Why Working Graveyard Shifts is Necessary & How it Benefits Employees

Working Graveyard Shift January 11, 2023

Priyanka Bhadani

Writer

For business owners, managers, and company directors, it's often hard to find employees to work the nightshift, otherwise known as the graveyard shift. But as an employee, it's even more difficult to see any good reasons to want to work through the wee hours of the night, as it may be more likely to fall asleep during a shift or disrupt employees' regular sleep cycle.

Surprisingly, when it comes to night work, there are several benefits to working the graveyard shift.

It's estimated that roughly 3 million Americans work the nightshift, otherwise known as the graveyard shift, which is typically scheduled between 11 pm and 7 am. Additionally, there are millions of employees more who work much more erratic, floating schedules that include working into the wee hours of the night.

Of course, it's often hard to see that there are benefits to an alternative sleep schedule, like being scheduled for nightshift. But fortunately, after acclimating their body clock to a new schedule, there truly are some awesome benefits to working the graveyard shift, which can help make getting through the night that much easier.

The Importance of the Graveyard Shift

Typically, it's mostly factory employees, law enforcement officers, and healthcare workers that need to work nightshift.

However, we live in a society that's constantly working every day - to an extent - increasing its desire to access products and services 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Therefore, businesses in all industry sectors are moving towards this type of 24/7 operation in order to accommodate the ever-growing demand from consumers.

Fortunately, the graveyard shift isn't only beneficial to your employer looking for the best way to serve its customers. But there are also many benefits to you, as the employee, when working at night.

Better Focus, Fewer Distractions

During day shifts or afternoons, there are often more employees present on-site, as well as there simply being quite a bit more going on for the company's operations.

But by working during the night, things are often much quieter in the workplace, allowing for fewer distractions and better concentration on the tasks at hand is the best thing.

For example, as an individual working in quality control, it's significantly easier to focus on your task, giving it your complete attention, rather than being distracted by any sort of workplace gossip between you and your co-workers.

Enjoy Less Micro-Management

One of the biggest reasons that employees like working the nightshift are because there's much less micro-management from your superiors, allowing for greater workplace autonomy. In turn, this allows you more decision-making responsibility, in turn, giving you the ability to focus on your individual leadership skills.

For instance, in a production factory, employees often need to focus on improving the manufacturing process to help increase their own productivity. So by working with fewer co-workers and/or managers around, it's much easier to test out different methods to see if your new ideas are going to work.

As an employee who has mastered a new sleep cycle, this new work schedule also makes it significantly easier to prove your personal value to upper-management, as well as making it easier for you to stand out from other employees since there will be fewer of them around during the night, as your body clock has evovled with the schedule.

Earn Shift Premiums

Needless to say, there aren't very many people that like the idea of working throughout the night. So in order to incentivize employees to work at night, many employers pay an increased wage or shift premium for anyone who works the nightshift.

Therefore, in many cases, you'll be able to earn extra money by opting to work the graveyard shift. So if you've been looking for a way to earn a bit of extra money, the graveyard shift might just be the answer that you've been looking for.

Play a Vital Role in Company Operations

During dayshift and afternoons, most companies have larger teams of employees present on-site. After all, this is when most of the action happens, and when your company likely needs to be operating at its full capacity.

In other words, it makes it harder for you to stand out from the other co-workers that are present at these times.

On the other hand, during the graveyard shift, your employer and its customers will be relying on you as a nightshift worker to ensure that operations continue unimpaired.

For example, in the healthcare industry, during nightshift, you'll typically only be working with a few other employees in the building. Although this might be a bit more stressful, it works to your advantage, proving to your employer that you're capable of handling high-pressure situations and increased responsibility.

So in other words, nightshift puts you in the ideal situation to show off your leadership skills and that you're capable of working independently whenever needed.

Tips for Adjusting to the Graveyard Shift

It's obvious to say, but the human body isn't a machine. And it's not really designed to be working at all hours of the night. Therefore, it's vital to take a few crucial steps in order to ensure that you're functioning properly throughout the night.

For example, although it might be difficult to sleep during daylight hours, it's extremely important that you're getting enough sleep. Without it, your mind and body won't be able to function at their optimal levels.

At the same time, as a nightshift worker, you need to ensure that you're eating healthy, nutritious foods, rather than relying on coffee or other caffeinated beverages to get you through the night.

It's also good to try and do a bit of exercise on your breaks or outside of work to help improve your body's cardiovascular health.

The truth is that nightshift is going to be hard on both your body and your mind. And anybody who tells you otherwise is lying to you.

However, there are many benefits to working during these odd hours of the night. And by focusing on the perks, you will be much more likely to enjoy working at night, knowing that it's actually going to benefit you.