| Copyright (c) 2007 Karen Talavera | | | | for salaried (white collar) workers while the other |
| When two opposing viewpoints about American | | | | UNILO data is from among all workers, a huge |
| workers were emailed me in the same day this | | | | proportion of which are hourly (blue collar). But I |
| week I had to wonder: if Americans are working | | | | suspect there's more to it. |
| so hard, why isn't America working? | | | | As my Mexican in-laws would corroborate, |
| According to a recent article published on popular | | | | Americans have forgotten how to work to live. |
| Web site Alternet, The Vanishing American | | | | Instead, we've been conditioned to live to work. |
| Vacation ( , compared to people in other | | | | This breeds an entire society valuing material |
| developed countries, Americans don't ask for | | | | acquisitions and accomplishments over quality of |
| more vacation time, don't take all the vacation | | | | life, direct experience, and relationships. This |
| time their employers give them and continue to | | | | inbalance has clearly and successfully fueled the |
| work while they are on vacation. It's common | | | | capitalist juggernaut that is America. Yet we may |
| knowledge to most American workers that they | | | | not only have sold our souls for a bigger house |
| receive far less vacation time - in weeks not | | | | and the latest fashion, we've also become |
| days - than their foreign counterparts. With the | | | | inefficient. In short, the fruits of our labors don't |
| average American receiving two weeks vacation | | | | carry the impact they should. |
| time, not taking it all seems incomprehensible. | | | | The principle I remember best from a time |
| Unless of course, you're doing what you love so | | | | management class early in my career is proving |
| much that it doesn't seem like work and | | | | true in America "Work expands to fill the time |
| therefore you don't need "vacation", in which case | | | | available for its completion". With more Americans |
| you're probably self-employed and the whole | | | | working overtime than ever before it's clear |
| concept is mute. (If that's you, welcome to my | | | | we've lost our efficiency. We work more because |
| world. There's much to be said for the | | | | we can, but do we work better? It's no longer a |
| self-directed integrated work/leisure existence! | | | | matter of working harder, it's one of working |
| But that's a topic for another day.) | | | | smarter. |
| Simultaneously, Fortune (and countless other | | | | The Vanishing Vacation article sums up the facts |
| American business publications) tell us American | | | | well, "Our mythology claims the work ethic makes |
| workers can't compete globally unless they work | | | | America great, but does it? We have the highest |
| harder. (See "Are Americans Too Lazy?" at | | | | productivity in the world because we work more |
| According to the article, "The surprising report of | | | | overtime - 40 percent of Americans work 50 |
| our relative sloth arrives in new research from | | | | hours a week and some workweeks typically run |
| the United Nation's International Labor Organization | | | | 60 to 70 hours. Workers in France, Ireland, |
| (UNILO) , which looks at working hours around | | | | Norway and Holland are more productive than |
| the world. When it comes to what we might call | | | | American workers; Germany and Britain lag |
| hard work, meaning the proportion of workers | | | | slightly behind, and all of them have more vacation |
| who put in more than 48 hours a week, America | | | | time than we do." |
| is near the bottom of the heap. About 18% of | | | | Personally, I'd like to see the whole lexicon of |
| our employed people work that much. That's a | | | | work, even the word itself, kicked to the curb. |
| higher proportion than in a few other developed | | | | Because the truth is when a person, a culture, or |
| countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and even | | | | even a country is passionate and inspired about |
| Japan. But it's actually lower than in Switzerland | | | | what it does, it's not "work" at all, it's doing what |
| and Britain, and way lower than in developing | | | | you love and believe in. It's doing what is |
| countries like Mexico and Thailand. It's drastically | | | | necessary and required without wastefully |
| lower than in what may be the world's two | | | | efforting in ways that don't add value to the |
| hardest-working countries, South Korea and Peru, | | | | overall objective. It's balancing periods of intense |
| where the proportions are about 50%. " | | | | activity with periods of relaxation and |
| So with the average Brit worker receiving 20 or | | | | replenishment, which make intensity of purpose |
| more days off a year (in France it's a | | | | possible. Most of all it is being mindful and |
| government-mandated 30), are they really | | | | intentional of the big picture, which is to live first, |
| working more in total, or simply just logging more | | | | then work. None of which seems to have taken |
| hours per week? Yes, an obvious disconnect here | | | | root in the modern American psyche. |
| may be that vacation stats are mostly reported | | | | |