Why are Americans Workaholics?

By BankersBall on Jul 27, 2006 in Lifestyle

Every summer, someone invariably brings up the fact that Europeans get so much more vacation that we do in the States. It’s usually chalked up to the fact that Europeans are so much more “chill” about life (the pro-Europe POV), or that Europeans are just lazy (the pro-US POV).

Knowledge@Wharton cite experts with more economically oriented explanations:

In the US, status = more possessions, more money, more, more more. In Europe, people actually view the ability for long vacations as a sign of status. Says Wharton professor Mauro Guillen “Having fun, or being able to have fun, also is a sign of success and a source of social esteem.” Any Euros care to respond to whether this is true or not?
European countries provide less incentive to work more hours because of higher marginal taxes. Any explanation about the masses using taxes as a motivation I’m a bit wary about since most people don’t even know how to do their taxes here.
9/10 European workers are covered by unions who fought for more vacation (why that versus other benefits is another issue), vs. 2/10 in the US.

How about the fact that Americans as a people aren’t comparable to the people in other countries, because those who come here are self-selecting hard workers who moved specifically to improve their lot?

13 Comment(s)

On Jul 28, 2006, shoegazejames said:

As a Brit living in London with an American wife, that’s an interesting one. I think its ultimately cultural. The UK is more atune to the US work ethic than many other european countries but even here its just uncool not to take holiday and lots of it. Indeed my employer, with a US parent group, force me to take a consecutive two week break (still leaving another 4 weeks plus numerous stat days).

We ever move to US, I’m going on a European expat package that protects holiday entitlement, oh yeah!
On Jul 28, 2006, Anonymous said:

I think it’s unbelievable that some analysts that I talk to have not taken a vacation in almost as much as as two years. I think the Europeans have it right–work to live, don’t live to work!!
On Jul 28, 2006, Anonymous said:

the reason you had to take 2 weeks is because it is a us banking law not because they want you to have a holiday…. also the fact that you have 6 weeks is crazy
On Jul 28, 2006, Anonymous said:

On the topic…..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5221496.stm
On Jul 28, 2006, Anonymous said:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5221496.stm
On Aug 1, 2006, Pedro said:

I am a French banker (or rather I do the banker) so I can talk about having Hmmm let’s say 44 days or a little bit more of 8 weeks of vacation ! This article makes think of a joke I’ve recently heard: An invetsment banker coming to a paradise island for a few days of holiday meets a fisherman who is sleeping on the sand in the shadow of his small boat. “Hey, what do you do for a living ?” the banker asks. “I swim, i sleep, I make love, I play with my childre,; when I’m hungry I go fishing…” the man replies.
“Ouaaahhh, but you could instead borrow some money to buy a bigger boat, then go for industrial fishing, hire employees, deal with the providers, noegotiate with the banks, the buy anoter bigger boat and ultimately make an IPO and reap millions of $ !!
“So what ?” asks the fisherman. “Then when you retire you can spend all your time on a beach, go swimming, make love and play with your children…”
This little story makes me think about what is my real interest in life: neither showing off in a brand new ferrari (with a 60 mph speed limit !) nor feeling that I have succeed if I earn 1 million $ by the age of 30.
I take care of my wife and my children right now so I need to spend some time with them: vacation is the best possible period of time when you are not upset, angry, jealous that’s why I enjoy it SOOOOO MUCH !
Take care of youselves !
On Aug 4, 2006, Anonymous said:

It is company-specific cultural. Having worked for a large German investment bank in London, I saw a work ethic which was very intense. Taking vacation was fine as long as you could take care of anything at the office that might come up. They had sattelite phones available if you went someplace without cell service. I now work for a different European bank in the US and see everyone loving their vacations, working short hours in the summer, and generally not taking life very seriously. Its the culture — but the corporate culture not the country culture that matters.

I also saw as much materialism in the UK as in the US, maybe more. The prestige car culture in the UK far exceeds anything in the US, for example. I had to laugh when one day my neighbor was helping to push another neighbor’s Ferrari down the street after it broke down.
On May 15, 2007, kiran said:

Well, obviously, those who gets longer vacations are undoubtebly wealthiest,,, For me weathy is one who spends the time as per his wishes,,,in this case Europeans are richest/wealthiest though they earn less than americans. Am i correct ?
On May 15, 2007, yo said:

i don’t think it has to do with American culture as a whole since i feel the phenomenon is isolated to only the very wealthy americans.

i.e. americans that work the most are also the ones that make vastly more than their lower-middle class counterparts (bankers, lawyers, upper management, most doctors, and perhaps start-up engineers…they also usually make much more than their european counterparts).

on the other hand, you don’t normally see an american wage-earner, such as assembly line worker, nurse, clerk etc etc, working ridiculous hours.

so another hypothesis would be if european and american wage earners are earning roughly the same amount, then they should be working roughly the same number of hours. (perhaps a 5 hours difference vs a 15 hour difference for upper management or 20 hour difference for bankers )
On Jul 1, 2007, A S Graham said:

As an American now living in the UK I feel so sorry for my American counterparts. Working in the USA at most companies is as close to slave labor as you can get.

I work for RBS in Edinburgh and we get 28 holidays a year as standard. On the other hand, one of my friends in California works for VISA, and they only get 10 holdays per yer. If VISA employees are off sick then those sick days come out of their 10 days holiday entitlement. It’s no wonder so many American’s don’t have passports. They wouldn’t have the time to go anywhere even if they had a passport!

I’ve heard Americans refer to European workers as lazy. It’s not the Europeans who are lazy, it the American workers who are being taken advantage of by their employers but are too brainwashed to realize it.

The work ethic in America really makes me think twice about going back to live in the USA.
On Jul 9, 2007, chika said:

a bankers attitude to life.
On Jul 9, 2007, chika said:

A BANKERS ATTITUDE TO LIFE
On Jul 14, 2007, Anonymous said:

I have lived in the States for 11 years now, and I must say I absolutely hate the fact that I only get 5 holidays off and only 2 weeks of vacation (that is after 3 years of working for the same company). I am in upper management and I also work 50+ hrs a week. Taking a longer vacation or leaving work early would not only look bad, but it would make my work load impossible to handle when I would get back. Observing my friends here, there is no question about the fact that Americans work longer hours and have less time off. However, I also believe that Americans waste much more time at work by taking long coffee breaks, lunches, and socializing with coworkers about things that are not related to the job. Also, the commute here is longer for most people.

On the plus side, I have advanced within the company awfully quickly and the pay reflects that as well. I just wish I could have a month of vacation like my friends in Europe to actually spend that money.

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On Jul 28, 2006, shoegazejames said:

As a Brit living in London with an American wife, that’s an interesting one. I think its ultimately cultural. The UK is more atune to the US work ethic than many other european countries but even here its just uncool not to take holiday and lots of it. Indeed my employer, with a US parent group, force me to take a consecutive two week break (still leaving another 4 weeks plus numerous stat days).

We ever move to US, I’m going on a European expat package that protects holiday entitlement, oh yeah!

On Jul 28, 2006, Anonymous said:

I think it’s unbelievable that some analysts that I talk to have not taken a vacation in almost as much as as two years. I think the Europeans have it right–work to live, don’t live to work!!

the reason you had to take 2 weeks is because it is a us banking law not because they want you to have a holiday…. also the fact that you have 6 weeks is crazy

On the topic…..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5221496.stm

On Aug 1, 2006, Pedro said:

I am a French banker (or rather I do the banker) so I can talk about having Hmmm let’s say 44 days or a little bit more of 8 weeks of vacation ! This article makes think of a joke I’ve recently heard: An invetsment banker coming to a paradise island for a few days of holiday meets a fisherman who is sleeping on the sand in the shadow of his small boat. “Hey, what do you do for a living ?” the banker asks. “I swim, i sleep, I make love, I play with my childre,; when I’m hungry I go fishing…” the man replies.
“Ouaaahhh, but you could instead borrow some money to buy a bigger boat, then go for industrial fishing, hire employees, deal with the providers, noegotiate with the banks, the buy anoter bigger boat and ultimately make an IPO and reap millions of $ !!
“So what ?” asks the fisherman. “Then when you retire you can spend all your time on a beach, go swimming, make love and play with your children…”
This little story makes me think about what is my real interest in life: neither showing off in a brand new ferrari (with a 60 mph speed limit !) nor feeling that I have succeed if I earn 1 million $ by the age of 30.
I take care of my wife and my children right now so I need to spend some time with them: vacation is the best possible period of time when you are not upset, angry, jealous that’s why I enjoy it SOOOOO MUCH !
Take care of youselves !

On Aug 4, 2006, Anonymous said:

It is company-specific cultural. Having worked for a large German investment bank in London, I saw a work ethic which was very intense. Taking vacation was fine as long as you could take care of anything at the office that might come up. They had sattelite phones available if you went someplace without cell service. I now work for a different European bank in the US and see everyone loving their vacations, working short hours in the summer, and generally not taking life very seriously. Its the culture — but the corporate culture not the country culture that matters.

I also saw as much materialism in the UK as in the US, maybe more. The prestige car culture in the UK far exceeds anything in the US, for example. I had to laugh when one day my neighbor was helping to push another neighbor’s Ferrari down the street after it broke down.

On May 15, 2007, kiran said:

Well, obviously, those who gets longer vacations are undoubtebly wealthiest,,, For me weathy is one who spends the time as per his wishes,,,in this case Europeans are richest/wealthiest though they earn less than americans. Am i correct ?

On May 15, 2007, yo said:

i don’t think it has to do with American culture as a whole since i feel the phenomenon is isolated to only the very wealthy americans.

i.e. americans that work the most are also the ones that make vastly more than their lower-middle class counterparts (bankers, lawyers, upper management, most doctors, and perhaps start-up engineers…they also usually make much more than their european counterparts).

on the other hand, you don’t normally see an american wage-earner, such as assembly line worker, nurse, clerk etc etc, working ridiculous hours.

so another hypothesis would be if european and american wage earners are earning roughly the same amount, then they should be working roughly the same number of hours. (perhaps a 5 hours difference vs a 15 hour difference for upper management or 20 hour difference for bankers )

On Jul 1, 2007, A S Graham said:

As an American now living in the UK I feel so sorry for my American counterparts. Working in the USA at most companies is as close to slave labor as you can get.

I work for RBS in Edinburgh and we get 28 holidays a year as standard. On the other hand, one of my friends in California works for VISA, and they only get 10 holdays per yer. If VISA employees are off sick then those sick days come out of their 10 days holiday entitlement. It’s no wonder so many American’s don’t have passports. They wouldn’t have the time to go anywhere even if they had a passport!

I’ve heard Americans refer to European workers as lazy. It’s not the Europeans who are lazy, it the American workers who are being taken advantage of by their employers but are too brainwashed to realize it.

The work ethic in America really makes me think twice about going back to live in the USA.

On Jul 9, 2007, chika said:

a bankers attitude to life.

A BANKERS ATTITUDE TO LIFE

On Jul 14, 2007, Anonymous said:

I have lived in the States for 11 years now, and I must say I absolutely hate the fact that I only get 5 holidays off and only 2 weeks of vacation (that is after 3 years of working for the same company). I am in upper management and I also work 50+ hrs a week. Taking a longer vacation or leaving work early would not only look bad, but it would make my work load impossible to handle when I would get back. Observing my friends here, there is no question about the fact that Americans work longer hours and have less time off. However, I also believe that Americans waste much more time at work by taking long coffee breaks, lunches, and socializing with coworkers about things that are not related to the job. Also, the commute here is longer for most people.

On the plus side, I have advanced within the company awfully quickly and the pay reflects that as well. I just wish I could have a month of vacation like my friends in Europe to actually spend that money.