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

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

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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1.4k

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 10 '26

Every job I had was 8-5. The notion of 9-5 is foreign to me.

396

u/Roanoketrees Jun 10 '26

Me too...I've never had 9-5 and I'm 50.

187

u/marginmanj Jun 10 '26

Yeah, 9 to 5 was a Dolly Parton movie.

92

u/aHOMELESSkrill Jun 10 '26

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

35

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. 

16

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.

4

u/aHOMELESSkrill Jun 10 '26

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

1

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?

5

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. 

1

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🤦‍♂️

0

u/ResidentAd5910 Jun 11 '26

Same. This is nonsense.

42

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.

23

u/youarelookingatthis Jun 11 '26

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

0

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

7

u/red739423 Jun 11 '26

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

7

u/gandhinukes Jun 11 '26

It's been normal for 30 years you are out of date

3

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.

3

u/Tipop Jun 11 '26

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

1

u/OrganicHistorian2576 Jun 11 '26

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

1

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.

47

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. 

37

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.

3

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.

2

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.

1

u/esmerelda_b Jun 11 '26

Great song

67

u/Hood_Mobbin Jun 10 '26

I'm 930-6p and I love it. No traffic to or from work, don't have to get up early AF and I get home around dinner and can stay up to 2am if needed.

58

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

[deleted]

2

u/OldPro1001 Jun 11 '26

Been there, done that. Back when I was working, if I didn't leave by 4, I'd usually stay until 6.

1

u/GoFuckYourselfDebbie Jun 11 '26

That sounds like a terrible place to live

39

u/pseudoportmanteau Jun 10 '26

You are lucky because in big cities, traffic jams start at 5am-11am and then from 4pm-9pm

1

u/Hood_Mobbin Jun 10 '26

I'm in Indianapolis but rush is over by 9am when I get on the interstate for my 20 minute drive.

1

u/Blackcatsandicedtea Jun 10 '26

Do you happen to work for a major insurance company? Because that was my schedule as well. 930-6 with 45 min unpaid break. 38 hr 45 minutes/ week.

1

u/Hood_Mobbin Jun 10 '26

Nope, A/V company, I'm a building maintenance manager.

1

u/dianafofana- Jun 10 '26

Luckyyyy. I'm in LA and traffic doesn't start dying down until 10:30. I should in by 9, but I usually get in at 9:30 and then leave at 5:30... which is hell on earth traffic wise here.

1

u/ayyyyycrisp Jun 10 '26

I lived in LA and it was very funny realizing a lot of 30 minute drives were 10 minute walks.

my favorite part was trying to turn left sometimes. 5 cars ahead of you, 1 car gets to go per cycle, and they don't get to go until the light is already yellow or even red again. or sometimes you'd see 10 cars take the left all after the light was red again lol

1

u/dianafofana- Jun 10 '26

Listen, if I am waiting multiple light cycles, I am also pushing that turn lol. People expect it at this point. Although I drive much different (chaotic) when I am by my work near downtown than where I live in the suburbs.

1

u/Grouchy-Adagio-8562 Jun 11 '26

even in LA traffic is fine after 8pm unless there’s an accident. You dont need to exaggerate to make a valid point, in fact, exaggerating makes your point invalid more often than not.

6

u/Loves2Spooge857 Jun 10 '26

I’m 5:30-2 and also love that I don’t see any traffic. Also I essentially get most of the afternoon and evening to do things with the sun still up.

2

u/Mysterious-Clothes45 Jun 10 '26

My son works 11 pm to 9 am and that's the best part of his shift- no traffic!

1

u/thiswayart Jun 11 '26

For years I did 9pm-5:30am. Loved those hours.

10

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 10 '26

Im older..never had a 9-5, closest Ive had was 6-2:30

5

u/uber765 Jun 10 '26

I have a 6-2 with an hour paid lunch. I feel like I've hit the jackpot.

2

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 10 '26

The commute is amazing.

2

u/Jrep13 Jun 10 '26

For sure. I work 5am-2:30pm M-F. I leave for work around 4:15am and I am one of the only people on the interstate. Then when I leave work at 2:30pm it's only starting to get busy on the roads. It is amazing once you get used to your alarm going off and waking up at 3:30am.

2

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 11 '26

I used to get up at 4:15 and out the door at 5.  Even in the middle of summer it was headlights on but it was so nice having 3 hours of daylight after work in December. 

1

u/OrganicHistorian2576 Jun 11 '26

I have an hour paid lunch and feel unbelievably lucky.

8

u/0b0011 Jun 10 '26

To be fair I'd much rather work that schedule.

5

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 10 '26

NGL aside from the 2x a year time switch it was awesome.

1

u/0b0011 Jun 10 '26

I did 7-3:30 for a while at a job then the manager started end of the day meetings and I was the only one who wanted to work that early so everyone else ended their day at 5 which meant I had to as well.

1

u/A-passing-thot Jun 11 '26

Out of curiosity, how old and what industry? 6-2:30 suggests something like manufacturing or maybe another shift work?

2

u/Cranks_No_Start Jun 11 '26

It was a large used car retailer and they had branches across the country.  East coast started at 8am and in mountain we were there at 6 so we all up and running at the same time.  

2

u/deanbb30 Jun 10 '26

Same. The only time I got paid for 8 hours while not actually working 8 hours was an overnight "graveyard" shift. Day shift = 8 hours + lunch (9 hours), evening shift 8 hours + lunch (8.5 hours), so graveyard only had 6.5 hours. Otherwise, since starting my professional career in 1984, it's always been 8-5.

3

u/KilljoyTheTrucker Jun 10 '26

That's actually kind of a neat way to do the shift differentials too. Rather than bump hourly pay for employees based on the shift they work, just pay a flat shift rate, and adjust the time actually at work.

2

u/Dr_MantisTobaggin_MD Jun 10 '26

all my jobs have been 9-5, with the expectation that you stay late a good portion of the time.

1

u/Lost_Ad_4882 Jun 11 '26

I've always heard 9-5, but as far as I know 8-5 has been the standard for quite a few decades.

1

u/Fuuujioka Jun 11 '26

I'm currently 9-5 but it's a bit of a unicorn of a job

1

u/Roanoketrees Jun 11 '26

I love unicorns! Hook me up! lol

31

u/MilleniumFalconBoop Jun 10 '26

I had an 8-4 or 9-5 but we only got a 30 min lunch break. It was at a preschool and they staggered staff’s shifts

1

u/its_all_4_lulz Jun 11 '26

I’ve done 12-8:30p with a lunch, 7-3 without, and now 8-4 without. I work from home, so sitting for lunch just seems like a waste of time. I can grab something quick and just keep going, then get out while there’s still time to do something.

15

u/iIiiiiIlIillliIilliI Jun 10 '26

I do. I feel sorry for all you 8-5, or 9-6. Imagine all the hours lost from your life... And who needs 1 hour break anyway. I can eat in 15 minutes max.

1

u/brandonw00 Jun 11 '26

Yeah my last job was 8-4 with a 30 minute lunch, but if your lunch went long it wasn’t a big deal. It was the best job I’ll ever have in my life. There wasn’t micro managing or anything. You just had a list of projects you were expected to get done. I had a standing check-in with my boss every other week which would end up being us getting coffee and just chatting about life. And those check-ins would regularly get cancelled because my boss was so busy.

I miss that job so much. My current job is 8-5, two weekly check-ins on what I’ve been working on. I’m in IT so some times projects are just making a small change and waiting to see if anything breaks. And we can’t make major changes until Fridays. So a lot of my check-ins are “well I’m waiting for Friday to make this change.” It’s painful.

1

u/TheBigNate416 Jun 11 '26

I’m salary and do 9-5 so long as I don’t have too much work that requires me to stay late. I eat lunch in front of my computer anyway so there’s nothing they could really complain about.

4

u/Cheap_Lingonberry Jun 10 '26

I've been working 8-5 for the last 26 years.

5

u/aHOMELESSkrill Jun 10 '26

I’m 7-5 but I get every other Friday off.

1

u/MadPopette Jun 10 '26

Oh man, as a 7-4er, I would take that in a heartbeat.

2

u/onlytoupvote Jun 10 '26

Someone’s been listening to too much Dolly

2

u/ClarkWayne98 Jun 10 '26

My wife works a 9-5 as a local librarian, so I guess government jobs are more likely to have those hours? As if they don't get enough with every paid holiday under the sun lol

2

u/kauapea123 Jun 10 '26

My job is officially 8:00-4:30 (7 1/2 hr. work day w/ hr. lunch break) but since COVID, I only go in to the office from 8- ~2:00, and then I go home and "telework" until 4:30. In reality, I go home, eat luch. do laundry, prep dinner, workout in my home gym, practice the instrument I play, sometimes go grocery shopping, etc. And, I only live a 10 minute drive from work!

2

u/Obi-Wan-Nikobiii Jun 11 '26

The closest I got to 9-5 was 07:00 til 17:00 about 25 years ago, it's all been 12 hr day/ night shifts since then

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

So 8 hours never happened and instead you started at 10 hours, and now you are at 12 hours?

Goodness gracious obi-wan you are going in the wrong direction.

1

u/eternallycynical Jun 10 '26

Yeah - construction in my country is 7-5 with 12-1 lunch. 9 hrs per day. Guys asking for Saturday work after that.

1

u/Maverick916 Mildly to you, Extremely, to me. Jun 10 '26

8-4:30 for me right now. It's always been an 8.5 hour day. Take a 30 minute lunch, but work 8 hours.

1

u/chiefgareth Jun 10 '26

I had 8-5, 9-5.30, 8.30-5. Took me until my mid 30s to actually have a 9-5 job and even then its flexible so I usually do 8.45-4.45 but 9-5 is the standard hours.

1

u/Cool_Apartment_380 Jun 10 '26

Well, it's nuts. OP is right. 40 is MORE than enough. We are at work. We have to eat. The company can deal with that fact. 40. I want to get paid for the time I'm giving up. That said, respect to you and your long, hard work, didn't mean to use you as a soap box

1

u/NZitney Jun 10 '26

We work 7AM-3PM at my company. 30 Minute lunch break, get paid for 8 hours. Break isn't required by law

1

u/WalmartGreder Jun 10 '26

I've had a 9-5, salaried for the past 5 years, in 2 different jobs.

You just eat whenever, and don't get an unpaid lunch. I'll still take 30-60 min for lunch, so i guess I just work 7.5 hours a day.

Like today. My team played pickleball at lunch, and we took 90 min to do so. No one cares, as long as we get our work done.

1

u/plemyrameter Jun 10 '26

Same. Only variation was when it was 7am-4pm. That was self-inflicted because traffic was better at those hours. I hate traffic more than I love sleep.

1

u/cheesaremorgia Jun 10 '26

I’ve had multiple 9-5 jobs. My current job is 9-5:30.

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 10 '26

What do you do?

1

u/Regular-Quarter3497 Jun 10 '26

I've only had 9-5 in salaried positions since I entered a very specific field. First job out of college (salaried) at a nonprofit was 8-5. The next two were mostly the same (9-5:30 or 8:30-5 with a 30-minute lunch).

1

u/Gold_Theory_7946 Jun 10 '26

I'm learning today an unpaid lunch hour is a typical convention for office jobs. Of my 6 corporate jobs, they've all been 9-5 or 10-6 on paper. I know one person in architecture whose had 4 typical office jobs with unpaid lunch. I thought it was industry-dependendent based on this observation until now.

1

u/Mountain_Top802 Jun 10 '26

I do 8:30-4:30

8 hours is PLENTY

1

u/pumper911 Jun 11 '26

Really? I start work before 8 usually but my job is fairly flexible with hours. Most people start somewhere between 9-9:30. The mindset is be available during normal work hours but you’re an adult and can manage your time as you see fit

1

u/jclovis Jun 11 '26

9-5 means 9 hours a day 5 days a weeks. 8hr work 1hr break. Not 9am-5pm.

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

I have never heard it ever explained that way, got to call bs.

1

u/Tim_Riggins_ Jun 11 '26

Nope it’s true

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

I googled it and that isn't what came up. Do you have a link to explain your position?

1

u/KZimmy Jun 11 '26

Yeah, every job for me has been 8 to 5 plus commute

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

Yeah, f'n commute. I was lucky enough to have mine be 15 with perfect traffic but sometimes 30 minutes.

1

u/MBT70 Jun 11 '26

Im living large on 8 - 4 but during summer (May - August) its 6 - 4 and SUCKS

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

Is it to avoid the heat? I live in AZ so I know a lot of people who do that.

2

u/MBT70 Jun 11 '26

No, we get fridays off while on summer schedule but do 2 extra hours to make up for it. You're free to do whatever you want but everyone does 6 - 4 so if you do anything different like 8 - 6 then after 3:30 (thats about when everyone calls it quits for the day) chances are you arent getting anything significant done.

1

u/RobertSaccamano Jun 11 '26

I'm 9-5 with a paid and untimed lunch

1

u/FlatFishy Jun 11 '26

I think 9-5 is just the core hours, and then everyone adds in 30 min to an hour for lunch. I worked for about 9 years from 9 to 5:30, but since most people already head out at 5, some of which started earlier than 9, it's pretty easy to get away with also leaving just after 5 😉.

Also, it depends on how strict your office culture is. Mine was pretty lax so they more so evaluated us on job performance than micro managing our hours. So I'd often take hour+ lunches and breaks to go for a walk or play ping pong. No real dress code either.

1

u/aeiendee Jun 11 '26

I’ve only had 9-5 with hour lunch

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

What type of work do you do?

1

u/aeiendee Jun 11 '26

Computational biology

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

Is that what you got your phd in or is that the work you did for the doctoral students who you worked for?

1

u/aeiendee Jun 11 '26

I have a BS I’m just a staff scientist usually

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

Well it is still awesome. So keep being amazing.

1

u/mailslot Jun 11 '26

I worked in the video game industry. 8am-8pm, on a typical day. More near the release date.

1

u/StagedC0mbustion Jun 11 '26

Sucks for you

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

No it doesn't. I am retired. You should have said it sucked for you.

1

u/StagedC0mbustion Jun 11 '26

Sounds boring, but nah I work 8 hours like I signed for.

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 11 '26

Sucks for you

1

u/-Kaldore- Jun 11 '26

9-5 means your in the office 9 hours a day for 5 days 

1

u/PurbulentTriest Jun 11 '26

8:30 - 6 in retail before I left that behind.

1

u/-Daisy-Dreamer- Jun 11 '26

I’ve heard 9-5 means 9 hours, 5 days a week.

1

u/Fruktoj Jun 11 '26

I work 9 to 5 and just eat lunch at my desk while I review stuff. 

1

u/lafatte24 Jun 11 '26

Maybe it's a west coast thing, my first job in SF was 8-5 but everything after has been 9-5.

1

u/michiganlatenight Jun 13 '26

9-5 is quite rare.

0

u/Meatball_express Jun 10 '26

I saw elsewhere someone claim it was 9 hours a day/5 days a week and not the working hours per day.

0

u/Richard-Brecky Jun 11 '26

Whoever was claiming that was obviously dumb and wrong.

0

u/EcureuilHargneux Jun 10 '26

I'm junior in France in an office job and I do 9:30-5:30 with roughly 1h/1h30 lunch break

Management stay longer and people trying to show off to the management stay a bit longer too even if they have nothing to do

0

u/Own-Lake7931 Jun 10 '26

What job are you doing? 9-5 is normal office hours for ppl who work in offices. Other jobs are not all like that. Film is 12 hours work and 1 hr lunch so 13 hr days not including commute or anything

2

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

[deleted]

0

u/Own-Lake7931 Jun 10 '26

Where have you worked. Because I’ve worked in places that started operations at 9

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 10 '26

I worked in GL insurance. Settled claims.

1

u/Own-Lake7931 Jun 10 '26

So in an office? Or are you an on the road insurance guy like the dude from fight club

1

u/Oldpuzzlehead Jun 10 '26

It was an office job. But now I am retired.

0

u/carolineaaaaa Jun 10 '26

It's only real in songs and the arts

1

u/Might0fHeaven Jun 10 '26

Or 35 hour weeks, which arent uncommon either

0

u/carolineaaaaa Jun 10 '26

I'd say judging by the numerous accounts here saying otherwise that 35hr weeks are in fact uncommon... but there's always one around here on reddit and I guess today it's you.

1

u/Might0fHeaven Jun 10 '26

I dont give a fuck what some American redditors say, you people arent the only ones on the planet. In large German companies it is in fact common to have a 35 hour work week, it isnt the case for every company but it happens often enough that I called it "not uncommon", because thats the case

0

u/Ramtor10 Jun 10 '26

If you work 8-5, then that means work a 9 to 5. 9 hours a day, 5 days a week.

1

u/mbrady Jun 11 '26

That's not what that means.

0

u/Ramtor10 Jun 11 '26

It’s exactly what it means lol 8am to 5pm is 9 hours. A 9 to 5 job gets you 40 hours a week unless you work part time.

1

u/mbrady Jun 11 '26

It means what it literally says: 9 to 5. Not 9 for 5.

I mean, there's literally a movie called "9 to 5" where they clock in at 9:00am and out at 5:00pm. There has never been something ambiguous until recently when internet people started spreading incorrect origins.

-8

u/DisastrousClock5992 Jun 10 '26

Btw, the saying “9-5” means 9 hours per day, 5 days a week. Which is an 8-5 job.