In this chapter, I enjoyed learning about the way that different cultures prioritize their work and family lives. I realized that this is something managers must really be aware of when working with companies abroad. For example, in many Asian countries they consider Saturday a workday! Meanwhile, the outlook in Ancient Greece views work as a factor to interfere with one’s personal life.
I found it comforting that the United States is pretty much “in the middle” when it compares to the number of annual hours worked in other countries. Obviously, I would love to work in Europe where four to six weeks of paid vacation is typical, but overall I am satisfied with the two weeks that most Americans receive. It is also comforting to see that the annual hours worked in the United States has actually decreased since 2000. I wonder how that will continue to change as our workforce becomes more digitalized and more employees have the option to work remotely. Do you think this will allow people to work fewer hours, or do you think they will begin to work more as they are always connected from home and have a more difficult time distinguishing between work and their personal lives?
Rachel Nehring says
Skyler, I would have to agree that it was very interesting to see how other countries view work/family. I know in Spain they work until early afternoon, then close for a couple hours to be with family, and open back up later in the night. I thought this was a very interesting concept, considering my Dad works crazy long hours and is rarely home. I believe this pandemic has shown a lot of US citizens that some jobs are able to be more remote than they would have thought. So, to answer your question, I think this might be one start to more remote careers and working fewer hours. As far as keeping family matters separate, I think there are ways to prevent mixing the two if it were to become a problem. Overall, I am happy to say that we are in the middle as well, I like working and having my work and personal life separate.