Average US Worker Now Logs Off at 4 pm on Fridays

Sunday, March 31, 2024

Pandemic-era conversations about four-day workweeks have quieted down, but U.S. workers are logging off earlier and earlier on Fridays.

Posted by lamplighter at 09:31 PM | 15 COMMENTS | permalink | Comment on This Entry |

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More from the article...

... Why it matters: COVID's disruptions to the way we work " like lighter Fridays when working remotely " have staying power.

Zoom in: Quitting time has been shifting earlier throughout the week, and it's especially early on Friday, according to an analysis of sign-off times from some 75,000 workers at 816 companies by the workplace analytics firm ActivTrak. ...

#1 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-03-30 02:40 PM | Reply

The benefits to a four day work week are already evident.

It's only a matter of time. The most expensive commodity.

#2 | Posted by redlightrobot at 2024-03-31 12:33 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

Nobody works past 2 on Friday.

#3 | Posted by LegallyYourDead at 2024-03-31 09:53 PM | Reply

If you stayed a few minutes after 3 then you were considered insane. Did that a few times and missed out on a lot of fishing time.

#4 | Posted by shoeless at 2024-03-31 10:09 PM | Reply

Three kids were arguing over whose dad was the fastest ..

"My dad can fire an arrow and catch it before it hits the target," said the first.

The second said, "Well, MY dad can fire a bullet and catch it in mid air."

The third one, scoffing, said, "Gotcha both beat. My dad gets off at 5 o'clock and gets home by 3:15."

#5 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-03-31 10:16 PM | Reply

Back, well before COVID, I had an arrangement with my boss where I worked in the office Monday thru Thursday and from home on Friday. It started out when my wife's mother had a stroke and she moved in with us and my wife retired early to take care of her. Prior to that she had a job in a dentist office that was ACTUALLY a four day workweek. For years she had a three-day weekend and since Thursday was her 'Friday' that became our 'date night' as the restaurants weren't as busy. Then Friday morning she'd go to Mass and out for coffee with her lady friends from church. After her mother moved in and she had retired, she started to miss her Fridays so that's when I cut the deal with my boss. Since most of what I did was online anyway, it was no problem to work from home as I would take my company laptop home with me and just link into our internal network via a secure login. So I would work from home Fridays and watch my mother-in-law so that my wife could still enjoy her normal Fridays. I did this for about eight years, until a year or so after my wife's mother passed, then I finally retired myself.

OCU

#6 | Posted by OCUser at 2024-03-31 11:04 PM | Reply | Newsworthy 1

@#3 ... Nobody works past 2 on Friday. ...

I once worked for a start-up company.

Friday afternoons were, I'll now say, special.

It was the mid-90's.

At 3pm on Fridays, there was a gathering of employees in the cafeteria.

There was a "business meeting."

I'll just say that bottles of beer were not scarce.

#7 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-03-31 11:20 PM | Reply

#6 | Posted by OCUser

You've always been a good egg :-)

#8 | Posted by AMERICANUNITY at 2024-03-31 11:28 PM | Reply

Hold your horses. In Washington D.C. checkout time is noon on Thursday . . 'cause nothing important ever happens on a Friday. So they have a three and a half day workweek.

Except for Donald Trump who had a three and a half hour workweek.

#9 | Posted by Twinpac at 2024-04-01 12:21 AM | Reply

@#9 ... 'cause nothing important ever happens on a Friday. ...

Maybe why that may lead to, what I'll say are, less than optimum announcements being made on Fridays?

A sort of ~Take Out The Trash Day~ when few are paying attention?

#10 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-04-01 01:29 AM | Reply

Jefferson Airplane - Today (1967)
www.youtube.com

#11 | Posted by LampLighter at 2024-04-01 01:31 AM | Reply

pfft! Try 2:30 pm... But then again my workday starts at 6 am.

#12 | Posted by earthmuse at 2024-04-01 06:42 AM | Reply

So...pro tip: always leave early on Friday.

There were many times when I could get a call at 3pm of Friday saying that the boss wanted some expansive report by the end of the day. If you're not in the office, then the bosses minon is forced into determining whether or not it's important to call you back in, and likely stay late themselves, or hold off until Monday.

It's just easier for everyone. Even the boss.

#13 | Posted by madbomber at 2024-04-01 07:30 AM | Reply

Never do a difficult install on a Friday, especially if you have to fly. Because you will be there all weekend. Make up an excuse to do it Monday. If that fails, try using horror stories of past attempts. Anything. But don't let hem steal your weekend. Or your -------, thoughts, or slack.

PSA

#14 | Posted by HeliumRat at 2024-04-01 07:49 AM | Reply

I always had at least 8 hours in by 4:00. But just a quick look at the above graph is enough to tell me that US workers are tired of giving their employers lots of extended free time.

#15 | Posted by Whatsleft at 2024-04-01 11:20 AM | Reply