To ask if your DH/DP works a 70 80 90 hour week - what exactly does he do?

[Hetty241]

I often read posts on MN where women mention their husbands/partners working very long hours and wonder what jobs they do that entail such long hours.

So I thought I'd ask.

Area Manager for a restaurant chain.

Software consultant in his own business.

We set up a couple of small businesses together then he got a short accountancy contract which was too good to pass up. So at the moment he's doing a standard 40 hours a week doing that, two hours on our businesses most evenings plus he'll often work 1-2 days through the weekend. He still gets up with DS at night as I juggle looking after him all day with a 20 hour work week.

It's tough but doable but we're planning a lovely holiday when his contract ends and have promised each other that no fights count unless the thing we fought about still seems important after the holiday!

My DH is a teacher. The work is never ending, but he is an Assistant Head. He line manages a department and oversees Child Protection and Transition on top of teaching with the usual planning / marking.

management consultant.

MD for hotel group. He works long hours 7 days a week but his phone and emails are on ALL THE FUCKING TIME...... Bitter?.....me?

Regarding why - o/h loves it. He loves being active, loves the variety - he retired from his day job just over a year ago. He loves making money, frankly. It is all he is interested in. I would love to do more with him but he is a pita when he isn't working. He can't even watch telly for longer than half an hour without getting twitchy.
When I worked as a Deputy Head I worked 70-80 hours a week. Necessary to get everything done.

Long hours aren't necessarily to do with poor management. In my case it makes complete economic sense for my company to have fewer lawyers and work them harder. It doesn't mean they aren't arseholes for slaving me to death but it's not irrational on their part.

DH owns his own garage, he is first there and last to lock up. He is there til three today and back in on Friday. He says that while the place is locked up, the bills still need paying and his employees still want their holiday pay etc, so takes very little time off.

Emergency Services (his shifts can run on)

My sister was a bar manager - she used to easily do hours like that.

Much of hubby's work is travel. I count the time he is out of the house rather than just his working hours, as even if he's not working whilst he's away, he's not here with us.

Akachan I think OP may have been referring to posts where people are paid for normal hours and work the additional 20-40 hours without additional pay. In which case I agree there is something very wrong with the structure.

My DH is a military pilot. His hours are crazy - away for days and weeks at a time but also required to put in face time when he's in the country. He often reports at midnight to go away for a few days. We can plan for nothing. I don't know how he does it.

Hospital consultant

Stickysausages I agree with you. I just don't get it at all. When do all these people enjoy the money they have earned? When do they get to spend time in their nice houses? More importantly where is the time to spend with family and friends?

Neither an OH/DP or a DH seeing as I am a woman who works those hours. Executive Producer in TV.

As others have said, it's not 'avoiding home' or 'ego' that results in these kind of hours - budgets are ever decreasing whilst expectations are ever increasing. Teams are smaller but we still have to deliver. But as the PP said, my bosses aren't slave drivers! And I bloody love my job.

We do it for the money and DH is also a workaholic.

Always has been, always will be.

I accepted it long ago.

DP is a s/e architect, regularly works 70+ hours, I think a lot of s/e people need to put the hours in in order to keep their businesses going!

DP technically works two jobs. He does office work for his employer, then does overtime in their warehouse.

MD construction co. it is very much expected of him but he does also love his work.

DP writes about sport, mainly football and the hours are pretty long. He starts at 6am on website stuff and often works til gone midnight at night matches or on stories for the paper. When there's a tournament like the World Cup on he'll be away for six weeks and work every single day of it. He works when we're on holiday too. Bloody football!

For me it is seasonal and all to do with external deadlines.

I work for a charity that delivers local authority contracts and at this time of year all the LAs are tendering contracts for a 1st April start. If we don't meet the tendering deadlines, we don't get the work, end of. There's no negotiating. I've been working 70hr weeks since the beginning of Nov.

It calms down a bit after April, when I go back to working a normal 37.5 hr week!

We're both doctors; Before my mat leave we never saw each other.

Not an ego thing or home avoidance but our rota dictates that we do long shifts, then you can guarantee that just as we're finishing some emergency crops up.

Management consultant - why does he work the hours? It's expected, he enjoys it, he wants to do the best job possible, his clients demand it and timescales demand it and he's ambitious and works hard for promotion.

My dp is a chef and typically works 70 hours a week although it's more like 80 this time of year. Hope the other chef widows on this thread get to see their dp's at least a little bit over the next few days!

Why the assumption that only men work these hours? DH and I both work 70+ hours. We're academics. We do both find our jobs really interesting but would like a bit less stress and more sleep