In the Dark

Night-shift workers can feel isolated, hostile -- and just plain tired

By Judy Artunian

August 8, 2005 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Last year, a veteran IT manager who had spent her career working traditional business hours at a California entertainment company switched to a shift that ended at midnight. It was an eye-opener. "You do nothing but sleep and work on the days you work. You really feel that you have nothing to do with the 'business' of the business anymore. It was the most isolating experience professionally I have ever had," she says.
For decades, many IT night-shift workers have echoed similar sentiments. Some people prefer to work during the wee hours. But even die-hard night owls struggle with the physical and psychological demands of working when everyone else is asleep.
While it's difficult to estimate how many IT professionals are on the job after dark, their numbers are likely to multiply. "Increasingly, multinational companies are centralizing their applications and related infrastructures to achieve lower operating costs and better systems integration. Round-the-clock IT operations are often essential to these global initiatives," says Paul Hamerman, an analyst at Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc.
The Fatigue Factor
Studies show that night-shift workers sleep less than people who work during the day. When fatigue sets in, productivity can plummet. Changing sleep hours on days off can increase the effect.
"That's like going to Europe for the weekend. If your body is usually asleep at a time when you now have to be awake and on the job, you'll feel drowsy and be more prone to accidents and mistakes," says John Eickholt, a physician who is medical director of the Worthington Sleep Wake Center in Columbus, Ohio.


Image Credit: Adam McCauley

Other hardships reported by night workers are rooted in feeling disconnected from management, especially during shifts when few managers are on hand.
"What often happens is that people become a team that operates independently of the company," says Betsy Connelly, president of Circadian Technologies Inc., a Lexington, Mass.-based research and consulting firm specializing in extended hours operations. "That can lead to creative ideas, but also to an adversarial relationship with the rest of the company."
That animosity can heat up if night-shift workers sense that they aren't being heard. Renee Cornair, a computer analyst who works from 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. at The Orange County Register, a daily newspaper with headquarters in Santa Ana, Calif., says that she routinely e-mails managers and associates to report issues that crop up during the night and to suggest resolutions.

"The problem is that people are overwhelmed by e-mail, so it's difficult to get them to read

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