To hope/ think a 35 or 37 hour week is 'normal' for some people

[Quibble123]

I have a senior job in higher education. I average 45 to 55 hours a week - cannot remember the last time i had a proper weekend or holiday. I'm really, really tired and have burnt out. The hours and stress impact my health, my homelife, time with my children, etc. I'm done! I've the opportunity to change careers. Similar wage, but different sector and promises a healthy worklife balance. Can I please be reassued, is there anyone out there who can earn an OK wage and still have a life outside of work?

I’ve been through 4 restructuring processes and redundancy consultations. In each time my work/hours I’ve put in and ability were not at question but I was a number on a spreadsheet. I survived all but one. However, it taught me that working overtime achieves nothing but the stress you put on yourself. I earn just over £50k and I take lunch most days and finish at most 30 minutes late but aim to finish on time. I do not work weekends unless on call and being paid. For an emergency (eg a major incident) I would pull out all the stops, but only for those extraordinary times. Evenings and weekends I belong to my dc. I work in the nhs and I’ll be clear, I’m dedicated and work hard… during my paid working hours.

37 hours a week. No weekends. No evening work. No checking my emails outside of work. Flexible start and finish times and optional WFH if needed.
44k a year.

I was you, a head of a uni admin function (ie sub director). Over the past ten years the expectations for evening and weekend working exploded.

moved to the civil service. Bored out my brains much if the time but fixed hours and if I work more than my hours I can claim it back in lieu, do do though I’ve lost loads of annual leave, I’m actually taking more days off. Took a pay cut (I was at your level) but the pension contributions are a lot less so hardly notice it.

I miss lots about HE but not the pressure. Feel free to dm.

Hmm, I know a few people who earn around this and unfortunately none of them 'only' work standard 35-37.5hr weeks I'm afraid. Mixture of public and private sector and lots of different types of jobs. So it seems to me that long hours are typical of that salary band.

Definitely!!

Noone I know has a long hours culture anymore.

I personally stop when I've done what I reach a point I can stop. An extra 15-30mins on occasion but I'm now pretty good at pacing my work.

I am def not still in work at 7pm anymore which was ghe norm for me previously....

I earn a 6 figure income

I think it depends on the role in Higher Education. I’m on 49k, middle management (line manage couple of people, I report to senior mgr) I do 35 hrs per week and never usually need to go over. WFH 3 days per week. Used to work in Charity sector and would be less pay for a similar role. Very reluctant to move upward as I know it may change. I’m looking into coding as a potential career change one day.

@Quibble123 I’m on the same in same sector on the same pay and I only work my hours. Just don’t do it.

You don’t have to leave HE to achieve that. just have boundaries.

My DH taught adults for professional exams. He was FT, then HT and other than when travelling, did his hours, then stopped. All good.

I work for the NHS so although a healthy wage not necessarily comparable to some
in other sectors. I work 30hrs a week and now feel I have a good work/life balance. I now have regular hours rather than 12hr shifts which has helped massively. I also have the opportunity to pick up extra shifts if I want to earn some extra cash

I have two friends who work in HR, they’ve never done overtime and their salaries are fine.

I’m in accountancy and have more earning potential than them but you get hammered for it.

Wrong thread?

Oops yes sorry!

Should be possible, yes. Similar wage to you. I work 35 hrs, not including lunch, its probably a bit more if you covert to £ per hour. I do 8hrs Mon-Thu and 3hr on Friday to get a long weekend and 30 days holiday plus bank holidays. I WFH and my hours on Thu are flexed around a 9am-10am exercise classes in the morning, I do a bunch for general health/fitness and well-being.

I was looking at reducing to 4 days, with proportional less income, but thinking now that just reducing Mon to Thurs to 7 hrs (31hr/week) would be okay. Those 3 hrs on Fri can potentially be done on UK breaks 8am-11am or 9-12pm before doing most things

Don't go to charity sector... you'll get more of the same...

I work 9-6 which I think is pretty cushy honestly - so 45 hours a week. I guess if I actually took an hour for lunch it would be 40 hours a week but that never happens, more like 20 mins if I'm lucky, or eating at my desk more usually. I don't work late into the evening, or weekends, and that's fine by me - plenty of time for a life post-6pm and at weekends. I make 6 figures, but work in a sector with absolute bare minimum pension so a lot of my salary goes to pension contributions to counteract that. The idea of a 35 hour week seems alien to me as a full-time job.

I've had jobs that should have been the same number of hours as I work now, but probably topped out at 60+ because they were so demanding, so anything that isn't like that feels pretty chill to me!

Everything I've heard about the charity sector is that it's pretty brutal...

70k for 37.5 hour week, private sector city of London. Occasionally I work extra hours but the majority of the time I work my hours. I fully appreciate many people working in the city end up working long hours though.

as a registered nurse in bc canada our union contract is set for 37.5 hours of work per week.
i stuck to it and never regretted the wage or the time off (much needed), i rarely did OT and when i say rare i mean it.

I actually have 2 jobs, but my NHS managment role is £112K for 4 days (32 hrs).

Depends what you do I suppose. Its all relative. I work In A&E (my stupid choice). Ultimately life is short. If you feel you are doing too much and feel frazzled and you can reduce/change your hours/job, then do it! X

NHS Specialist Nurse on £47 for allegedly 37.5 hours but in reality 45/48 a week, sometimes more.

I also work in HE! I earn nowhere near as much as you but work a standard full time week. I love my job and hope to progress within the department in a couple of years (and earn more!).

I'd say go for the career change! You can always return to HE if you hate the new industry. External experience is always a bonus in HE. And who knows? You might love the new job, and it might lead to other opportunities.

Good luck!

I assumed they are professional services rather than academic. A lot of the Reader/Profs that I know do more than 55 hours a week on a regular basis.

I agree with everyone who says avoid the third sector - pay is a pittance, as is the pension (I worked for a huge multinational charity), holidays very low. I’ve had jobs (HE and private sector) that I’ve loved but where I have worked some long hours - at the time I minded less because I really enjoyed it. Now, I’m in the last 10 years of my career (early retirement fingers crossed) and I landed in a job where it is my functional specialty but in an area I have zero interest in. I am better in this job than most others and I’ve been promoted and am earning £70k for a 35 hour working week and great pension contributions. It’s been a bit of a breakthrough really. Like others have mentioned, I am often bored to tears. But now my job is a means to an end and the good bits outweigh the bad. Just don’t go to the charity sector!

I'm on 26k. I do my hours and no more. Life isn't easy on my wage.