Research Outline

Productivity Trends Amongst Professionals

Goals

To provide insights into the productivity trends amongst professional workers, focusing on managers, executives, and other similar positions. This will include an understanding of the number of weekly hours managers and executives are putting into actual work compared to the last several decades and the time spent communicating with each other via emails, meetings, messaging versus doing actual work.

Early Findings

Professionals: Weekly Working Hours

  • According to a 2002 EHS Today report, senior managers were working more hours than five years ago.
  • Senior managers found that on average, they work 54 hours each week (as of 2020).
  • Over a third of those surveyed said their time spent on the job has increased compared to five years ago.
  • According to the survey, 36% of those polled said they work more hours now than they did five years ago, while 39% said they work the same hours.
  • Only a quarter of the respondents said they work fewer hours.
  • A 2018 Harvard Business Review publication revealed that leaders worked 9.7 hours per weekday, which totals just 48.5 hours per workweek.
  • They also worked 79% of weekend days at an average of 3.9 hours daily, and 70% vacation days with an average of 2.4 hours on those days.
  • Altogether, the study found that CEOs worked an average of 62.5 hours a week.
  • The study also found CEOs value face-time: 61% of their communication was face-to-face, while only 24% was electronic (like email), and 15% by phone and letter.

Professionals: Productivity Overview