What jobs in Information Technology only require 40 hours a week ? Or are Mon fri 8-5pm (IT job, consulting)

[Mr.Professional]

I recently quitted an IT job couldnt stand working 60 to 80 weeks decreases way too much productivity for me need a 9-5 computer job ?

[K.Uni]

where are u working? lol, all the roles i've recruited for were standard 40 hrs/week..

[branh0913]

Every role is officially 40 hours, but circumstances are always going to force you to exceed that. It jobs where you absolutely won't exceed that are usually something like help desk where you are likely to work in shifts. So it's impossible to exceed your 40 hours. Most other jobs you either are going to work a lot to meet deadlines, you're likely to be on call, or you're going to be pulled into emergency situations. However most IT jobs I've worked were very flexible

[joyinthejourney]

my husband has been in IT for 20 years in several different companies and pretty much always works 40 hrs/week. maybe a start up might require long hours but most companies don't. maybe look for work at gov jobs, hospitals or schools?

[macroy]

I think its more organization specific vs. role/job specific. There are certainly some roles where you're expected to be available 24/7 in case an emergency happens (and that's not just IT), but it's not like you're expected to be in the office 60-80 hours per week. I've been doing this for a long time, and I even came up the operational track (network engineer, security engineer) - and I've never felt I've been overworked because of a specific role I took.

[LakeLifePA]

I agree that a government position in IT will generally have a standard 40 hour week, but I cannot agree with that sentiment regarding hospitals. They are an absolute 24/7/365 operation and when I did IT for a hospital I was on call the same. I had a pager and everyone of my 400+ users had the number. It was not uncommon for me to get paged in the middle of the night. I lasted 9 months at that job and took a 10k pay cut to go back to my old one.

[AminWi]

You may want to consider consulting. Some consulting companies do require long hours and travel, but in most cases you are not authorized to work for more than 40 hours a week since you are billable.

[ferraris]

I agree with the others that this is going to vary more by organization and industry than the specific IT role.

[sware2cod]

Originally Posted by AminWi

You may want to consider consulting. Some consulting companies do require long hours and travel, but in most cases you are not authorized to work for more than 40 hours a week since you are billable.

This^^^. Many contract jobs want you to work 40 hrs a week because that's all their budget allows. You might see the salaried workers on your team working long hours, while you, as a contractor, work your 40 hours.

[TechGromit]

Originally Posted by Mr.Professional

I recently quitted an IT job couldnt stand working 60 to 80 weeks decreases way too much productivity for me need a 9-5 computer job ?

Then you worked in the wrong place. I worked for IT at one company for 7 years, and other than occasional travel, my work week rarely exceeded 40 hours a week and no it wasn't help desk. Where I work now, my work week hasn't yet exceeded 43 hours a week year and I'm earning more than my last job.

I've had weeks were I had to work 50 hours one week due to an emergency, but it was a rare occurrence. If your working 60 to 80 hour a weeks, every week, your employer was taking unfair advantage of you, they need to hire more help, there no reason you should have to put up with that for very long.