Time In, Time Out in "Good Jobs": Do Specific Work Patterns Predict Burnout and Work Attitudes?

• In Event: 2368 - New Forms and Relations of Work

Abstract

We extend previous research on the potential costs of the current intensification of work in the U.S., looking not only at hours worked but at the timing of time away from work. Using unique daily diary data from the Work, Family, and Health Network study and a longitudinal design, we examine return to work time (the time off between the last paid work done on one day and the beginning of paid work the next day) and time off before bed in a sample of professional parents (N=118). Workers who average more time between the end of the last paid work spell and going to bed report significantly greater declines in burnout, turnover intentions, and work-to-family conflict over one year. Effects of longer return to work time are also found, though less robust. Importantly, all relationships between the timing of work and burnout, turnover intentions, and work-to-family conflict are significant for these professional mothers and not found in the subsample of professional fathers. These findings demonstrate the value of looking more closely at time in work and time out of work, including when time off occurs, and suggest new directions for future research among broader samples of workers.

Authors

• Erin Kelly, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Marjaana Sianoja, University of Tampere and Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Phyllis Moen, University of Minnesota