Employers would agree that it’s not wrong to give 100% during work. Jobs are essential for economic sustainability and often require long hours of focus and dedication. However, overstaying the usual 40 hours a week at work has proven to be poorer for a person’s mental and physical health. A 2019 French study found that long working hours are a potential risk factor for stroke, as individuals working ten or more hours a day for at least 50 days in a year had a 29% greater risk for stroke. Not only that, overworking has links to poorer mental health, sleep disorders, weight gain, and proneness to addictions.

Overworking will not directly kill an individual, but it has proven to have significant negative correlations. Jobs with shifts often require irregular working hours and can deeply affect a person’s circadian rhythm, which is the body’s natural timing of waking and sleeping. Apart from the physical and mental toll, long hours of working can also lead to lower job satisfaction and mental health due to poor work-life balance.

On a global scale, around 22% of workers clock in 48 hours a week at work. Experts attribute the increase to slow wage growth and rising underemployment, which has led many workers to take on second jobs. To fix the overworking crisis and its many health consequences, it is important that employers attain their employee’s input on their work schedules. That would help employers to promote realistic schedules and uphold a healthy work-life balance.