Graveyard shift definition

What is the Graveyard Shift?

The graveyard shift is a work shift that runs from midnight to eight o’clock in the morning. People working on this shift typically receive a shift premium, since this is considered the most difficult shift of the day. It is also known as the third shift. Productivity levels tend to be lowest during the graveyard shift, so companies generally do not operate them unless they are experiencing high levels of demand.

Advantages of the Graveyard Shift

It can be useful to run a graveyard shift when a business is experiencing high levels of demand on high-margin products. In these cases, the firm is still earning a profit on goods produced during the graveyard shift, despite the increased cost of operating this shift. This represents an incremental gain over what it would have earned without running the shift.

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