Americans are known around the world as workaholics. New York City in particular is known for ambition driven people who rush constantly to get as many things done during a day as possible. Living here for the last four years, I am amazed at the amount of tired looking people I see rushing here and there to work, work, work!
The American culture of work varies greatly from city, state and job type. In general, people work from 9am-5pm, go home, eat dinner around 6 or 7 and go to bed by 10 or 11. Most white-collar workers are expected to work until the job is done, and the employer can save money by giving less people more work! This creates a competitive environment where working harder longer is the only way to complete your work satisfactorily. If you want to get promoted, let your family and friends know you will be MIA until you get it, and then probably once you get it too so you can do even more work!
The weekends are seen as the only time to go out and have fun with family and friends. Besides eating dinner out, people hardly go out during the week, except for college students and some 20-somethings who go out any night to have fun. Monday to Friday is reserved for work, Saturday and Sunday are set aside for life.
Most Americans have 2 weeks of vacations a year, while 1 in 4 do not have any. Also, many workers do not use their vacation time because they do not want their work to pile up while they are gone, or they worry about their job security because their workplace is not supportive of long vacations. People who go on vacations and continue to take work calls or work via email is common.
The American work/life unbalance is very damaging to the health of the community. Stress is a factor is every type of illness and the unhappiness this unbalance causes affects the person in every way. Why is this our culture? We have our close friends money and greed to thank.
