NEW YORK POST – Burning the midnight oil may fatten your paycheck, but your health could be paying the price.
In 2024, Gallup found that the average full-time worker in the US clocked 42.9 hours a week. But millions are logging far more, and the toll is greater than just burnout.
At one Midwestern investment bank, junior employees were allegedly forced to endure grueling 20-hour days — a grind so extreme it sent at least two to the hospital, including one with a failed pancreas.
They’re not alone. In recent years, several cases have emerged in which employees died after being pushed to work 100 hours a week or more, a troubling trend that’s prompted some companies to rethink their breakneck expectations.
Just last year, a 35-year-old Bank of America investment banker named Leo Lukenas III died of a blood clot while job-hunting, bogged down by the stress of his 100+ hour weeks.
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The Post consulted seven health experts to find out what spending 60, 70 or even 80+ hours a week behind your desk can do to your body if you’re not careful. Spoiler alert: It’s not pretty.
Your skin is your largest organ, and it’s also one of the first to suffer when you work yourself to the bone.
“Working long hours over an extended period is associated with sleep deprivation and chronic stress, both of which are known to have adverse effects on skin health, quality and appearance,” Dr. Helen He, co-director of Mount Sinai-Clinique Healthy Skin Dermatology Center, told The Post.
“These changes will accelerate the skin aging process, weaken the immune system and disrupt the skin barrier, making the skin more sensitive and more vulnerable to inflammation and infection,” He said.
Expect wrinkles, swelling or redness around the eyes, dark circles, drooping eyelids and sagging around the mouth. It can also be a trigger for inflammatory skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis …
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