Which careers work more than average hours per week?

Digital Marketing
#1

Consider the following careers that regularly have longer averages for the hours employees work per week:

  • Marine: Working in a marine career includes jobs on boats and water, like ship captains, cargo boat operators and aquatic engineers. Employees in this field often work longer hours than the national average because they travel for long periods on the water and ensure the safety of a marine vessel and its cargo at all times.
  • Health care: Health care careers include people who work as doctors, surgeons and nurses to take care of patients. In these jobs, many professionals work longer than the typical 40-hour workweek because they have to take calls in the night to perform emergency procedures or stay with a patient until they finish their treatment, which may regularly lengthen the workday.
  • Agricultural: Agricultural employees work on farms to take care of animals and plants that produce goods for customers. Because it’s vital to keep these animals and plants alive, farmers and farmhands often work long hours every day of the week to tend to their livestock and crops and keep them safe and healthy.
  • Extraction: Careers in extraction include jobs that extract resources from the ground, like oil drillers and miners. These professionals work long hours to complete projects while they have access to job sites and equipment, which they may only have access to for a few days and under specific weather conditions.
  • Military: People who work in the military typically live near their colleagues and work together each day. Employees, and specifically those in high-ranking positions, may work nontraditional hours to create tactical plans, keep an inventory of important products and equipment and spend a lot of time training service members.
  • Emergency services: Emergency services careers, like paramedics and firefighters, require employees to be ready to respond to emergencies at any time. Depending on the size of each emergency department, most employees in this field may work often to respond to emergencies and keep people safe, even outside of typical business hours.
  • Construction: Construction employers often require laborers, carpenters and other construction professionals to work more hours than the standard workweek. If employees in these roles need to complete a project by a certain deadline, they may work extra to ensure they can create a stable structure made from safe materials that fit their customer’s needs.