4 ms·

Welcome to the club! There's 400 million Americans who feel the exact same way!

Freak_NL 9y ago
Japanese too. Keep in mind that this article is written from a British/European standpoint, where working overtime is an exception, not the norm.
- ekianjo 9y ago
  Japanese may work overtime but they are hardly "busy", at least in major corporations which constitute a large bulk of the salary men workforce. Lots of useless meetings where people sit around saying and doing nothing. They just stay late.
  - holydude 9y ago
    Same in Korea and Singapore and I doubt it's any different in China. You work for the sake of working not because you have something that urgently needs to be taken care of.
  - bena 9y ago
    It's been so long, but I remember reading something about that, the illusion of productivity. The author was relating an experience in which the secretary would do this little fake jog thing to wherever she was going. It wasn't any faster than walking and he asked her why she just didn't walk. She said that she didn't want to seem like she was slacking.
- sotojuan 9y ago
  I don't know about China, but at least the Japanese get something out of their crazy work agreement, at least traditional salaryman jobs. Lifetime employment, solid middle class salary forever, pension, etc. Some companies will do your taxes, help your kids go to a good school, and even set you up with someone to marry.
  - indoorfish 9y ago
    It's unbelievably respectful as an agreement between a profit focused business and their workers. It should be emulated.
    - Apocryphon 9y ago
      Corporate feudalism where your daimyo actually protects you
- Someone1234 9y ago
  Then why call it "overtime." Mandatory overtime as a concept is contradictory, that's just the new work-hours.
  - Asooka 9y ago
    The government sets the standard working hours. You're asked to work for that much time, plus an additional time over that. It's overtime with respect to the standard, which might not necessarily be the median for your company.
  - jschwartzi 9y ago
    Because some of our ancestors rioted and fought and unionized to establish the 40 hour work week, and we want to preserve their legacy. And because it's not entitled to want to have a life outside of your salaried job.
- walshemj 9y ago
  That depends in traditional blue collar industries OT was where you made $bank - as do UK train drivers who often work a 4 day week with OT /weekend working paid even more lucratively. I have also heard that for a Pit Deputy (deep coal mining) the going rate for a single weekend 10 hour shift is £2k.
pc86 9y ago
Well that's weird since there's only 325 million of us, and the percentage which has mandatory overtime is pretty low. Even lower if you specify mandatory unpaid overtime.
- hutzlibu 9y ago
  Even though he probably meant it wrong, too, there are more than 325 milion americans around as america is bigger than the USA ..
  - merpnderp 9y ago
    Yeah, start referring to Mexicans and Canadians as Americans and see if your efforts are appreciated.

Japanese too. Keep in mind that this article is written from a British/European standpoint, where working overtime is an exception, not the norm.

ekianjo 9y ago
Japanese may work overtime but they are hardly "busy", at least in major corporations which constitute a large bulk of the salary men workforce. Lots of useless meetings where people sit around saying and doing nothing. They just stay late.
- holydude 9y ago
  Same in Korea and Singapore and I doubt it's any different in China. You work for the sake of working not because you have something that urgently needs to be taken care of.
- bena 9y ago
  It's been so long, but I remember reading something about that, the illusion of productivity. The author was relating an experience in which the secretary would do this little fake jog thing to wherever she was going. It wasn't any faster than walking and he asked her why she just didn't walk. She said that she didn't want to seem like she was slacking.
sotojuan 9y ago
I don't know about China, but at least the Japanese get something out of their crazy work agreement, at least traditional salaryman jobs. Lifetime employment, solid middle class salary forever, pension, etc. Some companies will do your taxes, help your kids go to a good school, and even set you up with someone to marry.
- indoorfish 9y ago
  It's unbelievably respectful as an agreement between a profit focused business and their workers. It should be emulated.
  - Apocryphon 9y ago
    Corporate feudalism where your daimyo actually protects you
Someone1234 9y ago
Then why call it "overtime." Mandatory overtime as a concept is contradictory, that's just the new work-hours.
- Asooka 9y ago
  The government sets the standard working hours. You're asked to work for that much time, plus an additional time over that. It's overtime with respect to the standard, which might not necessarily be the median for your company.
- jschwartzi 9y ago
  Because some of our ancestors rioted and fought and unionized to establish the 40 hour work week, and we want to preserve their legacy. And because it's not entitled to want to have a life outside of your salaried job.
walshemj 9y ago
That depends in traditional blue collar industries OT was where you made $bank - as do UK train drivers who often work a 4 day week with OT /weekend working paid even more lucratively. I have also heard that for a Pit Deputy (deep coal mining) the going rate for a single weekend 10 hour shift is £2k.

pc86 9y ago

Well that's weird since there's only 325 million of us, and the percentage which has mandatory overtime is pretty low. Even lower if you specify mandatory unpaid overtime.

hutzlibu 9y ago
Even though he probably meant it wrong, too, there are more than 325 milion americans around as america is bigger than the USA ..
- merpnderp 9y ago
  Yeah, start referring to Mexicans and Canadians as Americans and see if your efforts are appreciated.