paddyo

+1...well...not the Australian bit!

carolinephillips

My OHworks for the same firm over here as he did in the UK. He works longer hours over here- this week I've hardly seen him. He got home after 9pm the last two nights, and will be working on Saturday as he has stuff to get done. He says he will be earlier tonight- unless there is a crisis, which there nearly always is on a friday. (Thank you India and China.)

BadgeIsBack

+1 for Vash but actually I don't see my work as always paid. As a professional I see it necessary to work a few more hrs here and there.

I tend to miss out on the jobs where a team of people largely do the same work or from a pool of available work, all in the same 'job' where comparisons can be made - and where there would perhaps be some sort of eternal jostling.
This is partly because I would soon be outed.

No seriously, any job that can harbour a battler mentality/ or a 'pretend' work hard-job is a job that I don't particularly want to have to do.

My view on the email reply thing is that many of us have to track a myriad of tasks many of which get handballed across the net (sorry to mix metaphors) and on a 'trigger' (return of mail) there is another action. We live in an information age - if you don't have the info - ask someone else - or delegate the asking.

Mister176

He either works for one of the Big 4 Accountancy firms or one of the big players in the consultancy market or similar US based business. These are modern day global slavery organizations good for graduate training but not for long term career especially if you have a family (unless you have the talent and luck to make it to partner very quickly).

It's unwise to generalise by country, even by industry, I believe it's more to do with the particular company's culture and business function one works in. Finance generally works longer than HR, HR often works harder than Office admin, etc. Within financial services, the more retail heavy businesses are usually less intense than those with big IB arms.

I've been in Oz for a month now and personally have not found Aussies to be lazier than their UK peers in any apparent way. This is actually a downfall for me as my goal of coming down under is primarily to explore a different lifestyle - one that focuses more on life, friends and hobbies than one that constantly revolves around how my annual appraisal rating would be.

imdvlp

Hi guys,

I know my threat might not even be related to the post in full extent, but, in my own experience, I find the Australian Work Ethic very similar to the original poster.

As the original poster said, qualifications are not well regarded in here. With one US and one AUS Degree, and two more AUS professional qualifications underway (total of 4), hope I can finally land a decent position (highly doubt it but I keep faith on).

Due to the luck, or any other related, factor, I simply cannot find a professional job in Australia after 4 years. I am in the world of stacking shelves at nights.

Oh boy! Do I really miss those days in the office in Chicago whether working 40 or 70 hours a week. I'm not saying it sarcastically, but I wonder what to do next.

Amazulu

Move back to Chicago?

Mr Grumpy

I think its more a case of Australia being a small market and not part of a greater economic block like EU or NAFTA.

When someone gets a good position in this country they don't let it go. They will cling to it for as long as they can as there may not be any other position as good available to them.

I have worked in places where lots of people are working past retirement age and refuse to let younger people get a leg up. In one place I worked at there was a guy who was 76 and still working full time. There was no way he was going to leave until he was in a coffin.

Mister176

Hey hey,

That's shocking!! What was your profession back in the States? Are you a permanent resident in Oz?

Unless you are a ethnic minority with poor communication skills I can't see why a skilled American professional would end up stacking shelves after 4 years in Oz.

What kept you staying? I would have gone back to the UK already if I were you. Tried NZ/S'pore??

MAR001

Well, I spent three years in the UK looking for a job and I ended up with 2 masters degrees and one professional qualification. Any of those helped me to find a job.

I'm from an ethnic minority, my English is not perfect and I found a great managerial position in a multinational 3 month after arriving here (perhaps thanks to the qualifications). My wife (masters degree qualified), on the other hand, found a 6 month position pretty straightforward, but now her industry (energy consultancy) is dead after the Carbon Tax and she has been looking for 6 months now (while becoming a yoga expert)

In my opinion, more than bad or good luck, it is a combination of factors and it has a lot to do with the industry...

chris955

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-11-1...ertime/2331062

I love the headline but when you think about it this is exactly what is happening, workers are just lining the pockets of employers. I actually cant believe anyone would work for absolutely no renumeration, it isnt as if there are jobs for life, if times get tough you are gone whether you have done unpaid overtime or not.

fish.01

Why?

Bermudashorts

I don't think anyone is saying that they work for nothing. The way I see it is that I am not paid by the hour, I am paid for completion of tasks and if I need to work later some days to complete my tasks then my remuneration already covers that.

The majority of my employment contracts over the last 20 years have stipulated this arrangement too.

commonwealth

i work based on tasks completed. with efficient work i can come in after 9 and leave before 6.

commonwealth

its usually asians who love to work long hours.

paddyo

That's interesting, in that your contracts are task based rather than time based. If that is what you are used to and know those terms before signing the contract then at least that way you know your obligations, as long as the tasks are in line with your capacity.
I work in a multi discipline environment on sometimes huge projects and tenders and I have a flexible approach to my work day. If I am on a big tender and we work long hours to complete it then that's fine, as long as afterward I get the time off 'in lieu' so that at the end of the salaried year I have worked what I was salaried for, that is 52 weeks of 37 hours per week minus my due leave. Similarly, on a project I know what the timescales are and work at the pace needed to meet those timescales regardless of the actual hours, but, again, as long as after the project I get those extra hours back I don't mind.
I will NEVER work for nothing just to 'please the boss' as that is both foolhardy and naive, I truly believe in loyalty but I also know that economics is the way of business. If my day is up its up, I wouldn't take it personally. So my approach is to do a good honest days work for the pay they are giving me.....over the annual year I work no more and no less.