Unwinding Is Difficult for Finance Pros

Work Sweet Work: Financial professionals around the world are finding it tougher to disconnect from work. Internet and wireless technologies are stealing the enjoyment from people’s free time, with more than two-thirds of global financial workers (34 percent) answering work-related phone calls and e-mail outside of office hours. Twelve percent complain that they work every weekend to meet pressing deadlines. That’s according to a global survey of nearly 2,300 people by Robert Half, a large staffing company. Many employees view flexible schedules as one way of coping with the additional burden. In Europe, 46 percent of workers in the Netherlands and 36 percent of workers in both Italy and the U.K. “frequently take work home with them.” In North America, that’s true of 44 percent of Canada’s financial professionals, compared with 32 percent of those in the United States. Despite the stereotype of work-driven Americans, the study finds that U.S. financial professionals log an average of 40.9 hours a week—15th among the 17-country survey. Workers in Luxembourg clocked the longest workweek, with an average approaching 48 hours.