Is UK work ethic different from US work ethic?

[Saucycarpdog]

It's a question that I've had ever since this Euro crisis began. I'm not saying that the UK has less or more work ethic, but I believe you guys have a different view on work.

I could be completely wrong, but if any UK person cares to respond, I'd like to know. Do you guys have different views of work compared to the US?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

You're gonna need to be more specific.

Work ethic in relation to what?

 

[Saucycarpdog]

You're gonna need to be more specific.

Work ethic in relation to what?

Sorry.

I mean we in the US hold work to the highest level, perhaps higher than family or free time. That's where we have the term, time is money. I want to know if this is different in the UK or is work held at a different level?

 

[sextus the crazy]

You're gonna need to be more specific.

Work ethic in relation to what?

Sorry.

I mean we in the US hold work to the highest level, perhaps higher than family or free time. That's where we have the term, time is money. I want to know if this is different in the UK or is work held at a different level?

you still find plenty of lazy people, even in long hours office settings. I think that the appearance of hard work is something we hold dear.

As for why we have long hours, I think this is due to the power corporations have over their employees and their opinion that they shouldn't pay anyone who isn't working (which is why employees often work on vacation or sick days, because they're still expected to complete assignments regardless of how long they vacation.) Also, partially due to the office raising a culture where staying longer makes you a better employee.

 

[Paragon Fury]

If you read any of the research by most sociologists, psychologists etc., you'll find they're generally in agreement on one thing: the US is statistically the hardest-working and most work-driven Western society. We, the US as a whole, have an almost unhealthy attachment to work and working. We take the least amount of time off, work longer hours, and place the importance of work above a lot of other things. The extreme work ethic is integral and inseparable part of American society.

Of course, it pales in comparison to some other countries, particularly countries like Japan, but against other western nations there isn't much of a comparison.

 

[PatrickXD]

It would be helpful for you to tell us what the 'US work ethic' is, because being from the UK, I am not American, and therefore don't know what I'm comparing my work ethic to.
Perhaps being more helpful: My mum works 45 hours a week, and my dad pushes for 60. My dad frequently works additional nights on call, usually resulting in him staying awake for about 32 hours at a time. My mum just manages company accounts and comes home, she likes her job but it isn't her life - it's just a way to earn money in order to enjoy herself in her free time.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

You're gonna need to be more specific.

Work ethic in relation to what?

Sorry.

I mean we in the US hold work to the highest level, perhaps higher than family or free time. That's where we have the term, time is money. I want to know if this is different in the UK or is work held at a different level?

I am from the UK, and I make sure any work I do, is done to a level I can be proud of, even if I'm just stacking shelves. You get lazy bums, you get hard-workers. Same is true of everywhere.

 

[Lethos]

If you read any of the research by most sociologists, psychologists etc., you'll find they're generally in agreement on one thing: the US is statistically the hardest-working and most work-driven Western society. We, the US as a whole, have an almost unhealthy attachment to work and working. We take the least amount of time off, work longer hours, and place the importance of work above a lot of other things. The extreme work ethic is integral and inseparable part of American society.

Of course, it pales in comparison to some other countries, particularly countries like Japan, but against other western nations there isn't much of a comparison.

You know Japan isn't nearly as work-centric as a lot of people believe. When I did research on the Japanese economy for my EPQ, I found a document by McKinsey that discovered that Japan is one of the more unproductive nations. It's got an almost 'dual' economy. The large multinational conglomerates, which are typically very productive and what we perceive the entire Japanese work force to be like. And the smaller local businesses which dominate the larger portion of Japan's economy. These smaller local businesses tend to be very unproductive as they're mostly family run businesses that have large power in local planning laws.

Just thought I would share.

 

[Pipotchi]

Id say the UK is closer to Europe than the US at the moment, Work to live rather than live to work.

I'm lucky in that I dont have to work very hard, earn good money and it lets me do the things in my free time that I enjoy.

I've not gone for promotions because my job now has a great ratio of effort/income

 

[AnarchistFish]

You're gonna need to be more specific.

Work ethic in relation to what?

Sorry.

I mean we in the US hold work to the highest level, perhaps higher than family or free time. That's where we have the term, time is money. I want to know if this is different in the UK or is work held at a different level?

UK has a high work ethic, although with our strong left leanings it's probably not to the same level as capitalist america, but I think that's a good thing. I hate the idea of giving my whole life just for the sake of work.

I think it's unfair to associate the EU crisis with the UK though, at least soley. That's mostly to do with more southern european countries such as Spain and Greece, which I think do actually have a lower work ethic than both the UK and the US. The UK is a mixture of Europe and North America in most things.

Yeah, just look at their tipping culture.

In the UK: People give good service and a tip is a nice bonus
In the US: You have to give a tip and not doing so is used as an insult and you will probably get your food spit in if you return.

Errr, it's considered douchey not to give a tip.

It would be helpful for you to tell us what the 'US work ethic' is, because being from the UK, I am not American, and therefore don't know what I'm comparing my work ethic to.

Also this^^

I'm not really sure what to compare it to aside from possible stereotypes

 

[Woodsey]

There's probably a general distance in the sense that I have seen far more Americans think that it is a perfectly reasonable thing to expect people to work every hour in the day, all week-long just to afford to the most basic standard of living.

Personally, I think if you've got people in society hitting that level of existence (or people even thinking that that level of existence is acceptable) then something has gone wrong.

I think we work the most hours in Europe though (or it's 'top 3', at least).

 

[Flames66]

I mean we in the US hold work to the highest level, perhaps higher than family or free time. That's where we have the term, time is money. I want to know if this is different in the UK or is work held at a different level?

I don't know about the UK as a whole, but my opinion is I would rather work at a job I enjoy that pays little, than a job I hate that pays lots. I would also rather earn enough to live and work part time than earn lots of money working full time but have no time to do anything with it.

 

[orangeban]

Well, the obvious difference in the UK is that it isn't a case of work or be fucked. You don't have to work for everything you have, the government will provide money, health care and housing. We also seem to prefer unions as well, for instance, if, like in Wisconsin I believe, someone tried to cripple the power of unions, well, it wouldn't happen basically. Though we aren't as strike happy as some places in Europe, we seem to regard strikes as something terribly rude and indecent. For example, when the doctors went on strike, a lot of them seemed to say, "Oh, well if we're really needed we'll still do some work." which really shows our opinion towards strikes.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Yeah, just look at their tipping culture.

In the UK: People give good service and a tip is a nice bonus
In the US: You have to give a tip and not doing so is used as an insult and you will probably get your food spit in if you return.

It's really confusing, I thought it was only in restaurants.
I went to a hairdresser in New York to get my hair trimmed and the woman started cutting my hair with an electric fucking razor. I freaked out cause I like having nice hair, paid what she asked for (even though I stopped her mid-cut and my hair was still wet) and she says 'eh, you have to tip me too'. I just looked at her for a few seconds trying to register everything, gave her about five bucks and bolted.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

You're gonna need to be more specific.

Work ethic in relation to what?

Sorry.

I mean we in the US hold work to the highest level, perhaps higher than family or free time. That's where we have the term, time is money. I want to know if this is different in the UK or is work held at a different level?

God no.

Example the 1st. Ever since my father got his first company car he has been in to work by 8am and returning after 7pm unless he has a more important reason for coming home (more important reasons basically amounting to school events, doctor's appointments and possibly important life events for myself or my sister) He's in his fifties now and still maintaining this lifestyle.

I hold myself to my father's work ethic as well. Unfortunately, being only just starting on the laddr of work I don't have enough to keep me at work this long, but on the days when I do I'm in by 8 and leaving gone 7. Everyone that I see at my office is prepared to and does work simliar hours. I've worked in three offices and two labour intensive factories so far, and aside from one or two bad eggs I haven't seen anyone who isn't prepared to work like that.

The thing that I think doesn't get emphasised enough about Britain is that life is getting pretty hard at the moment. You have to work hard for as long as you can just to have enough money to get by, and in true British style instead of complaining about it we just batten down the hatches and get to it.

As for the Greeks, that's an entirely different culture. The Italians too have a different way of doing things. The Euro Crisis is built around Greece's bankruptcy, and to suggest that the ordinary working man in the UK is responsible for it is pretty misinformed.

 

[hatseflats]

If you read any of the research by most sociologists, psychologists etc., you'll find they're generally in agreement on one thing: the US is statistically the hardest-working and most work-driven Western society. We, the US as a whole, have an almost unhealthy attachment to work and working. We take the least amount of time off, work longer hours, and place the importance of work above a lot of other things. The extreme work ethic is integral and inseparable part of American society.

Of course, it pales in comparison to some other countries, particularly countries like Japan, but against other western nations there isn't much of a comparison.

"Most hours" is of course not the same thing as "hardest working", and in the US it is statistically speaking the former (it's rather difficult to measure how hard someone is working).
This is mostly due to the system of the US, not so much the culture (though culture is also related to these systems). The psychological and sociological phenomena are the same pretty much everywhere: we want to "keep up with the Joneses". Or rather, we want to do just a little bit better (people prefer earning $100,000 when neighbours earn $50,000 than earn $150,000 when neighbours earn $200,000 or something like that). Thing is, when we do better, we move into a better neighbourhood. The result is that the benchmark to which we compare our performance and salary increases. Which means everybody except those at the absolute top are pretty much screwed, comparing themselves to equals or those above them, not to those below them.

So where does this tie in to Americans making long hours? In most countries on the Continent there is a progressive tax system and there is a strong government influence on number of hours worked. For instance, in the Netherlands in the 1980s, the government, labour unions and employer organisations agreed to reduce the number of hours worked on a fulltime job to reduce unemployment and wage costs. We also have a very progressive tax system which means working more doesn't increase wages very much and no employer may force his employees to work overtime. The result of these various factors is that economic incentives to work long hours are fairly low and a culture of working to live has been created/maintained.
The alternative is a rat race where everybody tries to get ahead and where, as a consequence, nobody (on average) gets ahead. Above a certain income (around $10000 p/y), increases in income do not result in an increase in well-being anyway, so working more hours and producing more only results in wasting valuable resources.

@MelasZepheos: Oh come on your evidence is limited to one example. The Greeks and Italians are not necessarily lazy either (I believe the Greeks make the most hours per year in Europe), they just voted for idiots who didn't manage their country very well (Greece has always had a very strong communist core; perhaps if they hadn't been prevented of becoming a communist country they wouldn't have been so... misguided).
(Also sorry for the absolutely ridiculous government the Netherlands has had in the past 2 years, which wasn't any better than the worst governments in southern Europe.)

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

Yeah, just look at their tipping culture.

In the UK: People give good service and a tip is a nice bonus
In the US: You have to give a tip and not doing so is used as an insult and you will probably get your food spit in if you return.

In the U.S. minimum wage for occupations that regularly receive tips is lower or at least was at some time, so yeah, it is kind of douchey not to give a tip here (I am American obviously).

I'd say it is different more than it is less or more. In the United States quantity of work is considered more important than quality to a certain extent. Rather than wanting to produce really high quality workmanship we just want people to work more and not stop working. For this reason breaks and vacations are limited and work days are long. In other nations it is noticed that the quality of work goes up if you allow the workers to have some breaks, so they do that instead. There are solid points on both sides and neither concept of labor is inherently bad, and I don't think that Europe's concept of labor is the problem, rather it can be pinned on a multitude of much larger issues that are framed around it.