Does anyone work a Panama schedule?

Does anyone here have a job that works a Panama schedule? I would love to find a place that runs on them but they aren't too common. Everyone I have talked to who worked one loved it.

For those not aware a Panama Schedule is a 2 weeks rotation that goes like this:

MON TUE WED THUR FRI SAT SUN MON TUE WED THUR FRI SAT SUN

Green is 12 hour shifts, Red are days off.

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Comments

N2IT

Miike I think that's called nursing. Just kidding that is an interesting staffing strategy. I wouldn't be against it, however I do like static it makes it easy to plan with Kids and my wife is already a nurse so that would make for some serious juggling.

Xyro

I wouldn't work this but good luck finding it if this is what you want.

Mike-Mike

This is what I work, I had never heard of it before, but a lot of networking jobs in my area have that kind of schedule. We do 12 hours, 7am to 7pm or 7pm to 7am. It's not as cool on nights seeing as you sleep your off days away, unless you are one of those who can 100% commit to a 3rd shift lifestyle.

Being on the day shift, it is pretty awesome, that 3 day weekend is pretty amazing. And even when you work the 3 days it's on the weekend, which is usually slower work

Here's a fun tidbit.... before I worked this job, I interviewed at a place that had the same schedule, and on the phone interview before the face to face he referred to it as a "Panama Shift" very casually like everyone knows what that is... so I didn't think much of it and googled it.....

yeah.... Urban Dictionary has a VERY different meaning

WiseWun

This is exactly my schedule and I love it! But the nightshift is now getting to me once I became a father. We rotate every month between night and day 12 hr shifts.

The beauty is when it comes to vacation. Take Tuesday and Wednesday off and you get 7 days.

Valsacar

I used to work that shift, it's not too bad at all. One I like better (forgot what it was called) is done in 8 hour shifts (day, mid, swing)

day, day, mid, mid, swing, swing, 4x day off

You're working 8 hour days, moving towards the overnight (swing) shift slowly then get 4 days off. Of course, what 4 days you get isn't consistent, it rotates through the week.

paul78

I'm not familiar with shift work and I had never heard of Panama schedule before. It's very interesting to read. I never realized there are so many variations each with its own benefits and cons. Fasinating stuff...

jibbajabba

I did similar (I think) and loved it

Mon 7am-7pm
Tue 7am-7pm
Wed 7pm-7am
Thu 7pm-7am
Fri off
Sat off
Sun off
Mon off
Tue 7am-7pm
Wed 7am-7pm
Thu 7pm-7am
Fri 7pm-7am
Sat off
Sun off
Mon off
Tue off

and so on. As you can see, between the days / nights you are pretty much 24hrs off, got most of your last night off, followed by 4 days off and start your first day at a normal time

That was with Hewlett Packard "back in the day" ..

Worst shift system ever was random 8-4, 4-12 and 12-8 shifts ... no pattern, days off - random .. sometimes you finished at midnight on a Friday, and started Sunday again at 8am - where your Saturday was your day "off" ... was a bloody online casino I worked for ....

netsysllc

As a person with a family and whose wife works 8-5 M-F I can say I would not work that kind of shift.

demonfurbie

i would love it

NetworkVeteran

netsysllc wrote: »

As a person with a family and whose wife works 8-5 M-F I can say I would not work that kind of shift.

Yup. I could see that schedule being very attractive for someone younger or otherwise without commitments--whether those be family, hobbies social, or otherwise--but like most family men I desire a more regular schedule.

Miike I think that's called nursing.

Heh! I, too, have mostly seen this schedule used in hospitals.

pert

I wouldn't work that shift for a 100% pay raise.

Valsacar

NetworkVeteran wrote: »

Yup. I could see that schedule being very attractive for someone younger or otherwise without commitments--whether those be family, hobbies social, or otherwise--but like most family men I desire a more regular schedule.Heh! I, too, have mostly seen this schedule used in hospitals.

I did that when I was married and had a kid, it was great. During the weekdays I had off I could get all those family things done (all the errands, shopping, doctors appts, etc) while my wife was at work. Gave us the whole night on those days. The weekend off we could be free to go to the park/zoo/whatever as a group because there were no family errands to get done.

ptilsen

I would love something like this. Either something different from the standard five-on/two-off or less days altogether with longer shifts. So long as I could make it be consistent enough to get classes in on off days, it would be perfect. I've never been a fan of the 5x8 standard.

For IT, unfortunately, I just don't see it happening outside of very specific support organizations that have a need for it. I wouldn't go back to a full-time support gig just for a different schedule, or really for anything.

coreyb80

The only other schedule I would want to work outside of 9-5 daily is 9-7 4 days a week. Funny thing is that I had a phone interview for a Technical Support yesterday and the rep I spoke with told me that every 14 weeks I would have to work an entire week from work 2PM-10PM which I actually found to be pretty cool.

NetworkVeteran

Valsacar wrote: »

I did that when I was married and had a kid, it was great. During the weekdays I had off I could get all those family things done (all the errands, shopping, doctors appts, etc)

Interesting! This is one reason I enjoy the forum--hearing how others approach things. For me, this job would entail arranging daycare every other weekend and my kids not being able to regularly attend weekend activities like soccer, so I'd have to charge extra. If your partner has a schedule that could accommodate this, I can see how this would work with family.

grettlerj

I work that schedule. 6A-6P Sometimes the days are long but I like the schedule. I am married with kids and it's nice to have weekdays off. During the school year my wife and I can go to the movies, eat, run errands and most places are empty compared to the weekends.