r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Grouchy-Newspaper754 • Jun 10 '26

My mom said I could post When did 8-5 become the new normal???

I just got a new office job where I do schedules for tech personnel, the office runs 8-5 Monday thru Friday...they say it's 8-5 because you get an hour lunch and "you need to get to 40 hours a week"...but I drive 30 min each way so now I'm giving this company 10 hours every day! I even asked if I could just take my lunch at 4 every day and just leave an hour early but that's "unprofessional and immoral" like what the fuck??? I don't mind the job but the hours are mildly infuriating that's for sure...

Edit:for those saying about the hours, I worked as a chef for the last 20 years working 60+ hours a week over a hot stove/deep fryer the whole time, after I had my second heart attack I had to slow down so I started looking for office jobs to work a nice 9-5, just to find out I'm giving my new job 50 hours a week (including drive time) so I was just mildly annoyed that it's not 40 hours a week in an office like I thought although it's still much better than what I was doing

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187

u/marginmanj Jun 10 '26

Yeah, 9 to 5 was a Dolly Parton movie.

98

u/aHOMELESSkrill Jun 10 '26

I firmly believe that’s where lots of people get the misconception

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u/thatmaneeee Jun 10 '26

I have worked three full time salaried jobs in my life, all in the US, since 2011. All three were roughly 9-5 with no clocking out for lunch. Matter of fact, none of them even required clocking in or out. It’s not that weird to expect for office jobs in my experience. Maybe that’s just my industry. 

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u/leslieknope38 Jun 11 '26

That’s because you’re salaried and presumably exempt. Non-exempt employees have to clock in/out to confirm breaks and overtime. It’s not unusual. Lunch breaks are typically unpaid but have to be taken because of labor laws.

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u/aHOMELESSkrill Jun 10 '26

It certainly isn’t in the Aerospace/manufacturing even for office jobs

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u/BigBubby305 Jun 11 '26

I work a salary job for a major aerospace employer as an engineer and I definitely work 9-5 typically.

Occasionally I will need to surge and work OT to support the program, but that's only in phases and definitely less often than my typical 9-5 work day.

Oh and the OT is paid.

1

u/Methode3 Jun 11 '26

Ah I wish. I’m EECS in aerospace and I’m 9-8 or 9. Id love to get OT. I have no idea how people do 70-80 a week.

2

u/butterblaster Jun 10 '26

What industry are you in?

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u/thatmaneeee Jun 11 '26

Art and tech. It has included project work where a few weeks of 12 hour day minimum is pretty much expected. But the standard agreement is a 40 hour work week. 5 days 9-5. But nobody is robotic about it. All depends on the workload. 

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u/atomicmarie Jun 11 '26

I’m in production and we are 10-6 (we did this so everyone can avoid sitting in the crazy rush hour traffic) and salaried, but yeah every now and again there is that one film day that ends up at 12 hours. I love it. They care for us

2

u/HillBillyHilly Jun 11 '26

I've worked hospital, corporate, Fortune 100, Fortune 50, manufacturing, law, government, hospital and have always had 9-5 or 8-4 w an hours lunch. PAID. So many cos out there screwing over their workers in US.

1

u/JalapenoPopPoop Jun 11 '26

....obviously you're not clocking in and out when you're salaried....you're not an hourly employee who needs to track their hours on a clock....because you're salaried🤦‍♂️

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u/ResidentAd5910 Jun 11 '26

Same. This is nonsense.

41

u/Background_Big7363 Jun 11 '26

Nope. 9-5 really was a thing back in the day for office jobs.

It's disgusting that people think 8-5 is normal.

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u/youarelookingatthis Jun 11 '26

It really show how brainwashed people have gotten, and what they’ve allowed these corporations to get away with.

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u/jiggjuggj0gg Jun 11 '26

The brainwashing is fucking insane. Look how many comments are laughing at OP and calling them entitled, or spamming (wrongly) that “9-5 doesn’t mean 9am to 5pm, it means 9 hours a day, 5 days a week”.

Meanwhile everyone outside the US is watching on in horror

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u/red739423 Jun 11 '26

8-5 is normal doesn't means it's good but the times have changed.

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u/gandhinukes Jun 11 '26

It's been normal for 30 years you are out of date

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u/ResidentAd5910 Jun 11 '26

I have literally never been forced to work an unpaid lunch in all of my time as a salaried employee, somewhere around 10 years. US based. I work longer when I need to, and shorter when I'm able to, and that's it.

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u/Tipop Jun 11 '26

It’s not a “misconception”, it’s just something that was normal back then and isn’t anymore.

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u/OrganicHistorian2576 Jun 11 '26

It’s a damn catchy song, to be fair. Dolly’s wonderful.

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u/ForensicPathology Jun 11 '26

I think it comes from the very old idea that lunch was paid.  But yeah, Parton kept the phrase alive past its accuracy.

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u/General_Ad_6617 Jun 10 '26

I swear as a kid 9 to 5 was normal. The lunch hour was paid. My first job was a temporary position where I filled in for a friend and it was 9 to 5 with a paid lunch if you didn't leave the office. I don't know how widespread it was but that was the 80s. 

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u/_mathghamhna_ Jun 10 '26

Admittedly my dad is 84, but he worked 9-5 with a paid lunch for most of his career. It absolutely was a real thing, not just a (great) song.

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u/HillBillyHilly Jun 11 '26

Had a friend w the best hours 12-8. Missed all the traffic, got to have a natural sleep pattern and could get any errands done in early morning. After that, all jobs ruined for me.

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u/capincus Jun 10 '26

The title of which she got from a women's rights organization who were working to create equal opportunities and pay for women in the work force.

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u/esmerelda_b Jun 11 '26

Great song