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Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

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Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#71

Post by vonmoltke »

bmj wrote: post #54
nsxwolf wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how many people in the US don't take their vacation days because they've read things like this and not because of their own experience. If you're afraid of taking vacation only because of what you've heard from the media, I suggest you try taking your vacation and see what happens. In all likelihood it will be a career non-event.

I've talked to some other professionals about this, and for many of them, they readily admit that they feel like they need to be at work for their employer to function properly. They also admit this is their own impression, not something their boss has given them ("if you take that vacation, I don't know what we'll do without you"). I suggest you try taking your vacation and see what happens. In all likelihood it wil…

> I've talked to some other professionals about this, and for many of them, they readily admit that they feel like they need to be at work for their employer to function properly. They also admit this is their own impression, not something their boss has given them ("if you take that vacation, I don't know what we'll do without you").

I believe there is an ego component to this. Not only does it "look good" to upper management, it makes the individual feel like they are indispensable to the company. Only the unimportant people can afford to take vacations.

Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#72

Post by refurb »

dasil003 wrote: post #23
rayiner wrote: post #6

The article focuses on professionals, but I don't know if that's the angle I'm concerned about. American professionals work more, but they are also paid more. They also have much better vacation and leave policies. More concerning is the plight of median workers, who aren't making a lot more these days than their European counterparts, but have much worse vacation policies to deal with.

Vacation policies are the least of it. How about the lack of a safety net? Take health care. Civilized people should agree that medical care in a rich country should be available to everyone. The thought of people dying in the streets from preventable disease and injury sounds pretty horrendous. But for the past 20 years we've been fed the same fabricated FUD about socialized medicine that has no basis in reality. Pe…

Your example of the cost of medication is an odd one. Most (all?) states in the US have mandatory generic substitution. That means the pharmacy must fill your Rx with the generic unless the doctor wrote "Dispense as Written" on the Rx.

Now, if the generic was not available in the US that is a different story. Patents don't all end at the same time, so the drug may already be off patent in the UK, but not in the US.

Finally, to say "there is no profitability" in generics is laughable. The US has lower generic prices that most of the EU due to fierce competition for the US market.

And finally, although the US may not have a single payer system, we do have public health for the old (Medicare) and the poor (Medicaid). In addition, if you are sick and you go to a hospital, you must be treated regardless of your ability to pay.

Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#73

Post by lgieron »

gejjaxxita wrote: post #57
JackFr wrote: post #17

And yet compared to those European countries, the US experiences significantly higher GDP per capita. Doing work and getting paid for it hardly seems like it's hurting the economy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP... As to the studies cited in the article I would point to the OECD labor productivity statistics which, in the aggregate, seem to disagree. http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?Data…

The US has a lower population density than those European countries, more natural resource is divided between fewer people. That is the primary reason for the higher GDP per capita.

It seems unlikely, given that mining & agriculture (industries affected by availability of natural resources) comprise only 3% of the US economy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States

Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#74

Post by [deleted] »

vvvv wrote: post #53
ghshephard wrote: post #20

Even worse is the new trend in technology companies to eliminate "Set Vacation". It used to be the case that you felt "obliged" somehow to take your 10 days of vacation a year, because you saw it piling up. Even better, if you were laid off, you could get the vacation in cash, and that helped when you were cut off without a job. But now, a lot of technology companies are saying, "No Set Vacation - you need to negotia…

Is there no legal requirement for minimum number of days off?

[deleted]

Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#76

Post by PythonicAlpha »

cryoshon wrote: post #52
UweSchmidt wrote: post #14

Often, when articles highlight bad laws or customs, economical arguments are brought up. Workaholism -> backfires and is bad for the economy and in recent threads here on HN: Workplace surveillance -> backfires, people feel controlled and performance suffers Government espionage in USA -> backfires, people lose trust in US businesses I don't feel that this is the strongest argument. "Please treat us better, it is in…

It's the only argument here in the USA. It sucks that things are this way, but the only way to justify anything or argue for anything is an appeal to higher profits. Money is this country's highest value, and all other values such as decency or shared prosperity have been thrown into the garbage and decried as socialism or wishful thinking.

And that is (in my opinion) the biggest problem of all. Focusing on profit margins alone (without any respect to the people), leads to burn-out, social discrepancies to the extreme (go to South Africa/Kapstadt, if you want to see, where it will end) and at last will dehumanize the human race. I write that, because I see in my country, where it goes and we long where an isle inside the ocean of capitalism. Now, capitalism has conquered humanity and capitalism will kill humanity finally, it seems.

Our capitalism of today exploits all the resources of this planet (oil, water, air, environment, humans, ...) in an increasing fashion and because this planet has only limited resources, soon all will break down. The question only is, what entity will break down first: capitalism, this planet, the human race.

What use will you make of your five smartphones, three tablets and seven cars, when your children will have no future?

Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#77

Post by cbr »

hnnewguy wrote: post #61
JackFr wrote: post #17

And yet compared to those European countries, the US experiences significantly higher GDP per capita. Doing work and getting paid for it hardly seems like it's hurting the economy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP... As to the studies cited in the article I would point to the OECD labor productivity statistics which, in the aggregate, seem to disagree. http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?Data…

> the US experiences significantly higher GDP per capita This is to be expected, if Americans are working longer hours than their European counterparts. If you do a little back-of-the-envelope normalization (GDP/capita/average hours worked), the results are much closer. Norway, of course, absolutely dominates by this metric. US: 28.9 France: 24.3 Germany: 26.4 Sweden: 25.4 Norway: 38.0

> Norway, of course, absolutely dominates by this metric.

This is North Sea oil, right? Hard to generalize from.

Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#78

Post by patio11 »

ghshephard wrote: post #20

Even worse is the new trend in technology companies to eliminate "Set Vacation". It used to be the case that you felt "obliged" somehow to take your 10 days of vacation a year, because you saw it piling up. Even better, if you were laid off, you could get the vacation in cash, and that helped when you were cut off without a job. But now, a lot of technology companies are saying, "No Set Vacation - you need to negotia…

This is sometimes called -- in one of the most Orwellian coinages in the industry -- "unlimited vacation days."

Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#79

Post by sitkack »

switch007 wrote: post #55
Someone1234 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no safety net. That's a wonderfully succinct way of describing the US. It seems like in a lot of EU countries if you fail there is something to catch you (higher, longer, easier to get unemployment pay for one example), whereas there really is no lower limit on how low the US will let you fall (e.g. healthcare is a privilege not a right in the US). They do say that the US has some of the highest anti-depre…

>It seems like in a lot of EU countries if you fail there is something to catch you (higher, longer, easier to get unemployment pay for one example) For the avoidance of doubt, that does not include England (these days). People with cancer in the final stages are declared fit to work

I know right, perfect for uncontrolled cancer drug studies.

Re: Workaholism in America Is Hurting the Economy

#80

Post by PythonicAlpha »

nuff wrote: post #28

Ninety-four percent of professional workers put in 50 or more hours, and nearly half work 65 or above. This sounds crazy exaggerated without any citation. According to wiki, "According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average non-farm private sector employee worked 34.5 hours per week as of June 2012." EDIT: reference.. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t18.htm

If you cite government statistics you should also add, that government statistics have a long history of "white-washing" data. At least, that is what I experienced the last decades in my country and I don't live in a 3rd world country!
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