Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think you see many people working longer hours in D.C. because of the concentration of certain jobs here -- not because of the people themselves. D.C. is full of government and government-related (contracting, consulting, etc.) jobs that are both demanding and -- in terms of scheduling -- often unpredictable. Furthermore, because the cost of living is so high in D.C, you also see many people working more than one job to make basic ends meet.
No matter where you go in this country you're going to encounter "overachievers", people who work a normal "40 hour" work week, and "underachievers".
I've worked for the federal government and in the private sector. My experience was that the government had more than its share of clock-watchers who are OUT of there at 5 (or 4 or 3 with flextime). At my old law firm, we knew better than to try to reach someone at the IRS after 5 pm (and forget about Fridays). Yes, there are plenty of people who are dedicated and work long hours, but there are lots of positions that simply don't require that sort of time commitment. To say nothing of state or local government entities, such as the DMV, the school districts, etc.
I work for a government contractor, and my schedule is basically 9 to 5, Mon. thru Fri. The workday consists mainly of internet surfing with a good 15 minutes to 1 hour of actual work per day. It's like the movie 'Office Space' come to life.
I work for a government contractor, and my schedule is basically 9 to 5, Mon. thru Fri. The workday consists mainly of internet surfing with a good 15 minutes to 1 hour of actual work per day. It's like the movie 'Office Space' come to life.
People tell me that is just the way in the DC area and if I want to live and work here in a White Collar professional job, I should expect to work at least a 60 hour week. Do you agree?
I work white-collar in Alexandria, and my workday is more or less 8:30-5:30. This is an area of overachieving workaholics, but there are some companies in the area that are a little more laid back. They're just harder to find.
Believe it or not, some people work those 60-hour weeks not because they are dollar-driven fiends bent on somehow outdoing everyone else in the region, but because they actually like and enjoy their work. There are a lot of high-challenge, high-reward (meaning personal/psychic-type reward) positions in this area, and if you're in one of those, the idea of sand-bagging it or just sliding by just isn't all that appealling.
Believe it or not, some people work those 60-hour weeks not because they are dollar-driven fiends bent on somehow outdoing everyone else in the region, but because they actually like and enjoy their work. There are a lot of high-challenge, high-reward (meaning personal/psychic-type reward) positions in this area, and if you're in one of those, the idea of sand-bagging it or just sliding by just isn't all that appealling.
Marriage might be going a bit far. How about maintaining a close, personal relationship with what you do, rather than looking at it as some sort of community service that a judge somewhere ordered you to endure for eight hours a day instead of sentencing you to jail time...
OK, here is the deal. Americans on average work WAY more than most other countries, especially Europeans (where they have 30-35 hour work weeks) & we also have MUCH less personal time off, get fatter & die younger.
Somewhere along the way, it gets embedded into our brains that work is the most important thing in our lives, so we need to keep doing it to the extreme to feed our addictions for buying expensive toys that we really don't need. Then, our material things end up owning us.
Anyways, most the people in the northeast part of the country are the poster childs of that American go getting, life revolves around the job, cut throat, workaholic types. Its actually quite amusing if you stop to think about it that a lot of people are in that fog & rarely stop to smell the roses.
So, if you dont dig on that vibe, I would suggest NOT moving anywhere near there & going to someplace more laid back & where people don't take themselves quite so seriously, like Florida.
The thing about a place like DC is that it probably seems like people work longer based on the commutes. So many people have commutes of 1.5 to 2 hours each way that this ends up making an 9-10 hour workday into an 11-14 hour thing. All that time commuting is wasted time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
