How many hours do massage therapists work?

Massage therapists work for varying amounts of hours, and this depends on many different factors, such as work environment, personal preferences, the type of massage therapy they provide, and whether a massage therapist is full-time or part-time. Here is a closer look at some of these factors:

• Work environment

  Massage therapists that work in-house at places like spas, gyms, health clubs, and massage therapy businesses can have work schedules that reflect traditional working hours. They might work up to 40 hours per week, and put in shifts of six to eight hours per day, depending on the specific location they work in.

• Personal preferences

  There are independent contractor massage therapists or freelance massage therapists that can dictate their schedule to a degree. These professionals often travel to their clients or have their clients travel to their homes or another agreed-upon location. Here massage therapists can choose the number of hours they work per week to a degree since it is based on their client load.

• The type of massage therapy they provide

  Some massage therapists provide general massage therapy services, while others specialize in certain areas of the field. Whether or not a massage therapist specializes in a certain form of massage therapy can have some effect on their total number of average work hours. This is because some massage therapy practices require longer sessions.

• Part-time massage therapists

  Some massage therapists choose to work on a part-time basis, this type of work schedule might consist of working as little as a few hours per week or several hours per day. Self-employed massage therapists tend to have this type of schedule, as well as some that work in more traditional environments like spas and health clubs.

• Full-time massage therapists

  Full-time massage therapists tend to work a traditional work week of 40 hours. The most common configuration of this type of work schedule is five days per week with shifts that are eight hours long.

  This type of work schedule is the most common for massage therapists in medical facilities or chiropractic offices because these work environments tend to have a regular roster of clients versus spas and gyms where client rosters may fluctuate.

• Variable work schedules

  Some massage therapists have variable and flexible work schedules that might see them working a lot of hours on one day and considerably fewer hours on the next day. This is most common with self-employed massage therapists as their work weeks can average in the range of 10 to 30 hours per week.