KRISTIN EATON DOESN'T sit in rush hour. She flies over it.
When most twentysomethings are at happy hour or their dinner tables, the 22-year-old is piloting a Beech Baron 58 over central Pennsylvania, delivering lab specimens for Quest Diagnostics Inc. It isn't her dream job as a corporate pilot, but her schedule -- a rotating mix of days, nights and holidays -- isn't likely to change no matter what field of flight she takes up.
In a world dominated by 9-to-5, Monday-through-Friday workers, most new employees may have to work a few late nights at the office. For some, though, working while the rest of the world sleeps is the norm.
As demand for off-hours work grows, a new generation is encountering the benefits and drawbacks of unconventional schedules. With cellphones and BlackBerrys ubiquitous, the idea of work ending at 5 p.m. is endangered. For some jobs it has disappeared entirely, altering family and social lives and complicating schedules for parents and married couples.
As of 2002, about two-fifths of employed Americans worked during the evening, weekend, overnight, or on a rotating shift, according to the Current Population Survey, a joint project of the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census. Only about 30% of American workers have a "standard" workday schedule -- 40 hours a week, during the day, Monday through Friday, according to the CPS. When those who work any time during those hours are included, weekday warriors are only a slight majority.
There has always been demand for "off-hours" work -- the Romans scheduled delivery carts' arrivals at night to avoid congested streets. But the call for off-hours workers is increasing, according to Harriet Presser, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland and author of "Working in a 24/7 Economy."
"Nonstandard and weekend work is here to stay," she says. "All the trends fueling it -- an aging population with more discretionary income, advancing technology -- show signs of expanding, not shrinking."
Several factors are accelerating the phenomenon, sociologists and other experts say. A changing economy has fostered growth in the service sector, its employees often working odd hours as people seek more recreation. And an aging population fuels the need for round-the-clock medical professionals.
Grace Ning, a 23-year-old oncology nurse, has worked 12-hour overnight shifts at Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan for a year and a half. "I love only having to work three nights a week," she says. "It's nice to run errands in the middle of the week, when I'm off and most of the city is working. But I hate working weekends." Ms. Ning said it's depressing when her friends call her to go out on Saturday night but she has at work.
There are more serious health risks associated with working at night than a case of the blues. Chronic sleep deprivation is a common complaint from those who force themselves to be awake when biology dictates they sleep. Besides causing fatigue and a weakened immune system, chronic sleep loss can affect memory and cognitive abilities, literally slowing people down. It can also cause depression.
Like many who work odd hours, Ms. Ning says the love of her job keeps her going.
"A few of my friends work with me," she says. "When I worked New Year's Eve and (New Year's) Day, we had a celebration of our own. It was nice to be with my patients during that time . . . being with people who really appreciate those small celebrations in life because they know their time is limited. It made the significance of the holiday much more apparent to me."
Many people who work odd hours see it as a nuisance of their youth and hope for a more conventional schedule later when they settle down. Dr. Presser notes that studies from the National Survey of Families and Households of the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Demography and Ecology show that married couples with children have a greater chance of experiencing unhappiness and divorce when one spouse works late nights. And while child care may be easier when partners don't work at the same time, parents must take care to spend time with their children.
Many employees also find themselves on call after their conventional day ends. In the global marketplace, businesses operate 24 hours to serve overseas clients or to monitor foreign events. Lorena Flores, a 28-year-old reporter in Dallas for Spanish-language newspaper Al Dia, owned by Belo Corp., has covered entertainment for three years. Attending concerts and cultural events may be a reward in itself, but most people are unwinding from work at these events while she is still working.
Ms. Flores says missing family dinners can get her down, but her love of writing outweighs the negatives. And even if working on a holiday isn't ideal, at least it can produce some surreal experiences.
"One night I got out from a concert after midnight and stopped at a 7-Eleven," she recalls. "Standing in line, I suddenly realized a witch and a skeleton were standing behind me. I was a little freaked out at first, but then I remembered it was Halloween."
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