Merchant Machine

Who Works The Most In 2021? Hardest Working UK Industries


By: Ian Wright | Last Updated: April 25, 2025

Hardest Working Industries In The UK

Who works the most hours by industry

who works the most hours by gender

who does the most overtime

who does the least overtime

Hardest Working UK Industries sources

Data By Industry

IndustryMedian Hours (All)Median Hours (Male)Median Hours (Female)Hourly differenceMedian Overtime Hours (All)Median Overtime Hours (Male)Median Overtime Hours (Female)Median Annual Pay (Male) £Median Annual Pay (Female) £Median Annual Pay (All) £Median Annual Pay (difference) £
Finance & insurance35353502.82.82.8 £49,542.00 £29,453.00 £38,921.00 -£20,089.00
Information & comms383837.40.12.72.72.7 £41,582.00 £29,523.00 £38,235.00 -£12,059.00
Energy supply373736.90.13.53.53.5 £43,982.00 £27,876.00 £39,370.00 -£16,106.00
Public admin & defence373736.90.12.62.62.6 £34,958.00 £26,061.00 £30,520.00 -£8,897.00
International affairs363634.61.3... £33,659.00 x £32,630.00 X
Manufacturing393937.51.64.84.84.8 £31,629.00 £22,140.00 £29,331.00 -£9,489.00
Real estate373835.42.12.62.62.6 £30,017.00 £22,419.00 £25,924.00 -£7,598.00
Mining & quarrying394037.52.5xxx £39,772.00 £40,632.00 £39,839.00 £860.00
Science & technology3738352.53.23.23.2 £39,074.00 £26,347.00 £32,956.00 -£12,727.00
Social work3738352.53.13.13.1 £27,380.00 £19,725.00 £21,151.00 -£7,655.00
Transport & storage404037.42.65.55.55.5 £30,357.00 £23,752.00 £29,001.00 -£6,605.00
Water & waste management40403735.35.35.3 £33,770.00 £25,314.00 £32,393.00 -£8,456.00
Education333530.64.42.32.32.3 £32,199.00 £20,417.00 £24,000.00 -£11,782.00
Construction40403555.75.75.7 £33,456.00 £19,880.00 £31,083.00 -£13,576.00
Admin & support services3738325.9444 £25,022.00 £16,148.00 £20,786.00 -£8,874.00
Other service enquiries3537316.33.73.73.7 £25,838.00 £15,517.00 £20,260.00 -£10,321.00
Agriculture39403287.57.57.5 £24,774.00 £15,841.00 £21,571.00 -£8,933.00
Wholesale/ retail trade & repair37393092.82.82.8 £24,010.00 £14,261.00 £19,380.00 -£9,749.00
Food & accommodation303524.510.5333 £17,587.00 £11,482.00 £13,936.00 -£6,105.00
Arts & education35372610.83.33.33.3 £21,714.00 £14,543.00 £18,420.00 -£7,171.00
Household employers16x15.3Xxxxx £7,627.00 £7,754.00 X

Data By Location

LocationMedian Hours (All)Median Hours (Female)Median Basic Hours (Male)Median Hourly Pay (All)Median Hourly Pay (Male)Median Hourly Pay (Female)Median Annual Pay (Male)Median Annual Pay (Female)Median Annual Pay (All)
Milton Keynes37.43637.5£15.03£16.77£13.29 £35,118.00 £25,149.00 £31,517.00
Stoke-on-Trent37.434.537.5£12.22£13.34£11.28 £26,291.00 £18,365.00 £23,089.00
Wakefield37.132.537.5£12.07£13.60£10.90 £28,652.00 £18,068.00 £23,326.00
Walsall3732.538.9£11.85£13.16£10.69 £28,667.00 £17,133.00 £22,757.00
Dudley3730.138£11.53£12.80£10.20 £26,087.00 £15,956.00 £21,658.00
Rotherham3730.137.5£11.66£13.23£10.11 £26,498.00 £15,379.00 £21,565.00
Sunderland3733.837.9£12.73£13.60£11.47 £27,630.00 £18,328.00 £23,318.00
Doncaster3731.337.5£11.42£12.27£10.40 £26,064.00 £16,203.00 £21,485.00
Plymouth3731.937.5£12.45£13.64£11.92 £27,567.00 £18,708.00 £22,470.00
Birmingham373537.5£13.79£15.38£12.35 £31,740.00 £20,697.00 £26,255.00
Hull3732.437.5£12.43£14.18£10.52 £28,678.00 £16,958.00 £23,030.00
Leeds373537.5£13.00£14.41£11.71 £29,939.00 £19,771.00 £24,614.00
Manchester373537.4£15.09£15.82£14.22 £31,693.00 £23,303.00 £27,035.00
Newcastle upon Tyne373537.4£12.82£14.01£11.58 £28,550.00 £20,116.00 £24,080.00
Sheffield373437.5£12.67£13.62£11.60 £28,101.00 £18,879.00 £23,290.00
Wolverhampton3732.737.5£12.73£13.90£11.45 £29,743.00 £17,845.00 £23,396.00
Bradford36.931.337.4£12.23£13.14£11.52 £26,647.00 £18,950.00 £22,493.00
Brighton and Hove36.932.437.3£13.52£15.33£12.78 £27,837.00 £20,200.00 £24,140.00
Cardiff36.934.837£13.57£15.00£12.18 £28,758.00 £20,529.00 £24,083.00
Swansea36.932.737£11.60£12.44£11.03 £25,407.00 £18,689.00 £22,348.00
Nottingham36.934.937£12.43£13.63£11.44 £27,078.00 £18,892.00 £22,479.00
Derby36.93536.9£16.21£19.65£13.04 £41,555.00 £22,849.00 £33,156.00
Leicester36.832.537.4£11.36£11.79£10.68 £24,366.00 £18,743.00 £21,909.00
London36.83537.4£17.72£19.47£16.01 £39,641.00 £27,872.00 £33,750.00
Coventry36.534.437.4£13.93£15.54£13.25 £29,968.00 £20,707.00 £24,852.00
Bristol36.23437.4£14.74£15.51£14.11 £30,754.00 £21,412.00 £26,667.00
Liverpool353537£13.17£14.79£12.44 £28,781.00 £21,164.00 £24,018.00
Glasgow353537£14.34£15.56£13.54 £31,454.00 £22,002.00 £25,797.00
Edinburgh353536.7£15.02£15.89£14.23 £31,400.00 £23,369.00 £26,963.00
Southampton3531.537£14.82£16.64£12.77 £31,841.00 £21,274.00 £26,638.00

Data & Sources

All data has been pulled from ONS ASHE data (2019). Data was released in November 2019 and was analysed between 20/05/20-26/05/20. All figures have been taken from the “Earnings and hours worked, industry by two-digit SIC: ASHE”.

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