Well, my roommate is on this schedule and most certainly does not work more than 8 hours per full working-day on average. He might work 8 hours including the ti

Well, my roommate is on this schedule and most certainly does not work more than 8 hours per full working-day on average. He might work 8 hours including the time driving to and from work. And on the Fridays he doesn't have off, he only works until noon or so. Maybe his case is not normal? Edit: Granted, I think another reason for this is that, based on his descriptions, there's a remarkable amount of bureaucracy involved in the oil companies. It's a very, very complex industry, and while it moves quite fast on a global scale, it moves very slowly for most individuals involved in it. His training program alone lasts a few years, so he won't really be a highly productive member of the company for quite some time.