Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Are people having to work 24 hours a day now to survive? 😮

107 replies

Passthecheeseboard · 04/12/2022 18:54

Just got off the phone to DH, he works in security and apparently the guy he should have been taking over from went AWOL about an hour before his shift was supposed to end (agency staff). I told him how the guy sounds like he just couldn’t be arsed and wanted to go home early, however DH told me no he wanted to get to his other job. He asked DH at the start of the shift if he could come in early to let him go to his other job for another 12 hour shift. DH explained they are not allowed to pick and choose their hours and have to work their shift unless they have authorised leave. So this guy ignored that and just left the site unmanned to get to his other job.

Anyhow I just can’t get over the fact that this guy has just finished a 12 hour day shift to go straight to a 12 hour night shift at another site. Is this the lengths people are having to go to to survive now? Anyone else here do 24 hour shifts (going straight from one job to another) or know of anyone that does? Is sleep now a luxury not everyone can afford? 🤔

OP posts:
ReallyTiredAndHungry · 04/12/2022 19:08

How sad

smilingthroughgrittedteeth · 04/12/2022 19:17

My partner works in security and this has been happening for years. They tend to take night shifts they think are easy and sleep through them. DP gets really annoyed by it.

PrincessFluffyPants · 04/12/2022 19:21

Yes, my DH was just telling me the same this morning; he mentioned a customer of his was looking particularly tired and when questioned it turns out he worked his "proper" job 9-5 and worked as a night security guard alongside this. Good money, easy work apparently.

TheLightSideOfTheMoon · 04/12/2022 19:23

I’ve seen it a lot in nursing homes I’ve worked in.

Staff snore through a night shift (ignoring call bells) and then go on to a day shift in another home.

user1471464218 · 04/12/2022 19:24

I know people who have done this in emergency services. It doesn't sound safe, because it isn't safe, but as a one off (or once a week) it's doable and worth a decent amount of cash.

luxxlisbon · 04/12/2022 19:25

It’s not healthy or safe but some people have no choice, I wouldn’t be judging them.

Original poster
Passthecheeseboard · 04/12/2022 19:30

Well DH’s workplace is really busy and they have cameras watching them 24 hours a day, so no opportunity to sleep there. DH said he arrived at the start of the shift looking like shit so doubt he’s getting any sleep

OP posts:
Lemonlady22 · 04/12/2022 19:31

I’ve done a day shift 7.00 to 4pm, then done a night shift 8pm to 8am but it was years ago so it’s not a new thing. People do what they have to do and always will. Never used to make a fuss about how hard life was but maybe it’s because we didn’t have social media to forecast on!

reachforthebloodymary · 04/12/2022 19:45

I did this type of thing when I was younger.

Full time job during the day, part time job in the evenings, pub and club works at the weekend. I think I lasted around 6 months, before I cracked

CarefreeMe · 04/12/2022 19:48

Lots of single people with no children will have to get second jobs as they’re not entitled to top up benefits and private rent can be over £1000 a month.

It’s easy to see how people become homeless and have to live in their cars or sofa surf.

gogohmm · 04/12/2022 19:54

Ex mil used to do overnights at a care home which they slept through (officially they were waking nights) then did domiciliary care in the daytime, also bragged about how few minutes it took for calls eg only 20 mins for a 30 min call

Original poster
Passthecheeseboard · 04/12/2022 21:20

gogohmm · 04/12/2022 19:54

Ex mil used to do overnights at a care home which they slept through (officially they were waking nights) then did domiciliary care in the daytime, also bragged about how few minutes it took for calls eg only 20 mins for a 30 min call

I work night shift in a care home, and sleeping is a sackable offence … I don’t think you could sleep even if you wanted to, it’s a home specialising in dementia and the residents barely sleep and are restless all night. They need support 24 hours a day so any staff sleeping would cause neglect… Although we have one staff member who has repeatedly been caught sleeping but manager is aware… That is another issue tho.

OP posts:
Quornflakegirl · 04/12/2022 21:27

I have worked 10am-2pm, done school run made dinner etc then worked a second job 6pm- midnight since my dc were born 10 years ago. It doesn’t sound difficult but it is and I have struggled for a decade. It’s about survival. I do this 6 days a week and the 7th day I only work 4 hours.

ArthurFoxache · 04/12/2022 21:35

64 hours of work a week, - without taking housework, shopping and cooking into account - is just too much. I once worked that many hours, but I was a childless 18-20 year old at the time. I feel for you, but also commend you for working so hard for your family, I'm pretty sure you would work less hours if you could afford to. I really hope you get a break somehow and life gets easier for you...❤

Nowhereelsetogo90 · 04/12/2022 21:37

I did this as a teaching student, school placement from 8-5 then worked 6pm-1am, up again at 6:30am, plus a night shift in a supermarket on a Friday and Saturday evening. It was brutal but worth it.

Sindonym · 04/12/2022 21:38

I know someone who was sacked in a care home for doing this. She was sleeping on waking nights and the manager did a spot check. Immediately dismissed.

TabithaTittlemouse · 04/12/2022 21:43

I have done a few 24 hour shifts where another nurse hasn’t turned up to take over and I’ve not been able to leave. It was dangerous (because I was shattered) and I complained loudly but it there was no one to take over.
If anything had have happened it would have all been on me.
I don’t know how people do it.

Eudaimonia5 · 04/12/2022 21:43

Yeah, loads of people are having to do it. Once a fortnight I'll work my usual 9-5 job then do a waking night shift 8pm til 8am. If I had more regular childcare at nights, I'd work the night shifts more often (not because I like them, because I desperately need the money).

Private rents have gone up so much now that it's no longer possible to just work one standard full time job (unless you're in a well paid job). You either find a partner/friend to live with and split the bills (not as easy as it sounds as you get older, especially if you have children living with you) or you try to increase your income any way you can. Pay rises and promotions can be thin on the ground, especially if you work in a low paid sector so a lot of us have to take on extra jobs.

The country is on its arse. No one should need to work more than one full time job to pay basic bills. People used to take on extra jobs to save up for holidays, weddings, house deposits but now people have to do it just to get by.

BattenburgSlice · 04/12/2022 21:45

Yes DH had a night security job and said there was a guy who worked back to back shifts….he used to wander off to do some checks and hide up and sleep.

SantaOnFanta · 04/12/2022 21:49

I knew someone who went to Uni, worked a night shift, went to Uni lectures next day and did an exam... I have no idea how she functioned on no sleep.

interstatelovesong · 04/12/2022 21:51

It's absolutely disgusting that people are having to do this to survive

What the fuck has happened to this shitty country?

Yabado · 04/12/2022 21:51

My son who’s 28 will happily do a 12 hr shift on a Friday night in his full time security job

Finnish at 7pm home at 8pm and then go and work 9 -2 am on the doors then often go to work again at 10 am for a 8 or 12 hr shift

  • He will do this 2-3 times a month makes an extra 350 - 400
    He chooses to do this as he lives at home rent free and has absolutely no debt . he likes the social aspect of working on the doors and he works for a friend so it’s fairly easy work for him and decent pay .

he generally works 4 on - 4 off but will often do an extra 2 days a month in his full time job as well as it’s double time

he is buying a flat but he didn’t have to save as all the deposit / fees furnishing it has come via an inheritance so I have no idea why he works all these hours but he’s always been like this .

He’s always been a night owl and hard worker
I have no idea where he gets his energy from definitely not me 😂

PeloFondo · 04/12/2022 21:55

It's not that new - my dad worked 3 jobs when they first got married
He told me about waking up, getting dressed and my mum saying "wrong job" and he forgot which clothes he was meant to be wearing for which job GrinBlush
Mechanic FT, worked in a pub evenings and then taught car repairs at a weekend

LizzieSiddal · 04/12/2022 22:01

My dad had three jobs too in the 70s. He was a sales rep as his main job, worked shifts at a petrol station in the evening and had another job at the weekend! I don’t know how he did it. He did get promoted in his day job so was able to give up the other two jobs.

It seems in 2022 we are going back 50 years.

Bestcatmum · 04/12/2022 22:07

I had to do it as a nurse years ago. It's all gone to shit again and I'm working 6 days a week at 60. Not0 so extreme but I'm tired.

Swipe left for the next trending thread