Americans are lazy!?
If you ever spend any significant amount of time outside the US, you'll undoubtedly hear the refrain (usually from Europeans) about how Americans are 'lazy'. Well, it's Labor Day here in the US and it got me thinking... if Americans are really 'lazy', how does one explain that our workers work the most of any other people in the developing world? I did a quick search on Wikipedia and found the following on number of government required vacation days (some highlights):
US: Not required, but 7-21 days is standard for most employers. Typically, 10 working days.
UK: 20 calendar days, plus 8 bank holidays
France: 5 weeks + 2 weeks of RTT (Reduction du Temps de Travail, in English : Reduction of Working Time) = 7 weeks. The most significant vacation time of any country in the world.
Germany: 4 weeks (24 "workable" days, i.e. Mo to Sa, even if the working week is Mo to Fri), plus 9 to 13 bank holidays
Japan: five weeks
S. Korea: 10 working days
China: not required
Mexico: 1 week
You can find the full Wikipedia entry here.
As you can see, I find it a bit ironic and irritating when Europeans call Americans 'lazy'... Although I must agree that in the US, we should do a better job of having true work-life balance which includes more vacation days that are more in-line with the rest of the world, Americans are by no-means slouches. Americans have an innate desire to be competitive (see my post about US sports here) but despite being one of the most productive countries in the world, we still, on average, work more than most other countries... although many citizens of other countries believe we live in a 'rich' country, we work as if we are living in a 'poor' developing country which is terribly unfortunate. So, for you non-Americans reading this, yes, you may think our government is a hegemonic and self-serving bully in global affairs run by a bumbling idiot of a president but don't call Americans 'lazy'.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you feel overworked? How many vacation days do you get in a year?
