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Eleven hours a day, seven days a week, Cynthia McKay maintains a clockwork schedule. From 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., she is in her office as CEO of Le Gourmet Gift Basket in Castle Rock, Colo. That adds up to a 77-hour workweek, not counting her time at home on 24-hour call for clients around the world.
But don't feel sorry for McKay. Her long hours are "absolutely my choice," she says, adding, "I love being at work. It becomes a lifestyle as opposed to a job."
That kind of schedule puts McKay in the rarefied company of a growing group of highly paid professionals who hold "extreme" jobs. One-fifth of high earners surveyed in the United States have such jobs, according to new research.
In addition to logging 60 or more hours a week, many travel regularly, maintain fast-paced, unpredictable schedules and respond to clients' demands around the clock.
Although workaholics have always existed, their image has been glamorized. Today's overachievers are cast as "road warriors and masters of the universe," says Sylvia Ann Hewlett, president and founder of the Center for Work-Life Policy in New York. Yet those burning this midnight oil run risks to earn their impressive financial rewards, she says.
Warning that their pace is not sustainable, Hewlett says, "There's a lot of risk attached. The fallout in private lives is huge." In addition, she says, women are being left behind because many cannot put in 70-hour weeks.
Hewlett's report, "Extreme Jobs: The Dangerous Allure of the 70-Hour Workweek," was published in the Harvard Business Review.
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"The big surprise of the data was just how much these extreme professionals love their work," Hewlett says. "It is a knowledge economy. Millions of people are amazingly challenged and stimulated by their work. That is good news."
Extreme jobs exist everywhere: in large manufacturing companies and small firms; in law, medicine, entertainment, media, technology; and on Wall Street.
Beyond extreme workers' personal ambitions, several cultural factors are helping to drive the trend, Hewlett says. One is globalization, which requires professionals to work across multiple time zones. Communication technology also plays a role, allowing workers to stay in constant contact. Increased competition for high-level positions and declining job security also encourage excessive work.
"There's something deep in our culture right now which really admires over-the-top pressure, over-the-top performance, over-the-top pay packages," Hewlett says.
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