Or are they? Statistics I found on my way somewhere else...

Average Number of Vacation Days Around the World Per Year:

Italy 42 days
France 37 days
Germany 35 days
Brazil 34 days
United Kingdom 28 days
Canada 26 days
Korea 25 days
Japan 25 days
U.S. 13 days

http://www.lovetoeatandtravel.com/Site/Tips/Travel/vacation_days.htm

Is this evidence of a stronger work ethic being part of the American character? Or have American workers been duped by runaway capitalism? Or is that the less chance for social mobility the less incentive there is to work hard? Or is it that Americans work harder, but others work smarter?

I'm not really sure...but thank God it's Friday!

Duped is more like it. At least we're FREE!!

Two tales those statistics don't tell:

1. Does the amount of vacation time differ by class?
2. Can one consider one hour of US labor equivalent in productivity to what one would find in another country?

I don't see any robust conclusion you can draw from the statistics as presented.

= Justin

Two of the manufacturing partners of the company I work for are based in Italy and let me tell you, they don't work nearly as hard as most American companies.

Every August, they close their doors for 2 and a half weeks, for "Summer Break." That means that we can't get anything shipped for pretty much the entire month. This happens all over the country. The entire manufacturing sector simply shuts down for the better part of a month.

And even throughout the rest of the year, they are much less reliable and responsive than any other American manufacturer I have ever dealt with. When we need critical documents from them, it's always a major hassle, necessitating numerous emails and phone calls to even get a meaningful response.

Last fall, we approached them with a special project that would easily net them profits in the six-figures, a project for which all the engineering work had already been done. All they'd have to do is tool up their shop to produce the parts for a day or two out of every quarter. It was pretty much a done deal. Well, the shop owner himmed and hawed over it for like 4 or 5 months until the lead went completely cold and we lost the account.

So yeah, I'd say it certainly appears that they don't work nearly as hard as most American companies do. But to be fair, neither do we.

Let's all neglect our jobs to discuss whether or not Americans are hardworking on an internet message board!


(No, seriously, it's a neat topic; just giggling at the irony.)

A related article.

Now, get back to work...peasants.

The worst system of worker representation, more like.

galanter wrote:Is this evidence of a stronger work ethic being part of the American character?

No. Absolutely not.

I think it's just that in American culture we like to squeeze as much as we can out of people. Not in every instance, but certainly more often than not.

This particular set of statistics may not be all that conclusive but my actual experience of working for corporations, small businesses (not to mention the service industry in general) is all the fucking evidence I need.

Sorry my shift is up. See you next week!

Is it too soon to page RR?