Night workers shift schedules to allow for a social life

By Katie Leonard
4/23/10

Night shift jobs cause workers to have to adjust their sleeping habits, eating schedules and other routines in order to get adjusted to burning the midnight oil. On top of all that, these jobs make it a challenge for workers to spend time with those not on their schedules.

Nicole Harnois, a 26-year-old nurse from the North Shore, said working the night shift interfered with being able to attend potluck lunches and other functions that some of her day shift co-workers were able to make. "Either they were during the day on the floor, and people would come even on their days off, but when you work the night shift, that day off you're probably sleeping," said Harnois. She added that most of the holidays parties take place around 7 or 8 p.m., when night shift workers are on the job.

While night shift workers might feel isolated by their work schedules, they are not alone. Workers in the United States work more hours on average than most other industrialized nations. In 2008, the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that Americans spent an average of five hours a day on leisure activities. Of those five hours, only 38 minutes were spent socializing and communicating with others.

Nenia Corcoran is a junior English major at Framingham State College in Framingham, Mass. Corcoran, 21, works three nights a week as a security desk attendant at two different dorms on campus. From midnight until 4 a.m., Corcoran is signing people into the buildings and making sure residents and guests are not bringing alcohol onto the dry campus. "I see very few people at those times," said Corcoran.

This is Corcoran's second year on the job. Last year, her post included working some weekend nights, which took a toll on her social plans. "It kind of ruined my whole weekend," said Corcoran. Corcoran said she worked from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Saturdays, which took up Friday nights and made her too exhausted to do much on Saturdays.

Corcoran said that her schedule this year doesn't include any weekend shifts, which has made it easier for her to go home for the weekend or visit her boyfriend. Since Framingham State is known for being a "suitcase school" (where most students leave campus on weekends), working a weekday shift can have its disadvantages. "Thursday night is a huge night here for going out to parties," said Corcoran. "And I don't get to do that."

Corcoran said that since she sleeps later (on days when she doesn't have an early class), she rarely makes it to the cafeteria, and misses out on some free give-aways and activities that the school sponsors at lunchtime.

Both Tim Bacon and Nicole Buffington said that part of their job is to socialize with their customers while at work. Bacon, 40, is a customer service attendant at Planet Fitness in Danvers, Mass. and Buffington, 23, is a bartender and server at Christopher's in Cambridge.

Bacon works from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. at the 24-hour fitness franchise, greeting customers and doing data entry. Bacon said that some of his customers earlier in the night are just getting off from working a second shift when they come in, are tired, and want to get their exercise in and go home. Others, many in the service industry, are fellow night shift employees, and are "surprisingly chatty." "This is awake for them," said Bacon. On the other side of that are the folks who have just woken up, and are getting their workout in before heading to work for the day. "The 4 a.m. people are pretty alert," said Bacon. "They may not like it, but they're up."

When she's working the downstairs bar at Christopher's restaurant in Porter Square, Nicole Buffington said that she is able to have more face time with customers than when she is waiting tables in the dining room. Buffington said as a bartender, she's able to take time to chit chat with customers, rather than worrying about rushing to tend to another table. "You're kind of there to entertain them, if they want to be entertained," said Buffington.

Buffington, who works as late as 3:30 a.m. some weekends, said that a lot of her socializing ends up happening with her co-workers at the restaurant. "Everyone's like a family," she said.

Buffington said that while she's gotten to be very close to her fellow servers, her work schedule can take a toll on when she can see her family, friends and even her roommates. Buffington said that she is the type of person to figure that, once a shift ends, she's already out and can extend the night to meet up with friends.

But, she said, issues like getting to the party in time or just being too exhausted to enjoy herself sometimes get in the way. Since the restaurant cuts people at different times depending on how busy a night it is, Buffington said it can be difficult to make plans for after work because she just doesn't know when she'll get out. "It definitely makes it hard to have a social life with people who have the opposite schedule that you do."