Scorify.uzThe question
In some countries, many employees work very long hours each week. What are the reasons for this? Do you think it has a positive or negative effect on workers and on society?
Write at least 250 words.
What the question asks
Answer two things: the reasons for long hours and the overall effect. Pick two or three causes, such as low wages and workplace culture, and then judge the effect, preferably as mostly negative with one fair concession.
Essay plan
- Introduction: Paraphrase the situation and state that you will cover causes and effects, with your view.
- Body 1: reasons: Low pay needing overtime, competitive workplace culture, fear of losing a job, and technology that makes workers reachable at all times.
- Body 2: effects: Stress, poor health and weaker family life; lower productivity; a small benefit for companies in the short term.
- Conclusion: State that the overall effect is negative and briefly point to a remedy.
Band 7+ sample essay
In many economies, a full week of work has quietly stretched well beyond the official forty hours. The causes are a mix of financial pressure and workplace culture, and I believe the consequences are mostly negative.
Firstly, some workers have no real choice. When basic wages are low, extra hours and overtime payments are the only way to cover rent and living costs. Secondly, in certain companies, staying late is seen as a sign of loyalty, so employees feel they must be at their desks even when their work is finished. Fear of unemployment adds to this pressure, since people worry that a colleague who works longer might replace them. Finally, smartphones allow managers to send messages in the evening, which blurs the line between the office and home.
The effects on individuals are largely harmful. Constant tiredness can lead to stress, heart problems and depression, and parents who return home late have little energy to spend with their children. Society also pays a price, because exhausted people make more mistakes and are often less productive per hour than those who have enough rest. Some companies enjoy more output in the short term, but they may lose talented staff who burn out and resign.
To change this situation, governments could enforce limits on weekly hours and ensure that overtime is properly paid, while managers could agree not to contact staff outside office hours.
In conclusion, long working hours are driven by low pay, competitive habits and technology, and they damage health, family life and even productivity, so I consider them a negative trend.
263 words.
Why this essay scores well
- Task Response: every part of the question is answered and the position stays consistent from the introduction to the conclusion.
- Coherence and Cohesion: each paragraph has one clear idea, linked with natural connectors rather than a list of memorised phrases.
- Lexical Resource: topic vocabulary is precise and varied, without forcing rare words.
- Grammatical Range and Accuracy: a mix of simple and complex sentences, with conditionals and relative clauses used accurately.
Useful vocabulary
- overtime — extra hours worked beyond normal time
- workplace culture — the shared habits and attitudes in a company
- blur the line — make a boundary unclear
- living costs — money needed for daily life
- burn out — become exhausted from too much work
- productive — achieving a good amount of work
- work-life balance — a healthy division of time between work and private life
- enforce limits — make sure restrictions are obeyed
Common mistakes on this question
- Explaining only the reasons and treating the effects in one short sentence.
- Using vague phrases such as it is bad for everything without stating how workers or society are affected.
- Confusing long hours with having two jobs or being unemployed.
Study guides
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Frequently asked questions
What type of essay is this IELTS Task 2 question?
It is a two-part question question. Answer two things: the reasons for long hours and the overall effect. Pick two or three causes, such as low wages and workplace culture, and then judge the effect, preferably as mostly negative with one fair concession.
How many words should the essay be?
Write at least 250 words. Most strong answers are 260–290 words, planned in about five minutes and completed in 40 minutes.
How many paragraphs should I write?
Four paragraphs work well: an introduction, two body paragraphs and a conclusion. Each body paragraph needs one main idea, an explanation and an example.