.

“Although unemployment remains very low, American workers are feeling pressure from many other forces this Labor Day,” said Ray Roe, president of Adecco North America, in a statement.

“Rising energy prices, soaring health care costs, the cooling housing market and retirement concerns are impacting the psyche of the American workforce today, and companies should be aware that these pressures may be affecting their workers.”

American workers have widely varying feelings about the strength of the job market, with 45 percent responding that the current state of employment is a mixed bag, while 24 percent are optimistic and 22 have a more dismal outlook.

Mitigating a perception that workers are less loyal than they were to their employers in previous generations, 75 percent of respondents say that they were very or quite loyal to their employers, and more than half (53 percent) believe their company is loyal to them.

Adecco makes suggestions to companies of ways they can celebrate their employees, such as rewarding their top performers with gas cards to alleviate some of the burden of gas prices; acknowledging loyalty through celebrating employees work anniversaries, and instituting free days off after a grueling week or month.

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