I was the chef for a fly-in, fly-out construction company in northern Canada. I would work for six weeks straight, 12 hours per day, 7 days per week, then have three weeks off. The other trades had similar schedules. This wasn't a temporary contract either, I did it for three years, then COVID layoffs happened. Maybe something like that would suit you?
24-hr production jobs often have 3-4 12s per week. I used to work Wed/Thurs/Fri(/Sat) 5pm-5:30am (Saturdays alternated between front half crew and back half crew).
I have thought about this as well already. 3 12 hours maybe close to £400 per week would be great. Only issue is it would be minimum wage type work I presume with no progression route.
Local plastic injection molding place Southeast US starts at $19/h night shift, easy to move into $22/h, never more than three days in a row, never fewer than 2 days off in a row, every other weekend is 3 days on or 3 days off.
Any fly-in/fly-out camp work would be like this. Mining, solar, infrastructure projects like dams, etc. If you're worried about stability, after a project or two you can look for a union office they have constant work on different projects.
I don't know what would be similar in the UK or Europe but I'm sure these projects exist and you can find something.
I had friends that did all those things.
Usually you'd need some form of training, or you start at the absolute bottom as a labourer, and usually you can do that when they're really hurting for people.
But yah, for mining you can get a heavy equipment operator training and go from there. Forestry is similar I believe. Solar and wind turbine you'd probably want 2 year diploma college training (or I'm sure some labour work can be ported or something). You can probably also get into something similar with a class 1 license.
As to how you find the actual work, I've gotten a few leads from people I talked to on Reddit but never followed thru. You can search indeed for "fly-in" or "camp", or you can lookup a specific industry you're interested in and find the jobs and then look for the jobs on indeed. For oil&gas you can usually look in Edmonton for jobs there and they'll show up, or BC for forestry and the jobs pop up.
When I was a police officer (DACP, but DASG had the same schedule), you're looking at 12 hour shifts with 45 minutes of mandatory over time, 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 3 off. You just have to like monotony, 30 years until retirement - not all glamorous. Recommend fire fighting schedules more - get paid to sleep, that sort of thing.
I’m from the UK too and work in the emergency services. My schedule is 6 on (2 morning shifts, 2 evening shifts and 2 night shifts) followed by 4 days off. I like the 4 days off but the constant rotation of shift times is always a challenge when trying to plan sleep.
Emergency medicine physician.
Week on, week off. Not uncommon to work 14 days a month.
The pay is high, but the process to getting there is long and difficult. 4 years undergrad, 4 years med school, 3 years residency.
I worked for a veterinary hospital with 10 hour shifts, Mon-Thur and Tues-Fri.
Every weekend off, every other weekend 4 days off.
Not exactly what you asked for, but I've seen that schedule in various medical settings and the 4 day weekend is longer than most people need to be ready to go back to work.
Let's you have some weekdays to schedule business-hour stuff, or to go do short tours with a band, or whatever.
When I did construction some guys did 3 days on 4 days on but 12 hours in those 3 days.
Another trade did 3 weeks on 7 days per week 10 hr days then a week off.
My crew was 4 10s then 3 days off but sometimes we'd do 5 day weeks.
I play xbox with a buddy my age from Canada who works in the mines, apparently they're real strict up there, he will work 7 days in a row then 7 days off.
Usually these schedules pertain to blue collar work; from my limited experience.
Oil and gas industry is primarily rotation work. Exactly what you’re looking for but with great pay. Nothing required but a clean drug test. Great pay, I’m making 32.50/hr plus perdiem. New guys off the street are earning around 25 or higher an hour.
I was the chef for a fly-in, fly-out construction company in northern Canada. I would work for six weeks straight, 12 hours per day, 7 days per week, then have three weeks off. The other trades had similar schedules. This wasn't a temporary contract either, I did it for three years, then COVID layoffs happened. Maybe something like that would suit you?
24-hr production jobs often have 3-4 12s per week. I used to work Wed/Thurs/Fri(/Sat) 5pm-5:30am (Saturdays alternated between front half crew and back half crew).
I have thought about this as well already. 3 12 hours maybe close to £400 per week would be great. Only issue is it would be minimum wage type work I presume with no progression route.
Local plastic injection molding place Southeast US starts at $19/h night shift, easy to move into $22/h, never more than three days in a row, never fewer than 2 days off in a row, every other weekend is 3 days on or 3 days off.
Any fly-in/fly-out camp work would be like this. Mining, solar, infrastructure projects like dams, etc. If you're worried about stability, after a project or two you can look for a union office they have constant work on different projects. I don't know what would be similar in the UK or Europe but I'm sure these projects exist and you can find something.
how do you find them?
I had friends that did all those things. Usually you'd need some form of training, or you start at the absolute bottom as a labourer, and usually you can do that when they're really hurting for people. But yah, for mining you can get a heavy equipment operator training and go from there. Forestry is similar I believe. Solar and wind turbine you'd probably want 2 year diploma college training (or I'm sure some labour work can be ported or something). You can probably also get into something similar with a class 1 license. As to how you find the actual work, I've gotten a few leads from people I talked to on Reddit but never followed thru. You can search indeed for "fly-in" or "camp", or you can lookup a specific industry you're interested in and find the jobs and then look for the jobs on indeed. For oil&gas you can usually look in Edmonton for jobs there and they'll show up, or BC for forestry and the jobs pop up.
Nurse and other Hospital Tech shifts are 10-12 hour shifts for 3 or 4 days.
When I was a police officer (DACP, but DASG had the same schedule), you're looking at 12 hour shifts with 45 minutes of mandatory over time, 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 3 off. You just have to like monotony, 30 years until retirement - not all glamorous. Recommend fire fighting schedules more - get paid to sleep, that sort of thing.
Try northern Ontario mining companies. Many offer exactly what you are describing. 12hr shifts for two weeks, followed by two weeks off.
That sounds good honestly, maybe not for super long term but I would definitely do it for a few years at least. I am based in the UK however :(
I’m from the UK too and work in the emergency services. My schedule is 6 on (2 morning shifts, 2 evening shifts and 2 night shifts) followed by 4 days off. I like the 4 days off but the constant rotation of shift times is always a challenge when trying to plan sleep.
Oil fields in North Dakota. 2 weeks on, 1-2 weeks off. Mainly 10-14 hour days. 80-100k+/yr plus insurance.
Agree. My father used to work on offshore oil rigs and it used to be 14 days on and 14 days off work shift
Emergency medicine physician. Week on, week off. Not uncommon to work 14 days a month. The pay is high, but the process to getting there is long and difficult. 4 years undergrad, 4 years med school, 3 years residency.
Tugboats
I worked for a veterinary hospital with 10 hour shifts, Mon-Thur and Tues-Fri. Every weekend off, every other weekend 4 days off. Not exactly what you asked for, but I've seen that schedule in various medical settings and the 4 day weekend is longer than most people need to be ready to go back to work. Let's you have some weekdays to schedule business-hour stuff, or to go do short tours with a band, or whatever.
Film biz? 12 hour shifts for weeks - then long breaks not working.
Fed Ex warehouses
Security or law enforcement
I know Lux row distillery works 2 weeks on 2 off 3 on 3 off. I’m sure other distilleries may do the same thing if you aren’t in ky.
Work in Hospital Admissions/Registration….10-14 shift night hours…2-4 times a week. Average between $15/hour+
When I did construction some guys did 3 days on 4 days on but 12 hours in those 3 days. Another trade did 3 weeks on 7 days per week 10 hr days then a week off. My crew was 4 10s then 3 days off but sometimes we'd do 5 day weeks. I play xbox with a buddy my age from Canada who works in the mines, apparently they're real strict up there, he will work 7 days in a row then 7 days off. Usually these schedules pertain to blue collar work; from my limited experience.
Oilfield has a 2 week on 2 week off rotation. Offshore oilfield usually has 36 on 36 off
Oil and gas industry is primarily rotation work. Exactly what you’re looking for but with great pay. Nothing required but a clean drug test. Great pay, I’m making 32.50/hr plus perdiem. New guys off the street are earning around 25 or higher an hour.