Work ethics: Live to work or work to live?

[Banglatiger84]

Ratan Tata has sparked a small storm by calling British workers "lazy" because they refuse to be treated like serfs and dont stay in office till midnight
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389393/Steel-giant-Tata-axe-1-500-jobs-UK-factories.html

In that light I am interested in knowing what you all think:

I personally think there is nothing to be proud of in working 12 hours a day without any leisure time and hardly getting time for ones family.
I am not talking about people who are struggling or single parents; I am talking about middle management and other white collar workers, who seem to have no leisure life in countries like Japan and Korea.

Of course France is an extreme case with a 35 hour workweek, but OTTH, Korea seems to be another extreme. A friend who works there says its not uncommon for people to work 80-90 hours a week, and they are proud of that.

Also there is a productivity factor, isnt it better to work 9 hrs a day smartly and effectively rather than work 12 hours a day simply because the worker is inefficient and thinks that more time = better ?

I worked with someone who would come at 7 am and leave at 8 pm, and would even come in on weekends for no apparent reason.

I feel places like Australia, UK, South Africa and Turkey have got the balance right, people seem to work hard, but also believe they have a right to a reasonable amount of personal time.

[Rabz]

Hard for the Brits to swallow the fact that an Indian is one of their largest employer and telling their folks what to do.

A difference of culture and work ethics means there will always be some friction between the western and eastern styled management team. The Indian/Asian worker are on a different level of hierarchy of need compared to that of their Brit/Western counterparts and thus their priority would vary.

[Banglatiger84]

Some interesting comments on the issue:

Japan and india are nations where the work forces work ethic is exploited. The idea that work is done better by working until everything is done is utter nonsense. Doing work properly has nothing to do with the amount of hours done but by taking pride in your work and doing it well. The long hours culture hasnt meant things are done better in fact it is done inefficiently. In other countries family friends and community are valued more highly. Too much work anyway is completely unnecessarily. Stress levels in japan are some of the highest in the world.

So the Brits are unable to put in extra unpaid work? Quite sensible I think. I certainly won't do a minute of unpaid work. Why should I? What do you expect. In the UK we don't bully workers

[iDumb]

this has nothing to do with work ethics and everything to do with supply and demand. Sub-continent people shouldn't be accusing others of being lazy. I have been to Bangladesh and I saw how people work. Indians in foreign land might be hard working but I don't think that is the same "culture" they follow back home.

When the demand for your service is high and the compensation is not to your liking, there is not so much incentive to go that extra mile. But if you see another person next in line to take over your job anyday and your prospect to find another job like this or better aren't good (like in India working at a good private company), you bet you gonna work your asss off.

But one thing that pissed off TATA that I personally would never do no matter what, is that his employees refused to meet him "outside work hours". I can see how that would trigger TATA to question British work ethics. If the director wants to meet you travelling all that distance outside your working hours, I think you should and that is part of being a team player instead of thinking "i just do my portion and nothing else matters".

Personally, I would be pissed as hell to if I was in Tata's position. But then again, I would try my level best NOT to schedule my meeting at odd hours.

[Banglaguy]

Live hard, retire peacefully. . . then die.

[bujhee kom]

Where I am from, in my contry, my family mottoo, we prefer to relax all the time, not work at all if possible...

[Fazal]

I work to live. I don't want to be a robot.

I work so that I can enjoy my life doing whatever I would like to do rest of my time.

[iDumb]

I work so that I can enjoy my life doing whatever I would like to do rest of my time.

You work so you an spend countless amount of your time talking about Ashraful and other cricket related things that no body understands. you know you could do that without holding a job. The great old USA provides food stamps for people like us who has no job.