Work Culture (Raleigh, Durham, Dallas: home, unemployment, buyer)

[Eric Bee]

How is the work culture in R/D?

By this I mean is there an effort by most companies to try and push for work/life balance?

Another way to put it, I suppose, is whether it's a work hard, respect private time off kind of a place, or a 'my boss is going to call me in on Saturday' kind of vibe.

Let's use a scale of 1 to 10 with NYC being a 10 on the scale, with an attitude that work IS life, and we'll call Zihuatanejo a 1 for *really* laid back, gonna take the time environment.

I know this is subjective, but especially those that have lived elsewhere, how does it compare?

[dedratermi]

Depends on the company, and even then, depends on the manager.

[Francois]

There is no ONE "work culture" across the varied industries here, or even within a particular industry. For example, I am a state employee, generally stereotyped as one of the least stressful and most easygoing fields, but I have coworkers who are totally stressed-out, working 10-12 hour days many times (earning comp time that there is no end in sight to ever use) and either looking for something else or counting down the days to retirement. Then I have friends in private industry who can work whatever hours they want and get more vacation time than I can fathom.

Do you have a particular industry/company you're more specifically interest in? Engineers will have a different sort of work culture than, say, beauticians or landscapers.

[zthatzmanz28]

LIkemost other places, when it comes to culture--business is business. It is whatever boosts the bottom line and increases profit margins.

[lovebrentwood]

Francois is correct -- as usual.

I've been a contract employee (by choice) for most of the past 18 years or so, and I've worked at a variety of companies in the Triangle.

Everywhere is different, and even departments within a division can be different.

Originally Posted by Francois

There is no ONE "work culture" across the varied industries here, or even within a particular industry. For example, I am a state employee, generally stereotyped as one of the least stressful and most easygoing fields, but I have coworkers who are totally stressed-out, working 10-12 hour days many times (earning comp time that there is no end in sight to ever use) and either looking for something else or counting down the days to retirement. Then I have friends in private industry who can work whatever hours they want and get more vacation time than I can fathom.

Do you have a particular industry/company you're more specifically interest in? Engineers will have a different sort of work culture than, say, beauticians or landscapers.

[peperoberto]

I know people that work 70 hours a week, some because they choose to, others because they are expected to.

I also know folks that get paid well to show up at 8:30 and head home at 5:30. Full benefits, too.

As stated before, it all depends on the employer and boss. Depending on the nature of the work, 9-to-5 could be the standard, or you could expect to be there until the work is done.

[Eric Bee]

Sorry y'all. Should've been more clear. I'm trying to determine if R/D has *established* itself as a certain *type* of work town.

I'm definitely aware that environments are employer-specific everywhere. But as I alluded to, some towns won't tolerate some types of corporate culture very well.

A comparison culturally might be that rap can certainly be found in the Austin music scene, but it is not the dominant paradigm.

One of my former employers learned this when moving a DC/NYC business to Austin a decade ago.

It appears based on the responses that R/D does not seem to have established such a reputation one way or another.

Thanks for the feedback, y'all!

[lovebrentwood]

I've never seen Raleigh/Durham written as "R/D." When I see "R/D," I think of R&D (Research & Development), of which there are plenty of such departments in the Triangle. (So stop it right now! )

I think the overriding work culture in the Triangle, if one had to choose one, would be one of a work/life balance. SAS Institute and GSK like to trumpet their focus on it. I've worked at both, and there are, as we said, pockets of high stress and overwork at both -- regardless of what their HR departments say. It's probably more common in the current economy.

Those are large companies. At other companies, especially in fields such as retail and at some manufacturing companies, the name of the game often is: Squeeze every bit of work out of the employees, no matter what.

But, as everyone said, it really depends upon the company, the division, the department, the manager, individual supervisor, and sometimes the employee.

I don't think the Triangle has established itself as one or the other, and if there was ever an emphasis on low-stress/work-life balance, I think the current economy has most definitely affected it.

These days, people who have jobs are very grateful to be employed, and they are far more willing to do what needs to be done, when in the past, they may have squawked a bit more -- and employers know that, and some take full advantage of it.

Originally Posted by Eric Bee

Sorry y'all. Should've been more clear. I'm trying to determine if R/D has *established* itself as a certain *type* of work town.

I'm definitely aware that environments are employer-specific everywhere. But as I alluded to, some towns won't tolerate some types of corporate culture very well.

A comparison culturally might be that rap can certainly be found in the Austin music scene, but it is not the dominant paradigm.

One of my former employers learned this when moving a DC/NYC business to Austin a decade ago.

It appears based on the responses that R/D does not seem to have established such a reputation one way or another.

Thanks for the feedback, y'all!

[Eric Bee]

Originally Posted by lovebrentwood

I don't think the Triangle has established itself as one or the other, and if there was ever an emphasis on low-stress/work-life balance, I think the current economy has most definitely affected it.

These days, people who have jobs are very grateful to be employed, and they are far more willing to do what needs to be done, when in the past, they may have squawked a bit more -- and employers know that, and some take full advantage of it.

I agree. It has changed here with leaner times as well, but is still prevalent at firms where true talent matters and is retained. Dell would be one exception, where they have always had a reputation as a grind house.

I appreciate you taking the time for the further elucidation.

[Francois]

Originally Posted by lovebrentwood

I've never seen Raleigh/Durham written as "R/D." When I see "R/D," I think of R&D (Research & Development), of which there are plenty of such departments in the Triangle. (So stop it right now! )

Right--to the OP, nobody, I mean nobody (except you) refers to this area as "R/D". Raleigh is a city and Durham is a city, and the area in general is known as "The Triangle". "Raleigh/Durham" is an airport, like "Dallas/Ft Worth". I, too, saw "R/D" and thought you meant research and development.

You still haven't really given a specific indistry you're asking about, but I'd say that this area does pretty well in work/lifebalance compared to many places, but, as lovebrentwood says, the recession has made it more of a "buyer's market" with employers, and competition for jobs here is huge and unprecedented, so companies have no need to "sweeten the pot" anymore with extra benefits like they did 10 years or so ago. Many companies are scaling back, in fact. But again, this is due to the recession and overall unemployment and job competition than the "culture" here in a regular economy.

Once more, is there a particular industry or even company you are asking about?