Are Americans too lazy?
By Geoff Colvin,
By Geoff Colvin,
Fortune senior editor-at-large
Fortune Magazine) -- We Americans pride ourselves on being a hard-working bunch, so here's a thought....By global standards, we're lazy. We've been getting lazier. And the days of the American dolce vita may be numbered.
The surprising report of our relative sloth arrives in new research from the UN's International Labor Organization, which looks at working hours around the world. When it comes to what we might call hard work, meaning the proportion of workers who put in more than 48 hours a week, America is near the bottom of the heap. About 18% of our employed people work that much.
That's a higher proportion than in a few other developed countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and even Japan. But it's actually lower than in Switzerland and Britain, and way lower than in developing countries like Mexico and Thailand. It's drastically lower than in what may be the world's two hardest-working countries, South Korea and Peru, where the proportions are about 50%.
Put it all together, and the researchers figure we're getting about 117 hours of leisure per week (including sleep), vs. 110 hours in 1965. That's more than 360 additional idle hours per year. We are a couch-potato nation. (www.cnn.com)
CONCLUSION:
*We are competing for jobs globally as positions are being outsourced to other countries, which means we need to work harder for the positions that are still available here!
Fortune Magazine) -- We Americans pride ourselves on being a hard-working bunch, so here's a thought....By global standards, we're lazy. We've been getting lazier. And the days of the American dolce vita may be numbered.
The surprising report of our relative sloth arrives in new research from the UN's International Labor Organization, which looks at working hours around the world. When it comes to what we might call hard work, meaning the proportion of workers who put in more than 48 hours a week, America is near the bottom of the heap. About 18% of our employed people work that much.
That's a higher proportion than in a few other developed countries like Norway, the Netherlands, and even Japan. But it's actually lower than in Switzerland and Britain, and way lower than in developing countries like Mexico and Thailand. It's drastically lower than in what may be the world's two hardest-working countries, South Korea and Peru, where the proportions are about 50%.
Put it all together, and the researchers figure we're getting about 117 hours of leisure per week (including sleep), vs. 110 hours in 1965. That's more than 360 additional idle hours per year. We are a couch-potato nation. (www.cnn.com)
CONCLUSION:
*We are competing for jobs globally as positions are being outsourced to other countries, which means we need to work harder for the positions that are still available here!
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