Work Ethic

nickmcmechan

nickmcmechan

Proudly Scottish
Feb 25, 2007
2,028
0
0
54
Edinburgh, Scotland
Interested in US work ethic compared to over here

My co. has just been bought out by KKR (US based) and a European entrepeneur. So wondering what cultural changes will be coming along

One of my peers reckons guys in the US work their butts off and only get about 2 weeks Vacation per year?

(BTW IF YOU KNOW THE NAME OF MY COMPANY PLEASE DO NOT POST OR INFER THE NAME ON THE THREAD - THEY ARE EXTREMELY STRICT ABOUT THIS SORT OF THING...DONT WANT TO TO LOSE MY JOB!)....SO PM ME IF YOU WANT TO TALK SPECIFICALLY!
 
actually (being the first born of the first generation Italian/German) the way I was raised to work and how most Americans work - ha!

Too many times I have been goofing off and was praised for working real good!

Go Figure!
 
I personally think the work ethic has deterioated drastically here in the States. That most likely will not be the majority opinion.

I was born in '53, so my perspective is not going to be typical and it won't be just about the old days. :grinyes:

I think at one time, 40s thru the mid 70's, it was probably very good. Go get the good life. Work your butt off and you will achieve it.

As I look back, I don't think unions helped at all in the last 4 decades. They were needed at one time to prevent abuses and raise working conditions to acceptable levels.

In the long run, we have ended up with guranteed salaries regardless of your performance. Heck, in some places you can't shut a plant down even to save the company, they are forced to operate at a loss.

Things that were privleges and luxuries are all too often taken as rights and what is owed to me. There is a very dedicated mid range employee that still works their butt off, but most of the younger work force, IMO, just wants to punch the clock and get it all now.
 
Bob, I would say the same about the younger workforce over here too. I dont see people with the same ambition I have. I still recall the week (although its a bit blurry) where I worked over 100 hours in one week - I did this to prove what I could do....I was still paid for 39 hours!

As a result I now work in Senior Management and got to say, proud of where I've come.

However, as with any buyout we expect change, and when KKR put up $20Bn to invest in a firm with an Asset base of $2Bn, then they will want a return quick!

How amy days holidays so you get a year, how many hours do you all work in compariosn to your contract, is your bonus good?

I get 6 weeks Hols per year, I work about 5-25% over and above my contracted hours but not paid any extra for it, and my bonus potential is up to 30% of annual salary. But got to say this is probably better than most in my industry who get 4 weeks hols, work up to 50% over contracted hours without extra pay and earn about 10% bonus.
 
rbishop said:
I personally think the work ethic has deterioated drastically here in the States. That most likely will not be the majority opinion.

I was born in '53, so my perspective is not going to be typical and it won't be just about the old days. :grinyes:

I think at one time, 40s thru the mid 70's, it was probably very good. Go get the good life. Work your butt off and you will achieve it.

As I look back, I don't think unions helped at all in the last 4 decades. They were needed at one time to prevent abuses and raise working conditions to acceptable levels.

In the long run, we have ended up with guranteed salaries regardless of your performance. Heck, in some places you can't shut a plant down even to save the company, they are forced to operate at a loss.

Things that were privleges and luxuries are all too often taken as rights and what is owed to me. There is a very dedicated mid range employee that still works their butt off, but most of the younger work force, IMO, just wants to punch the clock and get it all now.
Click to expand...

Gee - old buzzard :grinyes: I'm a kid (born in 58)

I have to say - I totally agree with you about Unions!

Back in 78 - 79 I had an open door opportunity to work for GM and turned it down because they were talking about me being a janitor which was getting a starting wage of $12.00 an hour - great money back then!

Today janitors make $8.00 to $10.00 more or less.

I refuse to be a part of the problem that keeps poorer people from being able to own a dependable car!
 
The company I currently work for has 3700 employees at 59 distribution centers in 21 states and three countrties. It is traded on the NYSE, valued at $1.4 billion.

I am at the only manufacturing plant. For hourly, 6 holidays, 2 optional holidays, 6 personal/sick days, 401K retirement plan, 25% match on the first 5% of your gross you put in. Fairly decent on their share of Medical/Dental insurance.

They are still working on the metrics for a bonus. It was easy for them to figure it on the distribution side, but they are new to manufacturing. Recent stop gaps have been 5% of gross, but not tied to any metrics.
 
OK, well, I'm 26, I work as the senior internal audit for pepsico here in chicago, I work 7am-7pm, 65 hours a week, but more like 50 hours are spent actually spent "working". I would say so that my salary is completely justified by the amount of work I put in. After all, pepsi is a BIG COMPANY. I get 1 week of mandatory vacation days per year, but I can take a day off whenever I feel like it and stilll get paid. My christmas bonus directly reflects how much my actions affected our profits.

I'll agree that with the right amount of effort, you could be a millionaire!

during my 4 years at the University of Chicago, I "interned" every morning at Pepsico. During those 4 years I learned enough to get the job of base internal audit. Everything just kept getting better and better from that point!
 
legendaryfrog said:
OK, well, I'm 26, I work as the senior internal audit for pepsico here in chicago, I work 7am-7pm, 65 hours a week, but more like 50 hours are spent actually spent "working". I would say so that my salary is completely justified by the amount of work I put in. After all, pepsi is a BIG COMPANY. I get 1 week of mandatory vacation days per year, but I can take a day off whenever I feel like it and stilll get paid. My christmas bonus directly reflects how much my actions affected our profits.

I'll agree that with the right amount of effort, you could be a millionaire!

during my 4 years at the University of Chicago, I "interned" every morning at Pepsico. During those 4 years I learned enough to get the job of base internal audit. Everything just kept getting better and better from that point!
Click to expand...
you only get a week off every year?
 
I am 41.. And I have to say in my time in many different positions of my life I have definitely seen our work ethic decline.. I personally see it as a direct correlation to how our kids are being raised in our schools. They no longer have to achieve. There is no valedictorian, there is no wrong answer, everyone is a winner.

Right Now I work as a fiber fusion splicer primarily, but fall back to copper infrastructure cabling when the fiber work is slow. The company I work for is small and I see a LOT of the younger guys coming in thinking that they know everything, should be paid $20.00 an hour in a starting position and screw around more than they work. I won't even go into the quality of the work performed as that is a whole other rant..

To top it off, I have installed an answer system at a University that boasts 20,000+ students in their class rooms. This system through wireless technology allows the students to answer a question by their professor... The answers are displayed on an overhead where then the professor can go over the quality of the answer but NO ONE is embarrassed for giving the wrong answer.. sheesh.. :confused:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom