Working hours, mental health, and employee productivity in Bahrain’s banking sector

Long working hours are increasingly prevalent in high-demand service sectors, yet their relationship with employee outcomes remains theoretically debated. In high-pressure sectors such as banking, where sustained cognitive performance and emotional regulation are essential, understanding the psychological implications of work demands has become increasingly important. Drawing on perspectives from occupational and organizational psychology, this study examines the associations among working hours, employee mental health, and productivity within Bahrain’s banking sector, a context characterized by high cognitive demands and performance pressures. Specifically, the study examines the associations among working hours, employee mental health, and employee productivity, with particular attention to the relative importance of psychological well-being in understanding employee performance. Data was collected through a cross-sectional survey of 150 managers and employees across multiple banks and analyzed using correlational and regression techniques. The findings indicate that working hours are not significantly associated with either employee productivity or mental health. In contrast, employee mental health is strongly associated with productivity, with lower levels of mental health linked to lower self-reported performance. These findings suggest that employee productivity in high-pressure work environments may depend more on psychological well-being than on the number of hours worked alone. The absence of a significant relationship between working hours and the outcomes studied may reflect the relatively standardized distribution of working hours within the sample, as well as the use of a single-item measure that does not capture qualitative job demands. These findings highlight the importance of psychological well-being as a factor associated with employee functioning in high-pressure environments. By providing evidence from an under-researched context, this study contributes to the business psychology literature by suggesting that, within the Bahraini banking sector, employee productivity may be more closely associated with mental health than with variations in reported working hours. Practically, the findings underscore the importance of organizational strategies aimed at reducing psychological strain and promoting employee well-being as a means of sustaining performance in demanding service sectors. The study also underscores the need for future research to incorporate broader measures of job demands and longitudinal designs to better capture these relationships.