Chip Galagaza Quoted in The Houston Chronicle

The article ("For executives and managers, it's still a grueling pace") in the workplace column of the April 13, 2006 issue of The Houston Chronicle notes that professionals are working longer hours. "Although the nation's executives and managers might not appreciate the comparison, they no doubt understand the sentiment: According to NFI Research in Dover, N.H., 58 percent of bosses report they work 51 hours or more a week. Three years ago, 65 percent said they logged those kind of hours, said the firm, which surveys 2,000 of the nation's senior executives and managers every 14 days. Consequently, executives and managers found themselves logging more hours to get everything done. And when the economy bounced back, companies looked around and saw the work was getting done so they didn't add employees . . . but people are burning out . . . and the number who say they're stressed has been skyrocketing."

"Chip Galagaza, an employment lawyer with Seyfarth Shaw in Houston, echoed the common wisdom. "Everyone feels they work more today than they did years ago," he said. While Galagaza has lived through two big economic downturns — in the mid-1980s and again before the terrorist attacks — he's seeing businesses as slow to rehire as the market gets better. It's a natural hesitance. Companies want to make sure the economy has really improved before committing to new employees, he said. So maybe the economy hasn't reached the turning point yet and companies are still trying to do more with less. Or perhaps it's a cultural phenomenon. Maybe as technology improves, we naturally think we can do more, Galagaza suggested."