Speaking of work-ethic - I've noticed how much less Australians work than everyone else. Knocking off at lunchtime on a Friday, leaving at 3 or 4pm, etc. The only people I've seen working a full 40 hours in Australian companies are the people who own the company, and foreigners.
I know Australians have are able to easily get a work visa to go to America. The cultural shock must be pretty big once they're actually expected to work a full day, though I guess the salary increase makes up for it.
> Knocking off at lunchtime on a Friday, leaving at 3 or 4pm, etc. The only people I've seen working a full 40 hours in Australian companies are the people who own the company, and foreigners.
Are you implying that this is a bad thing? Having time to actually enjoy life seems to be very underappreciated here.
As an Australian, your theory is correct. The culture shock is real and has caused tensions amongst distributed trans-Pacific teams that I've been a part of.
- Australians would complain that their American counter-parts were burning themselves out and ignoring structural issues impacting their productivity. Or outright accusations of "you working harder than us makes us look bad" - classic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome
- Americans would complain that the Australians were lazy and not pulling their weight.
I know Australians have are able to easily get a work visa to go to America. The cultural shock must be pretty big once they're actually expected to work a full day, though I guess the salary increase makes up for it.