In the Netherlands, 1.3 million people – salaried employees and the self-employed – sometimes or regularly work at night. In recent months, for the first time (small-scale) research has been carried out into how these night workers actually experience the work themselves.
Labor sociologist Fabian Dekker spoke with 25 night workers from eight sectors where night work is common. This shows that cleaners, port workers, healthcare workers and police officers, among others, will also see the benefits of the night at a certain point.
“It doesn’t start that way,” he explains. “They are scheduled into the night, work a few shifts and then notice certain positive effects over time.” Not only does night work pay better, on average 35 percent more than during the day, the perceived workload is also lower, says the labor sociologist, who works at SEOR, an independent research agency affiliated with Erasmus University Rotterdam.
Dekker spoke to several healthcare workers, truck drivers, catering staff, rail workers, radio DJs, dock workers, cleaners and police officers. He can now say that people who are burdened by having to work as efficiently as possible during the day find a refuge at night.
Better than during the day
“They can compensate for the pressure of the day at night,” he explains. “Then there are fewer consultation moments, fewer meetings. There is no employer watching them closely. As a result, they experience more autonomy, more time for their core tasks, for craftsmanship.”
The countless scientific studies that have already been done on night work are almost all written from a medical perspective. And then the conclusion is quickly drawn. Night work is unhealthy. Because people who work at night have a proven higher risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and sleeping problems.
Dekker does not deny all these disadvantages. “Night work definitely comes with a price tag, and the people I spoke to say so,” he says. But now he also shows the other side of the coin. His research is not statistically representative, but it does show enough different perspectives, he says.
“It is not a tunneled image. There is room for different colours,” he adds. His findings are included in the recently published booklet Forgotten professions. Living and working as a night worker. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and TNO are currently conducting a similar study. They also ask night workers themselves regarding their experiences.
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