Is UK work ethic different from US work ethic?

[Wadders]

Generally we don't really do work. Most people are on benefits.

Bullshit.

Moving on, we (the UK) seem to have people who have a "live for the weekend type attitude" and don't really see their job as anything other than a means to get money for spending on stuff they need, like bills, and want, like beer.

Then there are others, who seem to live to work, and will take every second of overtime offered to them, god knows what drives them on.

Those are just 2 types of people I've come across, I think we have a mix of work ethics but overall most people work pretty hard to bring home the bacon. I'm not sure how all that compares to a US work ethic though. I'd just say less people live for their work perhaps, preferring to leave it at work and not bring it home.

 

[Comando96]

It depends on what job people do.

If people are doing a job they do not like then our work ethic can be dreadful, but most of the time in many careers people want to, or prefer to be in, the work ethic is a lot better and probably on a comparable level to that of the US. Unless the US is like this in the same regard... because I can't imagine people giving a damn about some jobs which are just for the money unless tipping is involved.

 

[Esotera]

My personal work ethic is that working very hard for a short period of time is going to be far more productive than the number of hours you put in. Quantity definitely isn't everything, especially if you're at risk of burnout. Then again, it doesn't always pan out this way for my work productivity...

 

[Flames66]

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.

I find it interesting that you call them "bad eggs". I would just call them people who don't want to work themselves to death all hours of the day. I expect there are reasons other than working hours.

 

[Broady Brio]

I don't have a job. I'm from the UK. Perhaps this will sway your opinion for the better or worse.

 

[TehCookie]

Generally we don't really do work. Most people are on benefits.

Bullshit.

Moving on, we (the UK) seem to have people who have a "live for the weekend type attitude" and don't really see their job as anything other than a means to get money for spending on stuff they need, like bills, and want, like beer.

Then there are others, who seem to live to work, and will take every second of overtime offered to them, god knows what drives them on.

Those are just 2 types of people I've come across, I think we have a mix of work ethics but overall most people work pretty hard to bring home the bacon. I'm not sure how all that compares to a US work ethic though. I'd just say less people live for their work perhaps, preferring to leave it at work and not bring it home.

It's the same in the us, but in order to buy the things we want but we have to work longer since I think we're paid less.

 

[TehCookie]

Stupid gremlins double posting...

 

[oddball250]

Thats a thing i dont understand. if i go on holiday to a contry im never going to beable to return to why the hell should i tip

 

[Kinguendo]

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.

Is it? I am british, I dont think its "douchey". If they provide a particularly fantastic service then yes, maybe. But being compulsary, thats ridiculous. It becomes meaningless and just another thing for companies to exploit, like companies who include the tip in your bill without telling you and then you tip ontop of that tip or companies that use tipping as a reason to pay their employees less. Do I want to be the reason for uncertainty between paycheques because you might not have enough tips this month? No, I want you to be paid a livable wage for doing the work that the company that employs you gets much more money out of and being paid the occassional tip on top of that if you work hard thus promoting hard work.

 

[TehCookie]

Thats a thing i dont understand. if i go on holiday to a contry im never going to beable to return to why the hell should i tip

Because that's how people make their living over here. They're paid like $2 an hour and expect to make it up through tips. Yes it's shit, but don't take it out on the servers.

 

[Flames66]

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.

Is it? I am british, I dont think its "douchey". If they provide a particularly fantastic service then yes, maybe. But being compulsary, thats ridiculous. It becomes meaningless and just another thing for companies to exploit, like companies who include the tip in your bill without telling you and then you tip ontop of that tip or companies that use tipping as a reason to pay their employees less. Do I want to be the reason for uncertainty between paycheques because you might not have enough tips this month? No, I want you to be paid a livable wage for doing the work that the company that employs you gets much more money out of and being paid the occassional tip on top of that if you work hard thus promoting hard work.

I agree with this chap on the subject. I will only tip someone if they go above and beyond what they are already paid to do.

 

[Wadderz]

A couple of years back I was working as a team leader in a big UK corporation, and my line manager was from the US so we spent quite a bit of time discussing the differences between how he found work in the US compared to how he found work in the UK. I got the impression that the major differences were political rather than personally motivated.

The UK has been predominantly a socialist country for some time, and has some moderately powerful trade unions within the large public funded sector. However, workers in the private sector are often unable to get the same level of union support, and really have no choice but to work hard and for long hours in order to keep themselves financially afloat. That's not to say all public sector workers don't have a good work ethic, only that - if they don't have a good work ethic - they're not as likely to get sacked for it. Thus there is usually a dichotomy in the work ethic of UK citizens.

It seems likely that there would be a much greater emphasis on the work ethic in the US, as the two big safety nets (either a large public sector or trade union influence) are comparatively small.

 

[Lethos]

The UK has been predominantly a socialist country for some time

Que?

Playing a bit fast and lose with the term socialist there. We certainly have elements of socialism, but we're far from predominantly socialist. Especially compared to the rest of Europe.

 

[LordFish]

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.

Is it? I am british, I dont think its "douchey". If they provide a particularly fantastic service then yes, maybe. But being compulsary, thats ridiculous. It becomes meaningless and just another thing for companies to exploit, like companies who include the tip in your bill without telling you and then you tip ontop of that tip or companies that use tipping as a reason to pay their employees less. Do I want to be the reason for uncertainty between paycheques because you might not have enough tips this month? No, I want you to be paid a livable wage for doing the work that the company that employs you gets much more money out of and being paid the occassional tip on top of that if you work hard thus promoting hard work.

I agree with this chap on the subject. I will only tip someone if they go above and beyond what they are already paid to do.

I'm just going to quote you all, a thread on tipping is a lot more interesting haha

I am of the English persuasion, and if the service isn't bad, I'll leave a small tip, just to say thanks, £1.50, something like that.

My sister was a waitress for a while, and she got paid £7 an hour (that's like what, $12 an hour?) So not at all bad pay, and in the weeks leading up to Christmas she was bringing in about £50 - £100 a night tips! wish I made that kinda money

 

[GonvilleBromhead]

It certainly used to be the case that the British work ethic was somewhat lacking, but the 80's changed that. Prior to then, the norm was pretty much to spend the morning recovering from a hangover, get pissed at lunch, try to sober up in the afternoon so you could drive home, and go to the pub in the evening. Competition with the US pretty much stopped that.

Nowadays...bit more of a mixed bag. It's harder to get rid of a lazy employee over here than the States, but easier than much of the continent. Private sector tends to be a bit more meritocratic, which means the lazy don't really get promoted, whereas the public sector can be a bit more seniority based (though this has been changing for a while)

 

[LordFish]

The UK has been predominantly a socialist country for some time

Que?

Playing a bit fast and lose with the term socialist there. We certainly have elements of socialism, but we're far from predominantly socialist. Especially compared to the rest of Europe.

Nahh, I'm with wadderz here, have been extremely left wing for a little too long. Fucking Hug-a-Hoody nonsense... When this current generation retires and we're left with a load of soft-degree media students and drug addled benefits-for-life rioters to keep the country ticking over.. we're all doomed!

Obviously I know society isn't polarised like that, there are plenty of well balanced middle people like myself (just got a new job today! ) that will in fact be in charge, but the aforementioned extremes at both ends of the scale will indeed be doing their best to slow us all down, that's my view anyway


Captcha: How about that!... How about that indeed captcha..

 

[Lethos]

snippidy

Another centrist? Pleased to meet you.

Just so I'm OT for once, I'd say US and UK have pretty similar work ethics. You guys do more hours than us though.

 

[Reiper]

Maybe a bit off topic, but people were talking about public sector vs private sector
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/06/22/kelly-mcparland-federal-bureaucrats-laid-low-by-union-disease/

Not to say that belonging to a union is a bad thing, but it certainly seems to make claiming sick days more attractive...

Though this is the Canadian perspective, which is like 1/2 British 1/2 American (well probably more like 7/8 American, but wutevs)

 

[Rawne1980]

My wife is a nurse and her hours are long and she works damn hard.

During my time in the army I worked damn hard.

Now I work for myself I tend to have more free time.

I don't "need" to work anymore. We have enough savings to live comfortably and own our house but I do it because I enjoy it and it gives me something to do. My wife has been saying she wants to cut her hours down for the past 4 years but even though she is worked incredibly hard she loves her job.

My friends and family all go by the same thing with regards to work. They do it to put food on the table not because they want to.

It depends on the person.

Me and my missus are opposites now. She loves her job and won't even consider giving up whereas I do it to pass the time when i'm bored (perks of being a self employed personal trainer). The way I see it is I spent 12 years of my life working my arse of and now i'm going to enjoy the rest by doing whatever I want to do.

 

[Frission]

Well the U.S is the most hardworking in the sense that they have the longest hours. The office system for the U.S though is notoriously inefficient, so they don't necessarily produce more.