The "Hourly Work Index" by Deputy provides a detailed look into the state of hourly work across various industries in the United States. Deputy's unique data on timesheets, hours worked, average shift lengths, and other relevant metrics provides real-time insights on the jobs market, the economy, industry challenges, business confidence, and trends impacting demographics within the hourly worker community. 

Healthcare 🧑‍⚕️

In Healthcare, hourly pay rates correlate with age: Gen Z are earning the least per hour (and per shift) compared to their older counterparts, with Gen Z earning a full $10 less per hour, on average, than Boomers. In June, Gen Z’ers earned $14.21/hr ($93.93/shift), while Millennials earned $17.87/hr ($131.98/shift), Gen X’ers earned $21.49/hr ($164.33/shift) and Boomers earned $24.96/hr ($186.45/shift), on average. 

Among Healthcare shift workers in June, Dentists earned the least hourly pay at $11.58/hr, on average — less than Animal Health workers ($15.42/hr), Childcare workers ($18.18/hr) and Hospital workers ($20.41/hr).

Hospitality 🧑‍🍳

In the Hospitality sector, Gen Z shift workers endured a whopping nearly 100 (98.4) changes to their shifts in the month of June, on average. Millennials only had 10 changes to shifts on average and Gen X on average experienced 6. Boomers had a mere 3 changes to their shifts on average. These shift changes could include things like an early/late start, longer/shorter shifts than scheduled or a different lunch or break schedule. Gen Z had to be much more flexible than their older counterparts to account for these changes.

Among hospitality shift workers in June, workers in cafes and coffee shops worked a whopping 276.99 hours on average. With a full-time equivalency of around 164 hours per month, that means Cafe/Coffee Shop workers were working about full-time-and-a-half last month. Showing that the local neighbourhood economy fuelled by a decrease in workplace mobility amongst the white-collar workforce, is helping local suburban hospitality businesses continue to go from strength to strength. 

Retail 🧑‍💻

In the Retail sector, Gen Z worked significantly more hours in June (84.66 hours, on average) than their older counterparts. Millennials worked an average of 57.65 hours, Gen X worked an average of 49.47 hours, and Boomers worked an average of 49.21 hours last month. With a full-time equivalency of around 164 hours per month, that means that Gen Z shift workers were working slightly over half-time in a Retail job, while Boomers were working less than a third of a full-time position in a Retail job.

Among Retail workers in June, shift workers at Gyms earned the lowest hourly rate at $11.21/hr, on average, while Food & Beverage Stores (Supermarkets) earned the highest hourly rate at $17.81/hr — coming in even higher than workers at Pharmacies & Chemists, earning $16.92/hr.

Services 🧑‍🔧

In the Services sector, Millennials had the most predictable schedules among generations. In June, Millennials had an average of 17.66 days between the last schedule update and shift start, Gen Z had 16.83 days, Boomers had 14.79 days, and Gen X had 14.7 days.

In June, workers in Call Centers earned an average of $13.14/hr, while Cleaning Services led the Services pack, earning an average of $22.95/hr.

Hourly Jobs Market Spotlight 💡

Economic Impact ​ 🇺🇸

Commentary ​ 💬

The latest 'Hourly Work Index' by Deputy provides a revealing snapshot of the current state of hourly work industries at the mid-year mark. Despite notable reductions in workforce activity, with fewer shifts and hours worked, it is encouraging to see that average shift lengths have remained stable across Healthcare, Hospitality, Retail, and Services sectors. This consistency highlights the efforts of businesses to maintain operational efficiency and balance employee workloads amidst broader economic challenges. Our data shows that industries are increasingly focused on optimizing workforce productivity through better compensation and more predictable scheduling, which is crucial for improving employee retention and satisfaction.

These findings underscore the resilience and adaptability of the hourly work industries in navigating economic uncertainties. The improvements in scheduling predictability across all sectors are particularly significant, as they provide employees with better planning capabilities and contribute to a more stable work environment. As businesses continue to face economic pressures, the emphasis on strategic workforce management and operational stability will be key to sustaining growth and ensuring the well-being of hourly workers.

Silvija Martincevic CEO

smartincevic@deputy.com

About Deputy

Deputy is the global people platform for hourly work. Its intuitive software strengthens employer-employee connections, streamlines compliance obligations, and revolutionizes how hourly workers and businesses operate together, creating thriving workplaces. Over 330,000 workplaces use Deputy to create better work-life experiences for 1.4 million scheduled workers globally. Visit Deputy, or find us on Twitter, Facebook, the App Store, or Google Play for more information.

The Data

The “Hourly Work Index” is produced by Deputy, the global people platform for hourly work, utilizing anonymised and aggregated Deputy customer and user data. This data has been normalized to account for seasonality and demand of workforce fluctuations throughout the week (e.g. weekday vs. weekends). 2.53 million shifts and 17.99 million hours from 271,170 hourly workers in the United States were analyzed to create this report.

Kendal Pektas Senior Manager, Public Relations

kpektas@deputy.com