I used to work 9-5. It wasn't 9-5, but it was still 8 hours long, and for 4 days a week. And when I worked that, I was more happy with my schedule than now, despite working more than twice as much a week. And the reason for that is consistency.
The problem is that consistency and certainty are really hard things to come by today. When you know something is coming up, you get used to it happening, and so you anticipate it. However, when things are uncertain, you cannot get used to them. This is my problem with work.
You can tell that people no longer have a consistent schedule by the way traffic works now. Yes, traffic is different in different places. But for the most part where I am, traffic doesn't die down. At 5 in the afternoon, traffic gets heavier, but that is about it. No matter what time of the day you're driving at, there will always be traffic.
I understand that some jobs require a lot of driving, maybe between sites, or having multiple locations, or you're just a trucker. But when everyone is driving all the time, they cannot all be driving for their jobs.
The problem with not having a consistent schedule is that I will work 5 hours one week, and then get hit with working 20 hours the next. It's unpredictable, and it makes me frustrated. I don't know.