Robert Lynch is part of the growing workforce of white collar workers on the night shift. He says technology is what keeps him up and working through the night.

He is a systems administrator for Globix Corporation, an Internet service provider for businesses.

Here's what Robert told Livelyhood about why he is working the night shift:

Why does your company have a night shift?

Robert: In the age of worldwide electronic communication, business doesn't stop, ever. And that's where we come in, working 24 hours-a-day, because our customers do business around the world. We have 'round-the-clock monitoring.

Basically, our customers' Web sites are on the Internet 24 hours-a-day, and e-commerce doesn't stop at midnight, because there are people buying and selling all around the world around the clock. In case one of our customers goes down in the middle of the night -- we have to do something about it.

Are jobs your likes growing in numbers?

Robert: Here in Silicon Valley, we're in the absolute epicenter of the electronic world. This is where the Internet is happening; this is where it came from. Right across the street is one of our largest competitors; we're all right next door to one another. Cisco is down the street, so is 3Com.

There's definitely the feeling that you're right in the middle of something here. You're right in the middle of a lot of money. I see that, because half the people that I work with are 22-year-olds driving really expensive cars. That's part of the fun of the whole thing.

This is also a kind of younger field, in that the Internet has really exploded in the last several years, and the people that know how to use it are younger. And the people that know how to use the equipment and that have developed the equipment are all younger.

Why did you start working the night shift?

Robert: I think the reason that I'm working the night shift kind of goes back to the whole sense of ownership and sense of pride in the business.

I started out here on the day shift, and they needed someone to work the night shift. They needed someone that they knew was competent and that they could trust. And so, that's why I'm here. I don't intend to stay on the night shift forever, but they need someone in the position right now, and that's me.

Are some of us going to have to turn our biological clocks around to keep the economy booming? Share your opinions and advice and ask questions of others.

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