24/7 service

Incommerceand industry,24/7or24-7 service(usually pronounced "twenty-four seven" ) isservicethat is available at any time and usually, every day.^[1]An alternateorthographyfor the numerical part includes24×7(usually pronounced "twenty-four by seven" ). The numerals stand for "24 hours a day, 7 days a week". Less commonly used,24/7/52(adding "52 weeks" ) and24/7/365 service(adding "365 days" ) make it clear that service is available every day of the year.

Synonymsincludearound-the-clock service(with/without hyphens) andall day every day,especially inBritish English,^[2]^[3]andnonstop service,but the latter can also refer to other things, such as public transport services which go between two stations without stopping.

TheOxford English Dictionary(OED) defines the term as "twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; constantly". It lists its first reference to 24/7 to be from a 1983 story in the US magazineSports Illustratedin whichLouisiana State Universityplayer Jerry Reynolds describes his jump shot in just such a way: 24-7-365.

Examples

Commercial business

24/7 service might be offered by asupermarket,convenience store,ATM,automated online assistant,filling station,restaurant,concierge servicesor a staffeddatacenter,or a staffing company that specializes in providing nurses since often nurses cover shifts 24/7 at hospital which are open 24/7. 24/7 services may also includetaxicabs,security services,and in densely populated urban areas,construction crews.

Emergency services and transport

Hospital in Hong Kong with 24-hour clinics

Public 24/7 services often include those provided byemergency medical providers,police,fireandemergency telephone numbers,such as9-1-1in North America.

Transport services likeairports,airlines,and ferry services, and in some cases trains and buses, may provide 24-hour service. Examples of public transport services operating 24/7 include theNew York City Subway,Staten Island Railway,PATH,PATCO,theCopenhagen Metro,and theRed LineandBlue Lineof theChicago "L".

Industrial and utility services

Industrial and manufacturing facilities—especially those that operate near or at capacity, or which depend upon processes (such asproduction lines) that are costly to suspend—often provide 24/7 services. Similarly, utilities generally must provide multiple 24/7 services. For instance, anelectricity providerwill handle outage reports 24/7 and dispatch emergency repair technicians 24/7, in addition to monitoring electrical infrastructure and producing electricity at all times. The same applies to telecommunications and internet service providers.

Nonprofit and charity services

Many crisis centers andcrisis hotlinesprovide 24/7 services.

Methods

Continuous operations

Many 24/7 services operate continuously at all times with complete shift staff.

Geographical alternation

24/7 services that can utilizevirtual offices,such ascall centers,may employ daytime agents in alternatingtime zones.

Service disruption

In some cases, 24/7 services may be temporarily unavailable under certain circumstances. Such scenarios may includescheduled maintenance,upgradesorrenovation,emergency repair,andinjunction.24/7 services which depend upon the physical presence of employees at a given location may also be interrupted when a minimum number of employees cannot be present due to scenarios such asextreme weather,death threats,natural disasters,ormandatory evacuation.

Some 24/7 services close during majorholidays.

Redundancy and hardening

24/7 services often employ complex schemes that ensure their resistance to potential disruption, resilience in the event of disruption, and minimum standards of overall reliability.

Critical infrastructure may be supported byfailoversystems,electric generators,andsatellitecommunications. In the event of catastrophic disaster, some 24/7 services prepare entirely redundant, parallel infrastructures, often in other geographic regions.

Long-term post-COVID disruption

At the beginning of theCOVID-19 pandemicin 2020, many stores ended 24/7 operations, ostensibly on a temporary basis, in order to clean and sanitize their establishments.^[4]After the widespread availability of vaccines, however, many such businesses have not returned to 24-hour service for a variety of reasons. Some proprietors in the United States originally blamed pandemic unemployment benefits for a lack of workers, yet employers still struggled to resume pre-pandemic hours after these programs were sunsetted, citing continued staff shortages and demands for better working conditions among jobseekers. Many businesses that were once broadly open for 24/7 operations only resumed such service across some of their establishments or have ended 24/7 operations altogether, as in the case ofWalmart.^[4]^[5]

Criticism

24/7 workplaces can put employees under conditions that limit their personal life choices and development. Calls for a rehumanisation of the 24/7 workplace have therefore been voiced.^[6]Some have also remarked on the "collective mania" especially in the US that takes a sort of pride in the "work at all times" attitude exemplified by the 24/7 concept.^[7]

In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, theSunday trading lawsprevent many stores from truly opening 24/7, but they sometimes advertise as such. Some core services such asfilling stationsare exempt from the law requiring them to close. A campaign against changing the law was supported by many bodies, including theChurch of England,theChurch in Wales,and many secular bodies in an effort calledKeep Sunday Special.

References

^Piasecki, David J. (15 March 2003),"Inventory Accuracy Glossary",Inventory Accuracy: People, Processes, & Technology,accuracybook (OPS Publishing),ISBN 0-9727631-0-4,retrieved2009-05-04
^Gledhill, Ruth (26 March 2009), "Condoms to be advertised round-the-clock on TV",The Times
^Plunkett, John (1 April 2009), "Glastonbury to be covered round the clock by BBC 6Music",The Guardian
^^a ^bMeisenzahl, Mary (16 May 2021)."Walmart, 7-Eleven, and McDonald's shortened hours during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 24 hour shopping might be slow to return".Business Insider. Archived fromthe originalon 20 May 2021.Retrieved16 February2023.
^D'Innocenzio, Anne (11 December 2022)."Frustration mounts as customers want longer opening hours, stores can't fill positions, employees feel overworked: 'Nobody is winning'".Fortune. Associated Press. Archived fromthe originalon 22 December 2022.Retrieved16 February2023.
^Piazza, Charles F. (23 January 2007),24/7 Workplace Connectivity: A Hidden Ethical Dilemma(PDF),Santa Clara University,archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2009-01-07,retrieved2009-05-04
^Kettle, Martin (3 August 2001),"So long, American work culture",The Guardian,retrieved2012-09-03

[1] Piasecki, David J. (15 March 2003),"Inventory Accuracy Glossary",Inventory Accuracy: People, Processes, & Technology,accuracybook (OPS Publishing),ISBN 0-9727631-0-4,retrieved2009-05-04

[2] Gledhill, Ruth (26 March 2009), "Condoms to be advertised round-the-clock on TV",The Times

[3] Plunkett, John (1 April 2009), "Glastonbury to be covered round the clock by BBC 6Music",The Guardian

[Biz_Insider_COVID-4] Meisenzahl, Mary (16 May 2021)."Walmart, 7-Eleven, and McDonald's shortened hours during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 24 hour shopping might be slow to return".Business Insider. Archived fromthe originalon 20 May 2021.Retrieved16 February2023.

[Forbes_post-pandemic-5] D'Innocenzio, Anne (11 December 2022)."Frustration mounts as customers want longer opening hours, stores can't fill positions, employees feel overworked: 'Nobody is winning'".Fortune. Associated Press. Archived fromthe originalon 22 December 2022.Retrieved16 February2023.

[6] Piazza, Charles F. (23 January 2007),24/7 Workplace Connectivity: A Hidden Ethical Dilemma(PDF),Santa Clara University,archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2009-01-07,retrieved2009-05-04

[7] Kettle, Martin (3 August 2001),"So long, American work culture",The Guardian,retrieved2012-09-03

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