August 3, 2000 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Service workers on alternative shifts more often
Workers in service occupations are more likely
to work alternative shifts than are any other occupational group. In 1997,
37.1 percent of full-time wage and salary workers in service jobs had
alternative shifts, more than twice the 16.8 percent among all full-time
employees.
[Chart data—TXT]
Among service workers, those in protective service occupations had the
highest incidence of shift work—over half (55.1 percent) worked an
alternative shift. Food service was the next highest at 42.0 percent
followed by health service at 30.1 percent.
"Alternative shift" and "shift work" both refer to
work schedules that do not conform to the regular daytime schedule, for
which work hours typically fall between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Types of
alternative shifts include evening shift, night shift, rotating shift, and
employer-arranged irregular schedule.
These data are a product of the May 1997 supplement to the Current
Population Survey. Learn more about shift work in "Flexible
schedules and shift work: replacing the 9-to-5 workday?" by Thomas
M. Beers, Monthly Labor Review, June 2000.
Of interest
Spotlight on Statistics: National Hispanic Heritage Month
In this Spotlight, we take a look at the Hispanic labor force—including labor force participation, employment and unemployment, educational attainment, geographic location, country of birth, earnings, consumer expenditures, time use, workplace injuries, and employment projections.
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Read more »