Aussie owners working longer hours: poll

Australian business owners work longer than the global average, and only an hour less than the world's workaholics in India and Argentina, a survey released shows.

According to research from national accounting and consulting firm Grant Thornton, Australian business owners work an average 56 hours a week, the same as Armenia and Botswana, but below that of India and Argentina at 57 hours a week.

Grant Thornton's International Business Report (IBR), a survey of 7,200 business owners in 32 countries, found the global average is 53 hours a week.

At the bottom of the list, Italy-based business owners take a more leisurely approach to work with 47 hours per week, just behind Sweden, Thailand, Netherlands, Ireland and Spain, which all recorded 48 hours per week.

"Globalisation and increasing technological advances have increased the pressure on business owners to 'always be contactable' as evidenced in the number of hours worked by Australian business owners each week," Robert Quant, Chairman of Grant Thornton Australia, said.

"The challenge for business owners is how they can improve modern working practices to allow time to 'switch off' from the strains of increasingly demanding, business lives - while remaining competitive."

The survey found that 41 per cent of Australian business owners were more stressed than a year earlier, but under the global average of 56 per cent.

The rapid growth of China has been accompanied by 84 per cent mainland Chinese business leaders reporting an increase in stress levels, the highest increase in the world.

Mainland China is followed by Taiwan at 82 per cent, and the developing economies of India seventy nine per cent and Russia 76 per cent in the stress league table.

Sweden was at the bottom of the table with just 27 per cent in increased stress levels.

Mr Quant said the stress levels appear to be a reflection of the pace of growth in these economies as they strive to take advantage of domestic and global economic expansion.

The shorter working week in Europe is reflected in the lowest rise in stress levels worldwide, suggesting that European businesses are perhaps leading the world in managing work life balance and quality of life.

Mon - Sat 8am - 6pm + evening sales calls / product demos 3 nights per fortnight.

Call it 60+ hours per work.

Cheers,

Soundman.

Mon-Sat, the odd Sunday, 9am-7.30pm ish again, with sales calls and a bit of emailing in the evening form home.

About 60 hours a week roughly, with very few holidays. Thats the worst part.

Same here - 60-70 hours per week and infrequent holidays.

I'm in a professional consulting and my schedule is like this

M-F…9-1, lunch 1-2, work again 2-5, then again after dinner roughly 9pm-11:30pm

sat off

sun…back again 8pm-11:30pm

Not including all the constant thinking about the projects during the breaks

So mine roughly is 60 hrs/wk and yep the holidays are far and few in between

Being relatively new in the hotel business I work 12 hours a day 7 days a week. Looking forward to 3 weeks vacation next month.

Maybe 24/7 as I have yet to find the off switch for my brain !!

8 a.m. to 2 a.m. ( Sometimes even later at Sunrise Tacos. This morning it was 3 a.m.) 7 days a week.

But I do love it so...the good news it doesn't feel like it's work.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Business owners working hours....

well untill you have made it ....26hrs a day 8 days a week 400 days of the year..

Day off when your dead.

But i wouldnt have it any other way,if i mess up its my fault....report to my wife only...

Being relatively new in the hotel business I work 12 hours a day 7 days a week. Looking forward to 3 weeks vacation next month.

Vacation? Whats a vacation? I haven't had more than three days in a row off in four years.

Cheers,

Soundman.

PS. And on top of all the hours I work I have to be a father as well.

8 a.m. to 2 a.m. ( Sometimes even later at Sunrise Tacos. This morning it was 3 a.m.) 7 days a week.

But I do love it so...the good news it doesn't feel like it's work.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

I bet you kip out from time to time though!! Try delegating. That way you only have to wake up to collect the takings!

I open the service station most days, up at 5.55am, open by 6.05am, asleep for another hour by 6.06am. 7.30am - take the kids to school. In the office at 8.10am. Have a shower, shave etc. Ready to face the world 8.30am.

Cheers,

Soundman.

As an accountant, I work every waking hour from January until April 15th. After that it settles to 40-50 per week.

Vacations are tough (although just bought tickets to Thailand in Aug!!) But I do manage to sneak out from time to time outside of tax season.

you guys r owners and put in 60 hours a week.

you guys must have good thai workers.

i would have thought at least 70 hours .

8 am till 10Pm, often midnight or later...

Around 100 hours/week...

Pretty much like everybody else here. Physically 70-80ish hours. Psychologically every waking hour. 5 days of vacation in Karon (during the coup!) in the last 3 years. Actually, only slightly joking, 4 day coma in CM Ram from motorcycle accident near Doi Inthanon probably was a needed psych vacation! Light at the end of the tunnel (maybe a full week off!), though, I keep telling myself!