Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Colorado > Denver
 [Register]
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.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-09-2015, 09:58 AM
 
16 posts, read 19,616 times
Reputation: 22

Advertisements

Wondering if anyone else from the Midwest or Northeast that has moved to Denver has noticed how much earlier people leave work here in Denver? I'm amazed by the number of people who leave work before 5pm, with some leaving work at 4pm or earlier. I've seen some of the traffic posts were people say they leave by 3:30pm!! Is this something employers are OK with in Denver? It's not like people are getting to work earlier here, if anything many people arrive later.

In Chicago, most people arrived between 7:15am and 8:30am, and left between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. During my years in San Francisco and NYC, people got in a little later, but most left after 6pm.

Wondering if anyone else has noticed the same.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-09-2015, 10:11 AM
 
2,401 posts, read 3,244,995 times
Reputation: 1837
Having lived in both the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest, I can attest to this. I found it strange at first, but then realized the laid back work style might be one of the reasons for the high quality of life here. I'm more career oriented than most, so I don't mind staying later, but it's definitely different being the only person left in the office than being with half the office after 5. Another solution I have come up with is showing up earlier at work than everyone else. It's so sunny and hot these days I have not had difficulty waking up by 6:30.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-09-2015, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Denver CO
24,204 posts, read 19,076,035 times
Reputation: 38266
From what I have seen since moving here, 8 to 5 is considered a standard work day but many people flex that and start at 7 am or even earlier and then leave earlier. There are individuals who like a later start and they stay later but it's not as common. Even the TV schedules are based on an earlier day compared to the East and West Coasts, with network programming ending at 10 pm instead of 11 pm.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-09-2015, 10:59 AM
 
Location: OH>IL>CO>CT
7,480 posts, read 13,502,993 times
Reputation: 11822
ISTM Coloradans spend more time enjoying outdoor activities than Midwesterners or EastCoasters. So having more daylight hours to enjoy the Rocky Mt areas fine weather (winter or summer) is desirable.

I once worked for a Fed govt office at Lowry that had flex hours. The first few days I wondered why it seemed I was the only one still there after 3:30. And I quickly learned that you did not want to be the only one around when a mgr. came around with some "emergency" job they needed done right away.

In Boulder, people could leave work at 4 and be on the ski slopes at Eldora in 45 minutes.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-09-2015, 11:04 AM
 
Location: 0.83 Atmospheres
11,477 posts, read 11,477,108 times
Reputation: 11976
Quote:
Originally Posted by reed303 View Post
ISTM Coloradans spend more time enjoying outdoor activities than Midwesterners or EastCoasters. So having more daylight hours to enjoy the Rocky Mt areas fine weather (winter or summer) is desirable.

I once worked for a Fed govt office at Lowry that had flex hours. The first few days I wondered why it seemed I was the only one still there after 3:30. And I quickly learned that you did not want to be the only one around when a mgr. came around with some "emergency" job they needed done right away.

In Boulder, people could leave work at 4 and be on the ski slopes at Eldora in 45 minutes.
Eldora's lifts are not turning at 5pm so unless you're skinning up....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-09-2015, 11:25 AM
 
384 posts, read 505,760 times
Reputation: 689
It is several things in my opinion.

Yes, it is more laid back here in general - I 100% agree with that. My work environment is pretty productivity based, not clock based. I also think this isn't really a manufacturing culture based on hours worked - thus almost everyone I know is salaried. As such, most work at least their 40 hours, with the extra time coming at home and on the phone, over the weekend, etc. The area seems to embrace technology and utilize it. To add to the laid back idea, if I need to take care of a child, I do that. My bosses would do the same thing - not the same attitude existed back in the midwest where I came from.

I also noticed the laid back premise in how people dress. When I moved here 15 years ago, the shock was mainly in things like the dress code - or lack thereof. The guy running the place at the time even commented on it when someone who had just moved here from the East Coast asked why we weren't required to at least ties if not suits (guy claimed it was bad for our "brand" to be so casual). Boss said we don't usually have customers in our office, so who would be be dressing up for? Also noted he would feel obligated to raise salaries if he raised the dress code - and he wasn't interested in buying everyone fancy clothes just so we could all look at each other in suits To this day, that dress code remains the same, pretty much no flip flops, not spaghetti straps and nothing vulgar. No one really does any of those things anyway. People get treated like adults and they act like it. Not unusual at all to see people wearing shorts who make very comfy 6 figure salaries. If you are good at your job - no one cares that much what you dress like, though "managers" tend to dress a little nicer to look the part a bit better (and because they meet with more "outsiders".)

So, #1 things are more laid back in general.

The other thing is most people do get to work earlier here. My office gets going based on East Coast time. We have a lot of customers there, so some of the staff needs to be in by 7 to work with their typical 9am starting times. Not everyone though, some don't arrive until 8, though by 8:30, the parking lot is 85% filled.

That's #2 - it's an earlier world - even my kids bed times seem early compared to my friends in the mid west and on the east coast.

I'll add a third thing. And it's part of #1 - far more people here in Colorado "work to live" as opposed to "live to work". And that includes the highly successful and highly motivated. It's just not a culture where watching the clock and "putting in more hours" directly translates to success - at least that's my experience. And frankly, it's one of the many redeeming qualities of living here.

To be clear though, when I say "laid back" I don't mean lazy or uninterested. I mean people aren't as concerned with formalities - they are far more concerned with results - IMHO! YMMV!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-09-2015, 11:27 AM
 
694 posts, read 1,034,624 times
Reputation: 512
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago2Denver View Post
Wondering if anyone else from the Midwest or Northeast that has moved to Denver has noticed how much earlier people leave work here in Denver? I'm amazed by the number of people who leave work before 5pm, with some leaving work at 4pm or earlier. I've seen some of the traffic posts were people say they leave by 3:30pm!! Is this something employers are OK with in Denver? It's not like people are getting to work earlier here, if anything many people arrive later.

In Chicago, most people arrived between 7:15am and 8:30am, and left between 5:30pm and 6:30pm. During my years in San Francisco and NYC, people got in a little later, but most left after 6pm.

Wondering if anyone else has noticed the same.
Employers are finally getting wise to staggered work shifts due to the heinous traffic.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-09-2015, 11:27 AM
 
16 posts, read 19,616 times
Reputation: 22
Quote:
Originally Posted by reed303 View Post
ISTM Coloradans spend more time enjoying outdoor activities than Midwesterners or EastCoasters. So having more daylight hours to enjoy the Rocky Mt areas fine weather (winter or summer) is desirable.
Sure, I understand why an employee would prefer a shorter workday, and I can't think of a single place I have lived where people wouldn't have loved for 8am-4:30pm to be considered a full day of work in an office setting. I just wonder what drives employers here to expect less? San Francisco and the Bay Area have great weather and plenty of hiking, but my two years there, there were definitely more people in the office after 5:30pm than there were people leaving before that.

I did read an article in 2014, that discussed the fact the proportionate to its population, Denver has a low number of Fortune 500 companies here. The hypothesis of the article was that many companies view Denver's play is more important than work attitude as a deterrent to building out its main functions here. I have see this to be true. While there are plenty of large companies with secondary offices here, many are more back office functions such as accounting, payroll, finance, HR, etc, and not the C-suite or law department, where people are expected to put in time past the 5:00 hour.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-09-2015, 11:52 AM
 
Location: Colorado
4,006 posts, read 2,682,564 times
Reputation: 7456
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago2Denver View Post
Sure, I understand why an employee would prefer a shorter workday, and I can't think of a single place I have lived where people wouldn't have loved for 8am-4:30pm to be considered a full day of work in an office setting. I just wonder what drives employers here to expect less? San Francisco and the Bay Area have great weather and plenty of hiking, but my two years there, there were definitely more people in the office after 5:30pm than there were people leaving before that.
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., by my count, would be an 8 hour work day with a 30 minute lunch (which is common around here.) I work 7:30 to 4 p.m with a 30 minute lunch. That does add up to a 40 hour work week, which is what most people get paid for. The question might best be posed as what is it about the Midwest and East Coast that causes employers to expect more than 40 hours (especially if they're not paying for them?) I'm salaried--I'll put in extra hours if the situation warrants it, but if it comes to be expected, I'd be demanding to be hourly, or a huge increase in my pay.

As for the staggered times--I don't think that's so uncommon in a number of areas of the country. Nobody likes rush hour traffic, and if your job is such that working 8 to 5 isn't a requirement, why not shift it a little bit so you can avoid the worst of traffic? My job is also production based--I do have to speak to other people in my company, so I can't go completely nuts, but I have some leeway. And if a shift happens at my company, I may very well ask my boss if I can go 7 to 3:30 (which she's already indicated she'd be fine with.)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-09-2015, 12:03 PM
 
384 posts, read 505,760 times
Reputation: 689
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago2Denver View Post
Sure, I understand why an employee would prefer a shorter workday, and I can't think of a single place I have lived where people wouldn't have loved for 8am-4:30pm to be considered a full day of work in an office setting. I just wonder what drives employers here to expect less?
I would highly challenge the idea the "employers here expect less." No, they expect people to get their work done, not to stay late to APPEAR to be working harder. If you work somewhere where everyone stays late, I'd question why? What has been done structurally to force people to be there late on a daily basis. I contend that most of the 'late' people are really just sucking up

As for why employers would tolerate their people working a mere 40 hours a week? Well, those employers also live here. The boss probably moved here themselves for the same lifestyle.

I again point this back to "laid back". If we are going to generalize, I'd say the East Coast attitude is a little more about APPEARING to be a hard worker that stays late every night. And I'd say the bigger city attitude has people watching each other more than here.

Most of the people I know in Denver don't care much about when their co-workers come and go. They also tend to mind their own business and get their work done. Even the folks desperate to climb the ladder have to resign themselves that just staying til 6 isn't going to get them anywhere. Gotta bring something else to the table beyond the ability to sit there longer

NOTE: I say this as a person that routinely works 60+ hours per week for a Fortune 500 company, including late at night and at random times on weekends - but you'll very rarely catch me in the office at 6:00pm. If I have more to to, I'll do it at home. Just being seen late at the office isn't important to me and won't get me up the ladder a second faster. I'd rather spend that time with my family and do the work later instead of watching late night TV or something similarly useless. I agree that in previous jobs in large midwest cities, those bosses did care who was there late - again though, not really caring what they were doing, just that they were there
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
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.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Colorado > Denver

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top