The New Zealand workforce is adapting to a post-Covid world and its approach to work has "significantly changed", according to employment experts, with the identity of work-life balance beginning to change and the typical nine-to-five work hours becoming less common. 

A survey by Hays Recruitment has found people working overtime increased in more than a third of organisations last year. 

Researchers found it was unpaid in 30% of organisations. 

Talking to The Mike Hosking Breakfast, Talent Propeller managing director, Sharon Davies said the way every organisation viewed the concept of overtime work would differ from business to business. 

"Some organisations are paying for it and employees are willingly taking the extra hours for that compensation, other companies are doing Day in Lieu, others are using other initiatives," she said. 

"So, it does depend on each organisation and how they negotiated with their team on how to compensate them for it."

Davis believes the radical changes to the workforce were triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, it changed the phrase "work-life balance" into one that better represented "work-life integration". 

What the managing director has seen was the number of hours employees expected to work, and how they went about working them, had changed as the years went on. 

"It might be [a role that works] twenty to thirty hours a week, but if you'd like extra hours in seasonal times, then there might be more work," she said.

"So, there's a lot of give and take we're seeing, so the whole 9-5 context is no longer."

Workforces are facing ongoing pressure to fill roles that can't be manned due to skill shortages across the country, affecting numerous industries. 

Naturally, current employees are required to cover the gaps that aren't being met by larger, qualified staff numbers. But the power is beginning to shift from employers demanding more from their workers, to workers stepping up and expressing requirements of their own. 

"If we're using the term 'power', I still very much see that in terms of making choices in the employees camp," said Davies. 

"More than ever I'm seeing - I call them demands, there's probably a better word to use - but them saying, look, I want to work from home, I want to work from anywhere."

Davies said she'd spoken with one employee who'd expressed their desire to travel the world for six months and work remotely from anywhere they felt like.

"I thought 'Wow, that's probably a step too far for New Zealand businesses at this point' but maybe we'll get there."

The four-day working week is also increasing in popularity across the country, to the point Davies called the modern approach to work "common". 

She said roles were being advertised as full-time, but there was lots of acceptance from employers the job could realistically be done to allow a three-day weekend. 

"A lot of people are just getting a lot more efficient and faster with how they work so they have that extra day off at the end of the week."