Manchester has been revealed as the home of the UK’s most ‘overworked’ employees, according to a new study.
In case you weren’t aware, April is also National Stress Awareness Month, and we all know that work and our jobs can be a huge contributing factor to our stress levels – but where abouts in the country are you likely to find the people experiencing the most stress at the hands of their career? In other words, where do the most overworked employees live?
Well, in a bid to answer this question, call-answering company Moneypenny decided to carry out a survey of 1,000 UK workers to discover which cities and industries are most likely to work overtime, and the hours they clock up each month.
The survey also looked at how the working of overtime impacts on the wellbeing and personal relationships of workers.
And, unfortunately, Manchesterhas claimed the top spot on the list.
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Mancs have been revealed as the most ‘overworked’ employees in the UK / Credit: Unsplash
The shocking new research found that, overall, 84% of Brits say they feel pressured to work overtime in their job, and one in four who do work overtime end up doing so without extra pay too – with the expectations of fulfilling their role’s responsibilities cited as being the top reason for people going above and beyond.
52% of survey respondents from 15 major UK cities have admitted to working overtime on a weekly basis, but when it comes to here in Manchester, that figure is even higher
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Mancs who responded to the survey said they stay behind at work an average of 9.6 days each month.
Clocking up a whopping average of 31.68 hours of monthly overtime, the average weekly contracted hours of employed residents is 32, meaning Manchester workers are adding an extra week’s worth of labour onto their monthly hours.
Top 10 Most Overworked Cities in the UK
Manchester
London
Norwich
Bristol
Belfast
Sheffield
Southampton
Nottingham
Leeds
Newcastle
London, Norwich, Bristol, and Belfast are the other four cities rounding out the top five behind Manchester, while fellow Northern cities in the top 10 include Leeds and Sheffield.
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The number one industry where employees were found to work the most overtime was Law Enforcement and Security, followed by Business, Consulting, and Management, IT, and Energy and Utilities, with Media and Internet closing out the top five.
The study also showed that working overtime, whether driven by job demands or economic factors, has a significant impact on lives outside of the workplace too.
More than a quarter (26%) of respondents reported that working overtime harmed their physical health, while 23% cited adverse effects on their mental health, and on top of this, more than one in six workers stated that overtime had caused relationship issues, with one in 12 even admitting that it had led to a breakup.
Alex Sanderson summons Rudyard Kipling as Sale Sharks scrape into the semi-finals
Danny Jones
Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson referenced the famous Rudyard Kipling after Sale Sharks managed to book their place in the playoffs of this year’s Gallagher Premiership following a nail-biter of a fixture against Exeter Chiefs.
The Sharks sealed their spot in the semi-finals with a 30-26 win over the Chiefs on Saturday night, with a trio of tries, a singular pen and calmness when it came to conversions proving just enough to make it to full time.
Speaking on the narrow score at Sandy Park, Sanderson himself applauded that same composure during his post-match duties, casually quoting Kipling ahead of the next big game.
Writing on social media after nerves had just about settled, the club simply said: “Apologies for raising the heart rate, Sharks Family… but Saturday we go again.”
Beginning with an expression of that same defiant spirit that has seen them across the line on so many occasions, the 45-year-old told TNT Sports, “We got another Monday in us.”
The Sale Sharks coach went on to add: “So if you can keep your head, when everybody else is losing theirs – I think that’s the old Rudyard Kipling poem – you’re in such a better place on the back of that, knowing what we can fix from the Leicester game and what we can do better from today.”
It’s not every day you hear sportsmen calling up the poetic words of the beloved British-India writer, but it certainly impressed plenty of supporters, though Sanderson has always been popular among fans for his candour and charisma in interviews.
Ultimately, it was Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, Bevan Rodd, Luke Cowan-Dickie and George Ford that the Greater Manchester outfit had to thank for the electrifying finish
You can see how much it meant, clear as day…
Not done yet…
Thank you for your support Sharks Family, it’s truly appreciated!
Sale Sharks will now take on Leicester Tigers (who the local side finished just behind in third place following the result against the Chiefs) in the Premiership semis as they look to get revenge for previous painful meetings
Are you feeling hopeful, Sharks Family?
You can see the full highlights from Sale Sharks’ tense victory over the Exeter Chiefs down below.
Alex Sanderson channelled Rudyard Kipling and Sale scrapped like true Sharks.
‘The average cost of a pint’ in the UK by region, according to the latest data
Danny Jones
Does it feel like pints keep getting more and more expensive almost every week at this point? Yes. Yes, it does, and while you can’t expect a city as big as Manchester to be one of the cheapest places to get one in the UK, we do often wonder how it compares to other parts of the country.
Well, as it happens, someone has recently crunched the numbers for us across the nation, breaking down which regions pay the most and the least for their pints.
The data has been examined by business management consultancy firm, CGA Strategy, using artificial intelligence and information from the latest Retail Price Index figures to find out what the ‘average cost of a pint’ is down south, up North and everywhere in between.
While the latest statistics provided by the group aren’t granular enough to educate us on Greater Manchester’s pint game exactly, we can show you how our particular geographic region is looking on the leaderboard at the moment.
That’s right, we Mancunians and the rest of the North West are technically joint mid-table when it comes to the lowest average cost of a pint, sharing the places from 3rd to 8th – according to CGA, anyway.
Powered by consumer intelligence company, NIQ (NielsenIQ) – who also use AI and the latest technology to deliver their insights – we can accept it might seem like it’s been a while since you’ve paid that little for a pint, especially in the city centre, but these are the stats they have published.
Don’t shoot the messenger, as they say; unless, of course, they’re trying to rob you blind for a bev. Fortunately, we’ve turned bargain hunting at Manchester bars into a sport at this point.
We might not boast the lowest ‘average’ pint cost in the UK, but we still have some bloody good places to keep drinking affordable.
London tops the charts (pretends to be shocked)
While some of you may have scratched your eyes at the supposed average pint prices here in the North West, it won’t surprise any of you to see that London leads the way when it came to the most expensive pint when it came to average cost in the UK.
To be honest, £5.44 doesn’t just sound cheap but virtually unheard of these days.
CGA has it that the average cost of a beer in the British capital is actually down 15p from its price last September, but as we all know, paying upwards of £7 for a pint down that end of the country is pretty much par for the course the closer you get to London.
Yet more reason you can be glad you live around here, eh? And in case you thought you were leaving this article with very little, think again…
Emily Sergeant -
10th April 2024 
