5 ms·

Curious how being laid back in regards to work opens up opportunity from countries such as China that have some companies working 996 schedules (9-am - 9pm, 6 d

Curious how being laid back in regards to work opens up opportunity from countries such as China that have some companies working 996 schedules (9-am - 9pm, 6 days a week) to overtake and make obsolete European global companies. I guess the only way EU can compete is protectionism, no?

exoque 6y ago
For the Swiss it doesn't matter what China does, anywhere else is cheaper anyway.
shafyy 6y ago
Your underlying assumption is that companies where employees work more hours are more successful on the market place. I would say this is a deeply flawed assumption.
- ativzzz 6y ago
  If two equally capable entities are competing, the one who puts in more time will almost always win. The Chinese may be lacking the (social and physical) infrastructure that the Europeans have a head start on for productivity, but they are catching up or have already caught up. This probably applies less to big conglomerates who exist and will continue existing regardless of what happens (honestly most of their employees can just not show up and they will be fine), but more to technical innovation.
  - lynguist 6y ago
    No. I can guarantee you that in general in software engineering, you will produce the same result, whether you work 30 or 40 or 60 hr a week. The productive hours will be the same as you just have so much focused hours inside of you.
    - aaronblohowiak 6y ago
      The result is markedly worse at 60 hours.
    - mbrodersen 6y ago
      Yep you are 100% correct. Most super productive software developers only really focus/work a few hours a day. Software development is about thinking not typing.
  - jonp888 6y ago
    For building infrastructure or manufacturing, probably yes, but not for innovation. Anyone being forced to work under the conditions you describe is probably too terrified to do anything more than iteratively replicate existing foreign designs. You can't force innovation by locking people in a dungeon and screaming "INNOVATE!" at them until they succeed.
  - shafyy 6y ago
    The world doesn't work like the models they teach at Econ 101 though :-)
frockington1 6y ago
They even fail at protectionism. They try to take on American tech but get swatted away in the courts when they realize they need American tech to be remotely competitive again. There's a reason America is launching Teslas into space while the EU bickers in court
- mbrodersen 6y ago
  Right. So nobody in the US drive European cars like BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari etc.? Really? And nobody in the US use mobile phones with European ARM chips in them? Really?
mbrodersen 6y ago
Nope. Number of hours worked have very limited impact on productivity when it comes to high-knowledge/tech work. Laying bricks and designing a high tech robot factory are two very different jobs.
mbrodersen 6y ago
The US put all kinds of barriers in the way of Japanese car manufacturers and was still beaten to a pulp.

exoque 6y ago

For the Swiss it doesn't matter what China does, anywhere else is cheaper anyway.

shafyy 6y ago

Your underlying assumption is that companies where employees work more hours are more successful on the market place. I would say this is a deeply flawed assumption.

ativzzz 6y ago
If two equally capable entities are competing, the one who puts in more time will almost always win. The Chinese may be lacking the (social and physical) infrastructure that the Europeans have a head start on for productivity, but they are catching up or have already caught up. This probably applies less to big conglomerates who exist and will continue existing regardless of what happens (honestly most of their employees can just not show up and they will be fine), but more to technical innovation.
- lynguist 6y ago
  No. I can guarantee you that in general in software engineering, you will produce the same result, whether you work 30 or 40 or 60 hr a week. The productive hours will be the same as you just have so much focused hours inside of you.
  - aaronblohowiak 6y ago
    The result is markedly worse at 60 hours.
  - mbrodersen 6y ago
    Yep you are 100% correct. Most super productive software developers only really focus/work a few hours a day. Software development is about thinking not typing.
- jonp888 6y ago
  For building infrastructure or manufacturing, probably yes, but not for innovation. Anyone being forced to work under the conditions you describe is probably too terrified to do anything more than iteratively replicate existing foreign designs. You can't force innovation by locking people in a dungeon and screaming "INNOVATE!" at them until they succeed.
- shafyy 6y ago
  The world doesn't work like the models they teach at Econ 101 though :-)

frockington1 6y ago

They even fail at protectionism. They try to take on American tech but get swatted away in the courts when they realize they need American tech to be remotely competitive again. There's a reason America is launching Teslas into space while the EU bickers in court

mbrodersen 6y ago
Right. So nobody in the US drive European cars like BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari etc.? Really? And nobody in the US use mobile phones with European ARM chips in them? Really?

mbrodersen 6y ago

Nope. Number of hours worked have very limited impact on productivity when it comes to high-knowledge/tech work. Laying bricks and designing a high tech robot factory are two very different jobs.

mbrodersen 6y ago

The US put all kinds of barriers in the way of Japanese car manufacturers and was still beaten to a pulp.