April 27 — Shift Worker's Day: history and traditions of the holiday, who to congratulate

Shift Worker's Day is celebrated on April 27 by workers who work in shifts. The holiday is relatively young, but has already gained great popularity in Russia. This day honors people who are willing to work for a long time without holidays and weekends, and often away from home. In 2025, the date of the celebration falls on Sunday. Izvestia tells us how the holiday appeared and who to congratulate on this day.

Shift Worker's Day in 2025 — the history of the holiday

Shift work assumes that employees stay at the facility for several weeks, or even months in a row, living in dormitories or other housing provided by the employer. Most of the shift vacancies relate to construction, production, extraction of raw materials and housing and communal services.

This method of labor organization allows companies to solve many tasks more efficiently. However, it poses a number of difficulties for employees. They experience significant and prolonged stress on a daily basis. And if the work is carried out outside of settlements where there is no access to communications, then domestic inconveniences are also suffered.

Meanwhile, thousands of Russians and migrant workers view shift-based jobs every day. For some of them, this is the only way to earn money and feed their family. Most often, shift work is offered to representatives of working professions: crane operators, welders, milling workers, turners, locksmiths. But there are also offers for security guards, cooks, babysitters, doctors, and even programmers.

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Considering how many people in Russia work in shifts, the idea arose on social networks to organize a separate holiday for shift workers. The initiative quickly found a response from the workers. According to media reports, Shift Worker's Day was celebrated for the first time in 2011. And although the holiday has no official status, the number of labor collectives where it is celebrated is only increasing from year to year.

Traditions of the Shift Worker's Day

Since shift workers are people of different positions and professions, there are no uniform traditions of celebrating Shift Worker's Day. Basically, the celebration is celebrated within the team. After work, they arrange feasts and tea parties, and send congratulations to their colleagues from other workshops and regions. Sometimes celebrations are organized with the support of company management.

Recently, larger companies and socio-political organizations have joined the celebration. Seminars and lectures dedicated to the organization of shift work are held in large cities. During the events, issues of compliance with the working conditions of shift workers, wages, benefits and other social support measures are raised.

Flash mobs are held on social media. Employees share photos of their working days, talk about their profession and congratulate colleagues on the holiday. This date is not ignored by the mass media (mass media). Thematic stories and reports about the hard work of shift workers are published on television and in newspapers.

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Shift worker's Day: interesting facts

According to the results of a HeadHunter online recruitment survey, more than half of the Russians surveyed (68%) are ready to consider shift work offers. One in 10 respondents stated that when looking for a job, they also look at shift vacancies. Another 40% of Russians are ready to try the shift if the work is interesting. At the same time, 36% of Russians are not ready to work in shifts under any circumstances.

However, shift workers themselves find many advantages in their work. Firstly, these are long vacations and the opportunity to plan your own schedule. Secondly, working on shift, it's hard to spend money on anything other than what you really need. This way it is easier to save up for a large purchase. And finally, the shift staff is provided with everything they need, so you can work in any city and not pay for housing.

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the most profitable professions in Russia.