Workday feeling a little long when you're working remotely?
A lot of people report that's the case, according to data released by the Robert Half International staffing firm.
In the firm's latest survey, 43% of employees in Cleveland who work remotely said they often log more than eight hours of work per day. That's slightly under the national figure of 45%, Robert Half reports.
Robert Half's data included breakdowns of behavior in 28 cities, and Cleveland was middle of the pack, with 43% putting it at No. 15, just below Denver, where 44% of remote workers often gave their job more than eight hours per day.
The top five cities, by this measure, were Tampa (71%), Miami (60%), Raleigh (55%), Phoenix (53%) and Los Angeles (51%).
Cities where remote workers were least likely to log more than eight hours per day were San Francisco (30%), Cincinnati (36%), Detroit (37%), Washington, D.C. (39%) and Houston (39%).
Robert Half also looked at how often remote workers report working on weekends, and in that category, Cleveland is more relaxed.
Nationwide, 68% of remote workers say they spend weekend time on the job. In Cleveland, though, that figure was 58%, ranking No. 27 of the 28 cities. Only Raleigh, at 56%, was lower for reporting weekend work.
Chicagoans, at 81%, were the most likely to work remotely on weekend, followed by Tampa again (80%; must be something in the water there) and Austin (77%).
The Robert Half data comport with other studies that show people work more when they work remotely.
This piece from Benefit News, for instance, noted that full-time employees "are working an extra 26 hours a month when remote, adding nearly an extra day of work to the week," according to a report from Owl Labs, a video conferencing technology company.
Frank Weishaupt, CEO of Owl Labs, told Benefit News that the increase in work hours may be due to employees needing more time to adapt to new changes businesses have made in response to the pandemic. "Having the workplace always available — as employees work right in their house — is also blurring the lines between work and home, possibly adding to their hours worked," Benefit News wrote.
"Some of the biggest difficulties employees had were having children at home, more meetings than usual and not having worked remotely or from home before," Weishaupt wrote. "It probably took employees more hours to get to some level of comfortability."
Additionally, Benefit News speculated, employees "may also be filling in the time they spent commuting with more time at work. The report found employees were spending an average of 40 minutes daily on their commute."
The Washington Post, meanwhile, took note of recent data in a working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research that showed the average workday lengthened by 48.5 minutes in the weeks following stay-at-home orders and lockdowns, and the number of meetings increased by 13%.
One caveat: Jeffrey Polzer, a Harvard Business School professor and co-author of the paper, noted that having a longer workday does not necessarily mean people worked more hours within that day.
"Examining the earliest and latest email and calendar data does not account for those who broke away to take care of elderly parents, managed multiple interruptions from schooling young children at home or simply chose to walk the dog for the third time that day," the Post reported.
But there's a natural inclination by many workers to keep working when they're at home.
"People are afraid — the fear around your job and around the economy — I want to make sure (managers) know I'm constantly responding to emails and messages and am always on Slack," Cali Williams Yost, founder of the workplace consultancy Flex Strategy Group, told the Post.
That's compounded by a lack of management skills in setting the right tone for remote work, she said: "It's a toxic brew of burnout and overwhelm."
An infectious disease specialist at the Cleveland Clinic is among experts offering advice in this New York Times article about how to host a holiday party during a pandemic.
The safest route, the Times notes, is virtual.
"Cases of COVID-19 are rising across the country to record levels," Dr. Alan Taege of the Clinic tells the newspaper. "Therefore, in-person holiday parties are not recommended, particularly when many people are currently working remotely."
If you do opt for in-person, Taege says, you should do it outside, which is "safer than an indoor venue, but still carries risk."
Even when outdoors, though, people need to be 6 feet apart and continue to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Wear a mask, maintain a physical distance, and wash or sanitize your hands frequently," Taege says, stressing that it's particularly important to maintain distance when eating or drinking, as you cannot wear a mask then.
The piece then offers advice in a number of categories: have guests get tested before; try a hybrid party; get people engaged; give employees a choice if it's a corporate event.
But it concludes with this: "Forget the party. Maleeka Hollaway, 30, the founder and CEO of The Official Maleeka Group, a public relations and brand communications agency in Atlanta, is giving her eight employees additional paid days off throughout the holidays and sending them a self-care package. 'A virtual celebration simply felt exhausting, as we spend 90 percent of our working days in front of the screen,' she said. 'We want to make sure that our team is practicing self-care and taking time to unplug from work.' "
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Remote work has people in Cleveland and elsewhere working more - Crain's Cleveland Business
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