Night owl

Posted - Nov. 17, 2008 - 2:07 p.m.

My RedEye cover story today is about night owls, people who work the graveyard shift, typically from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.

Some 24 million American workers work outside of the traditional business day shift, according to Circadian, a Massachusetts-based global consultant for 24/7 workplaces.

What's more, these nighttime shifts might become more popular in coming years because "moonlighting tends to go up during periods of economic distress," said Patricia Simpson, associate professor of industrial relations at Loyola University.

Night-shift workers in certain industries, such as food service and health care, also tend to make more money than their daytime counterparts, according to Seattle-based PayScale, which maintains a global online compensation database.

But being a night owl isn't for everyone. Workers with nontraditional hours, who represent only about one-fifth of the labor force, tend to miss out on nightlife activities and time spent with friends and family. The night shift also can lead to health problems, experts say.

I've occasionally worked a night-time shift at a newspaper. When I was at Newsday I worked the 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift, which meant I had to wake up at 4:15 a.m. since I was commuting from Brooklyn to Long Island. That quickly killed my New York social life.

Have you ever worked a night shift? What was your experience?