Millennials defy “workshy” slurs by putting in the hours

Criticised for their hipster beards, appreciation of folk music and their 1980s fashion style, the millennials now have one up on the older generations.

A survey from office search engine OfficeGenie.co.uk has found that those aged 16 to 24 are, contrary to popular belief that they have a tendency to be workshy, in fact the UK’s hardest workers.

The survey found that office staff in that age group put in more than seven hours of overtime per week with 11 per cent of 16 to 24 year olds putting in over 20 hours and a half putting in ten hours extra.

That’s better than the five and a half hours extra those in their thirties and forties put in every week and way above the four hours 55 minutes of those aged 55 and over. The average overtime in the UK is five and a half hours per week.

The survey discovered that Brighton appears to have the hardest working office staff in the UK, with employees there claiming they put in on average eight hours and 43 minutes in overtime every week.

Cardiff was the next most industrious with just over seven hours, Manchester followed with just over six and a half hours, then came Newcastle at six hours 18 minutes and Birmingham at just over six hours.

Read more on millennials:

• How your office space can be adapted to attract new graduate talent
• Future of work: Skills and job requirements in the 21st century
• London SMEs look to millennials to deliver business growth and success

Surprisingly London, that most dynamic of cities, only just made it into the top 10 locations with five hours 16 minutes of extra overtime being worked there.

The Scottish cities of Edinburgh, with four hours 12 minutes of overtime, and Glasgow with four hours 10 minutes fared badly.

But it was laid back Norwich which found itself at the bottom of the table with office staff there putting in a paltry three hours 45 minutes of added graft a week.

“Younger people get a bad press with many misconceptions about them being work-shy with a sense of entitlement. This survey shows quite the opposite – that teens and those in their early to mid-twenties have plenty of get up and go and determination to put in the hours,” said Ciaron Dunne, chief executive at Office Genie.

“With one in ten office staff aged under 24 working more than 20 hours shows true grit and a willingness to get ahead. But what is also striking is the survey results revealing London office workers were behind cities in the regions and other nations.”

Share this story