Number of male staff working 45 hours or over ''has fallen''

Male umbrella company users are less likely to work 45 hours or more a week than before the recession, new figures have shown.

The number of male contractors working 45 hours a week or more has fallen by approximately ten per cent since the start of the recession, new figures have shown which could interest umbrella company users.

Statistics published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development have shown that 440,000 fewer men were working these types of hours than two years earlier.

In contrast, there has been no net change in the number of women working for more than 45 hours a week.

Dr John Philpott, chief economic advisor at the organisation, said: "A marked shift to shorter working hours has been one of the key characteristics of the recession."

He added that this fall has served as a detox to those who have been workaholics and may not be all bad for those used to working these hours.

Recent research by the Trades Union Congress found that 25.3 per cent of public sector workers work unpaid overtime in 2009 compared to one in six private sector staff.