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In America, people flex on being a “workaholic” – someone who is always plugged into their job, who works way more hours than they get paid for, who can’t put work out of their mind, and who even prioritizes work over family, friends, and their own mental health.
In other parts of the world, like in much of Europe, those traits are frowned upon and not terribly common. People take long vacations with their families and are expected to have a healthy balance between their jobs and their person lives.
Being a ‘Workaholic’ needs to be seen as a taboo and looked down upon by society.
byu/Eurasiawpww inunpopularopinion
Novel, right?
These 13 Redditors are weighing in on whether or not this whole “healthy balance” trend could find a place in American culture.
13. Like that ever did any good.
“You shouldn’t do X because otherwise people will expect others to do X”.
Which is the problem, X or the expectation of it?
The expectation. So direct your complaints at management.
12. It certainly can be.
Or managers should just hold people to normal standards of productivity, regardless of whether or not another employee is working more often or harder. Sounds like a management issue to me.
11. Happiness is key.
I make hiring decisions from time to time, and I never hire workaholics. Hard workers, yes, but not workaholics. Happy employees are more fun and easier to work with, and workaholics can easily poison a work environment.
10. Management definitely needs to take a hard look in the mirror.
I feel like management either totally overworks their employees or underworks their employees. I’m on the opposite end and this whole month basically working from hone it’s been super slow for me, to the point where last week I literally just layed on the couch and worked for maybe 2 hours all week.
Had a meeting with my manager and once question he had for me is my workload is too tough.
9. Some people need boundaries.
In Japan it was such an insidious social pressure that they would have to make new laws or shut off lights after hours so people would leave work at the end of the day. I think that seeing being a workaholic as something positive is kind of destructive.
It’s different if you are passionate about your own business, though.
8. How easily they forget.
To add on to that, corporate should remember what it’s like to be the workhorses. They’re the ones that put the pressure on management, which is then passed down to the employees. All corporate is concerned about is making money.
They forgot all the work that goes into generating all that revenue.
7. Or if you do, you should make more money.
Because a society that views this positively, expects it. People who strive for a good work/ life balance shouldn’t be made to feel that they should do more.
6. The whole culture is whack.
I totally agree about the hostile work environment part. It opens the door to employers adding unreasonable workloads to their staff. I was in a salaried retail management position for several years and my bosses outlook was “if you can do your job in 40 hours good for you go home” but then would dole out 70 hours worth of work
The people getting promoted were the ones who worked 80 hour weeks. Completely unrealistic and not conducive to having a family. The salary was good for 40 hours, and complete trash for more than 60. I took a 9-5 that pays hourly and I couldn’t be happier with that decision
5. Some people don’t want balance.
Its pretty clear who in this thread works retail/other shit jobs vs people who work high paying or otherwise fulfilling jobs.
Newsflash, for some of us, our work is also our passion and what we feel is our purpose in life. I spend all day figuring out how to keep community and other rural/low income serving hospitals/medical practices viable.
Day in day out, I get to work on saving a communities hospital so they don’t have to drive 3 hours through the backroads to deliver a kid.
If that takes me 100 hours a week, so be it, I get to do the right thing and I make a bunch of money doing it.
4. Maybe salaries are the answer?
It works both ways. I’ve been salaried for over 20 years. Some weeks I’ve worked 70 -80 hrs and others, I’ve worked 30. Some, I haven’t worked at all.
My hours aren’t set in stone, I don’t clock in or out, and I’m paid according to my position and completing tasks – whether it be in the office, on a job site, driving, or whatever else I may be doing. My salary is based on 50 hrs per week, but it’s rare that I work more than 40.
I honestly don’t really pay attention.
I’m up extremely early, and in the office by 6 am, so I can avoid a couple of hours of distraction. I generally leave around 3:30 or 4, and I rarely work past noon on Friday.
Hourly positions, by and large, require you to be there and be seen working and performing a set list of duties at all times.
This isn’t to say that all companies have the same work culture, but I know many that do, and I’ve heard some horror stories about those that don’t. That’s the great thing about a free market. You can choose to stay in a job you hate or seek out a better situation.
3. There is always a downside.
One of the most common regrets on people’s death beds is having worked too much in their life, instead of taking time off to be with family or cultivate a hobby or travel and have another passion.
There are positive benefits to working, of course, such as more financial stability, and staying mentally active as well as socially connected. But too much of it is often bad, even if the person worker doesn’t realize it in the moment.
There are people who are probably harming themselves by working so hard, and being indoctrinated to think that that is the measure of a person’s value. I know people who work 12 hours a day and acknowledge this.
There’s a gigantic downside, and everyone has to work, but there are other things in life.
2. To each their own.
I think the problem for me is not that we shouldn’t look down on people who dedicate too much of their lives to their work and have a poor work/life balance, it is instead that if you mention to these people that you do not work late, or work weekends, and instead opt to pursue hobbies and passions during your free time then in my experience you are lambasted for being “lazy” or “not driven”.
Of course, it depends on who you are and if you love (hate) your job, starting a business etc but I absolutely would not have a go at someone for how they choose to use their time, just don’t come whinging to me about how you do not have time to work out or cook meals any more due to a lack of time and energy.
1. Or not…
Well because in this instance, being a workaholic, once normalized, gives additional power to business owners and changes the standard in their favor, like how the proliferation of college degrees has made degrees the minimum now and hiring managers won’t have to worry about employees leaving or asking for promotions because they are in student loan debt slavery and need a paycheck more than they need career power.
Do you want to be competing with a majority of workaholics? Not a workaholic? Less opportunity.
If everybody thinks they have to be a workaholic or corporations expect workaholics, and that then becomes the standard. More production from them with their new workaholics, but you know damn well sure they aren’t going to be paying them more.
Take your vacation days, people. Your employer would replace you in a heartbeat if you died.
Just sayin’.
