Work intensification

Certain groups of workers are experiencing work intensification more than others.

TUC polling and research carried out by the Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute and Newcastle University Business School 22  , both show that women are more likely to work with high work intensity than men.

Our polling shows that women are more likely to say they feel exhausted at the end of most working days (67% to 56%) and that work is getting more intense (58% to 53%).

Women are overrepresented in sectors such as education and health and social care. In 2021/22, 75.5% of schoolteachers were women. 23  In the health care workforce almost 80 per cent of non-medical health service staff are women compared to 46 per cent of the wider workforce. 24

These are sectors where staff shortages and other factors, such as excessive scrutiny and long working hours, have led to increased work intensification.

TUC polling reveals that people working in healthcare and education are particularly likely to feel the exhaustive effects of work intensification.

• 22 Ibid. 5
• 23 3 February 2023). “School Teacher Workforce”. Government website.
• 24 Overview of the health and social care workforce”. The King’s Fund website.

Those working in education are more likely to agree that they’re exhausted at the end of most working days.

We need legislative measures to stimulate collective bargaining and make it easier for unions to speak with and represent workers. This includes broadening the scope of collective bargaining rights to include work organisation, including the introduction of new technologies, and the nature and level of staffing. Collective bargaining is the key safeguard to ensure that women do not bear the brunt of work intensification.