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I come from a country with the opposite work culture, Norway. We got short days. So does much of northern Europe including Germany. What I don't like about this

I come from a country with the opposite work culture, Norway. We got short days. So does much of northern Europe including Germany. What I don't like about this work hour obsession is the idea that it indicates how hard people work. You can't tell that by hours worked each day. The Greeks work the longest hours in Europe but anybody who has been to Germany and Greece would probably tell you that the Germans probably work harder. I have a family member who worked in Thailand, which like much of asia has long work hours. But he was far less stressed there than in Norway with his short work hours. In Norway there was no time for anything but work while at work. In Thailand he had lots of time at work to take care of non-work related tasks. Especially if you got kids in Norway, you end up getting quite stressed even if you work short hours because you don't have the opportunity to dump the whole responsibility of children onto the wife like in Japan. You have to hurry back from work to pick up kids from pre-school/school, help with school work, make dinner, get them ready for bed etc. Comparing to American work culture which I know best having worked with a lot of Americans I think in Norway we tend to mainly work while at work and socialize after work. While in the US there is a lot more of non-work related activity at work because people spend a lot more time at work. Nothing right or wrong with that. Earlier I worked a lot American style. Spending long hours at work but also socializing more with colleagues. My point is that I don't think people necessarily should be worshiped for how many hours they spend at work. It is what you do that matters.

jmspring 11y ago
A relative who is a native German recently had to work with a partner in her native land. This was a joint effort between two international companies, the US counterpart was adaptable to hours to make a meeting happen, the German counterpart claimed upcoming vacation and other issues and the meeting would be 6-8 weeks out. There is work day and then there is "process".
paulojreis 11y ago
> The Greeks work the longest hours in Europe but anybody who has been to Germany and Greece would probably tell you that the Germans probably work harder. I don't agree with the "work harder" motive. I'm a Portuguese guy, working for a German company. Half of my team is German and based in Germany, but we visit and are visited very often. As you certainly know, and much like the Greeks, Portuguese rank very high in the amount of hours worked, and very low in productivity. From my experience (and second-hand experience in the company), Germans don't work harder than Portuguese. I also wouldn't say that they work smarter. I'm not really sure I can point you the exact reason why Germans are more productive (which we know they are, because econometrics et al - but they don't seem to be, working with me on a daily basis). The best I can come up with is systemic advantage. The whole social system seems to be wired for productivity, which isn't true in here (Portugal). It's hard to pinpoint reasons, but I'd say corruption, taking advantage of the state, and all the small things. Education doesn't seem to be working here in Portugal; we have an obsessive focus on STEM here, and end up producing very good engineers but very bad citizens. :) It's the small things, really. Every day you'll notice traffic going slow because someone thought that it's legitimate to park in the road (instead of finding a valid parking place) just to grab some bread or groceries; it really seems a small thing, but embodies (IMHO) the problem: somebody thought that it's valid to make tens or hundreds of people slow down (and risk accidents) just to avoid wasting his personal five minutes to find a parking space.
wobbleblob 11y ago
> The Greeks work the longest hours in Europe but anybody who has been to Germany and Greece would probably tell you that the Germans probably work harder. I've been to Germany and Greece, and I don't really concur. Germany is rich, so more people can afford to work part time or at least reasonable hours. Time off is a luxury, it's just a fact of life that the poor have to work longer hours than the rich. The average productivity has more to do with money than with how hard people are working. Someone who sells a $1Bn credit default swap deal with a few mouse clicks is far more productive than someone who spends 16 hour work days digging a trench with a shovel, but which of the two is working harder?

jmspring 11y ago

A relative who is a native German recently had to work with a partner in her native land. This was a joint effort between two international companies, the US counterpart was adaptable to hours to make a meeting happen, the German counterpart claimed upcoming vacation and other issues and the meeting would be 6-8 weeks out. There is work day and then there is "process".

paulojreis 11y ago

> The Greeks work the longest hours in Europe but anybody who has been to Germany and Greece would probably tell you that the Germans probably work harder. I don't agree with the "work harder" motive. I'm a Portuguese guy, working for a German company. Half of my team is German and based in Germany, but we visit and are visited very often. As you certainly know, and much like the Greeks, Portuguese rank very high in the amount of hours worked, and very low in productivity. From my experience (and second-hand experience in the company), Germans don't work harder than Portuguese. I also wouldn't say that they work smarter. I'm not really sure I can point you the exact reason why Germans are more productive (which we know they are, because econometrics et al - but they don't seem to be, working with me on a daily basis). The best I can come up with is systemic advantage. The whole social system seems to be wired for productivity, which isn't true in here (Portugal). It's hard to pinpoint reasons, but I'd say corruption, taking advantage of the state, and all the small things. Education doesn't seem to be working here in Portugal; we have an obsessive focus on STEM here, and end up producing very good engineers but very bad citizens. :) It's the small things, really. Every day you'll notice traffic going slow because someone thought that it's legitimate to park in the road (instead of finding a valid parking place) just to grab some bread or groceries; it really seems a small thing, but embodies (IMHO) the problem: somebody thought that it's valid to make tens or hundreds of people slow down (and risk accidents) just to avoid wasting his personal five minutes to find a parking space.

wobbleblob 11y ago

> The Greeks work the longest hours in Europe but anybody who has been to Germany and Greece would probably tell you that the Germans probably work harder. I've been to Germany and Greece, and I don't really concur. Germany is rich, so more people can afford to work part time or at least reasonable hours. Time off is a luxury, it's just a fact of life that the poor have to work longer hours than the rich. The average productivity has more to do with money than with how hard people are working. Someone who sells a $1Bn credit default swap deal with a few mouse clicks is far more productive than someone who spends 16 hour work days digging a trench with a shovel, but which of the two is working harder?