For HR, that means ensuring that they receive the same kinds of services as their daytime counterparts. Sometimes in packs, but often alone, they emerge into the dead of night. Seemingly on a mission, these men and women traverse the darkened streets via car, bus, motorcycle or on foot until they reach their destination and make their way inside. No, this is not another horror flick. Rather, it's America's growing and diverse legion of night workers, regularly performing a multitude of critical tasks while the majority of the country sleeps.
Figures vary on just how many people actually put in their workday at night.
However, that fails to take into account part-time, temp and flextime workers. The status of night-shifters may be better depicted in a 1995 analysis of government data by University of Maryland sociologist Harriet Presser. While these nocturnal types are helping companies meet production goals and serve customers, the question has arisen as to how well their employers, and in particular, human resource departments, are serving them. We've come to 24-hour operations much faster than policies and procedures have evolved to manage their needs and expectations. Night workers typically feel slighted in a variety of ways, says O'Connor, from company parties and picnics to the availability of facilities, such as fitness centers and cafeterias.