Shift work is a fact of life for 25% of today’s workplace.
Though night work has been required since prehistoric times (someone had to keep the fire and provide protection from predators), the need has been increasing through the industrial age and ever more so today when we demand instant service and convenience.
Census data in the US indicates that approximately 25% of the workforce does shift work, while in Canada, the data indicates that approximately 30% of the workforce is involved in ‘non-standard’ hours of work. These percentages have risen only slightly over the last decade but because the workforce has expanded, it means there are an ever increasing number of people doing shift and night work.