When I read the headline for this press release from The IT Job Board, I just about fell off my chair laughing. After reading through some of the finding though some things started to hit home.

Research conducted by online recruitment specialist www.theitjobboard.co.uk revealed that of 500 IT workers surveyed for a report on working hours, nearly half said their hours had increased in the last two years. 42.5 percent cited the increase in the volume of work as the main reason for their working overtime, but 6.8 percent said the economic uncertainty made them feel the need to put in extra hours.  Only 10 percent of those that worked overtime were actually paid for it.

There is definitely a culture of working long hours, perhaps fueled by the need to implement changes out of normal working hours and the reactive nature of on-call support. Many IT workers are classed as management grades and normally do not qualify for overtime payments. Sometimes implementing split shifts with one part of the team starting early and another starting much later to cover the evening can work. Other times management need to take control and implement a single evening when out of hours changes are implemented each week.

Of those surveyed, over a quarter (27 percent) worked between 48-60 hours a week, with five percent working between 60-75 hours.  Despite this amount of overtime being worked, only 15.8 percent had taken up the issue of working long hours with their manager.  But of those that complained, 84.4 percent said it had not reduced the hours they worked. 

Having an international workforce, I am very familiar with EU legislation regarding working hours and in Germany I can be fined up to €15,000 per instance of breaching the rules. My colleagues in Frankfurt manage support cover quite well despite the complications of German law. Admittedly sometimes emergency cover can be tough.

More than a quarter (26.6 percent) of respondents had opted out of the European Working Time Regulation.  This was introduced in 1998 to address the long working hours culture by ensuring that employees do not work more than 48 hours per week.  Nearly a third (32.8 percent) of people questioned did not know whether they had opted out of the regulation.

My sense is that the working time regulations are largely ignored in IT shops.

Other key findings of the research, which questioned people from all sectors of the IT industry, including the banking and financial services, include:

• 51 percent of IT workers have to take work home.

• 72.3 percent felt confident that their productivity in the office had not decreased since working longer hours.  Of those that said their productivity had decreased, one quarter said that it was because they found it harder to focus and 26 percent said it was due to a poor work life balance.

• 40.6 percent felt their health had been affected by working longer hours.

• 25 percent cited relationship problems because of work overload, 52 percent said it meant they were unable to pursue hobbies and 43 percent stated they had no time for family or friends.  64 percent believed their social life had been compromised 41 percent said it resulted in no social life at all.

Gosh, we really are a sad bunch! Is the lack of social life the chicken or the egg? Does IT attract people who have no social life, or does working in IT drive us to it?