Brink of Wellbeing Recession

Written by: Vaughn Sealy – The Pro Forum Community of Practice

A survey was conducted jointed with Deloitte and Swinburne University of Technology a few weeks ago that found one in three people since the pandemic began are working longer hours than they used to pre-pandemic. It suggested that Australians are in danger of tipping into a ‘wellbeing recession’ as a result of working outside of their ‘standard’ hours.

Well, what exactly are standard hours these days? I’ve held office roles, worked on construction sites, and as a fly-in, fly-out contractor throughout my entire working life with no real definition of what a normal working day is or what the working hours should be. I would always expect to work some overtime and have sometimes worked unusual hours to accommodate situations that was happening at the time.

Flexible working hours have never been something that was at the forefront when I was looking for new employment or venture, my concern has always been about whether I was going to enjoy the work, if there is enough remuneration for me to accept the employment, and the number of hours required for me to work each week. My consideration is usually based on whether the requirements of the new employment would fit my lifestyle.

Even when I was self-employed and ran my own company, I was working more hours in the day than if I was working for someone else. When you are working for yourself, there is no such thing as normal hours or working days when you are working every minute of every day that you can to build your business.

It is not surprising that the next generation is concerned about their wellbeing and feeling overworked, and until they have walked in my shoes for a while, they won’t even come close to understanding what it means to be overworked.