Financial professionals are putting in more hours on the job than they were two years ago, says a Robert Half International report.
The Working Hours: A Global Comparison report finds that forty-seven percent of Canadian finance managers say their hours have increased over the last two years. Among those, 64% say they now work an additional five to 15 hours a week.
Canadian respondents cited working an average of 42.5 hours a week, more than the 40.9 hours reported in the United States, but below the average 43.2 hours worked in Australia, 43.8 hours in Italy and 47.1 hours in Japan.
Forty-four percent of Canadian finance professionals take work calls or check email at in the evening at home. The results were 10 percentage points higher than the global average and second only to the Netherlands(46%).
Only 29% of Canadian practitioners say they never work on weekends, compared to 65% in Spain and 55% in France. However, one-quarter of Canadian finance professionals work three or more weekends per month.
And 38% of Canadian respondents say they sometimes or always take their laptops or PDAs with them on vacation.
“Finance and accounting managers have taken on new roles and responsibilities due to company expansion and the emphasis on corporate governance and compliance,” says Max Messmer, chairman and CEO of Robert Half International. “This clearly has resulted in heavier workloads and, in many cases, the need to work longer hours.”
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