- 21% of Brits are working overtime 2 days a week, 11% work 5 days, and 3% work overtime 7 days per week.
- 39% spend between 1-2 hours a week doing overtime, 16% spend 3-4 hours, and 4% work 6 hours extra.
- Overtime pressures are causing 19% of workers to look elsewhere for employment.
In the UK, 81% of workers claim to have a good work-life balance. With flexible and hybrid working inspiring the culture, workloads across different businesses are changing, but which workers are doing the most overtime?
Adobe Express has conducted an extensive study ( a national survey via TLF. The survey polled 1,000 UK adults between 24.04.2025 and 01.05.2025) to find out exactly which industries and cities are doing the most overtime, the benefits of it, the downside and the amount of time spent extra in the office or on site.
Although a third of Brits (31%) admit that the main reason they work overtime is for extra income with overtime pay, workload is the core reason workers are having to spend extra time at the workplace. In fact, 41% claim they work overtime because of a high workload and too much to do within the regular hours, whilst 37% confess they do it because of deadline pressures.
40% are happy with their current role and the amount of overtime they are doing, admitting they aren’t currently looking to leave their job and won’t look in future. However, 21% are currently looking and have been offered a position elsewhere, whilst 19% are currently looking but haven’t been offered anything yet.
Which industries are doing the most overtime?
People working in Law are officially doing overtime the most often, with 20% claiming they have to do it seven days per week. One in 10 (10%) workers in Property and Construction are also doing overtime seven days per week, followed by 8% in Engineering and Manufacturing. Meanwhile, just 2% of those in Retail are working overtime seven days per week.
How often industries work over time
In the Sales sector, most people (40%) are working 1 day per week overtime, with 25% of Law Enforcement and Security, as well as Marketing, Advertising and PR also doing one day per week.
Regarding how many hours are being worked per overtime session, Enforcement and Security workers top the ranking (with 25% clocking six plus hours), followed by Law (20%), and Public Services and Administration (13%). Meanwhile, in the Information Technology industry, just 2% are working more than six hours. Environment and Manufacturing, and Sales workers tend to keep overtime minimal too, with 50% logging 30-60 minutes. The full list can be found below:
The amount of hours each industry works during an overtime session
75% of Marketing, Advertising and PR workers currently do overtime because of a high workload that they can’t complete in their contracted hours, the highest out of all industries, whilst 75% of people working in Environment and Agriculture do it for the extra pay. 50% of people working in sales feel pressure from their employer to stay and work overtime.
Which cities are working the most overtime?
In terms of UK cities, Sheffield leads for the highest percentage of people working overtime seven days a week (13%), followed by Nottingham (5%) and Southampton (3%).
How often do cities work overtime
Cardiff is officially the city working the most hours of overtime, with 14% working more than six hours each time, followed by Liverpool (9%), and Southampton (7%). In Bristol, 41% are spending between 30-60 minutes working after hours each week, with Sheffield following closely behind at 38%. 14% of people in Cardiff are spending less than 30 minutes on overtime each session, the lowest amount of time out of all cities. The full listings can be found below:
The amount of hours each city works during an overtime session
59% of people in Southampton are working overtime due to high workloads, the highest percentage out of all cities and 48% of people in Nottingham do it to overcome deadline pressures. Almost a quarter (24%) of Bristolians stay later in work because they enjoy it and want to do more. 56% of Sheffield workers are currently looking for new work to change their position.
