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Location: On the "Left Coast", somewhere in "the Land of Fruits & Nuts"
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Originally Posted by ian6479
Expectations are higher in the US and job security is far less. Having worked for large corporations in both the UK and US I feel that it's more informal in the US. Dress code is more relaxed and micro managing far less frequent. Vacation time is far less but then early finishes etc are more frequent.
It's personal preference for me.
Could be that might also have to do with differences between corporation styles in the U.S. and abroad. Dunno if it's as common elsewhere, but corporations here are constantly "in flux"... thru acquiring, and being acquired by, other companies, with resultant turnover and major changes in employees, management, locations, outsourcing, and even accompanying changes to the very culture of the organization itself. I once worked for a major corporation that purchased another smaller corporation... and the hyper-competitive, cut-throat culture of the acquired business actually became the "new normal"!
Throw in the relentless expectations for quarterly stock performance, just-in-time manufacturing, inventory and even just-in-time employees... and corporations (at least in the U.S.), are always in a constant state of change. Not to mention that the relationship between management and employees here is perhaps often more "adversarial". Remember, the WalMart model of cut-cut-cut, started here!
Expectations are higher in the US and job security is far less. Having worked for large corporations in both the UK and US I feel that it's more informal in the US. Dress code is more relaxed and micro managing far less frequent. Vacation time is far less but then early finishes etc are more frequent.
Did you see a difference in responsiveness to customers? Time-wise?
Other than vacation times... the biggest difference is job security, in the UK you can't just be fired for no reason...in the US you can, except Montana. It's called "at will employee"...you can be in a job for 20 + years and get fired no reason at all..as long as it's not age/race/gender discrimination...that i find scary.
I'll just start by saying that there are regional differences in the US. I work for a national company and in discussions with co-workers have found that the West Coast tends to be more relaxed, the South more relational and the NE, where I work the most driven.
I've found that US companies are very much driven by fear. Workers have fewer rights than in the UK and I know many people who are pushed to work much more than their contracted hours with the explanation that "this isn't a 9-5 job" and the expectation that if they don't toe the line the door is right over there. HR exists to protect the company, not the workers so there is little to no protection for employees who try to stand up and they don't have many rights to stand up for anyway.
Blue collar jobs also see similar trickery - places like Wal-Mart purposely split shifts and change the shifts of their part time employees so that it is difficult for them to find supplementary work. The company wants them at their beck and call at all times. It's done so that the company can shave costs to a fine point but is brutal for employees. On the flip side of high end corporate jobs in places like NYC employees are also expected to merge totally into the corporate culture or they won't be viewed as a "team player". Not being a "team player" is the ultimate put down in corporate America.
Also fitting in to the fear issue in the States is the tying of healthcare to employers (yes a constant topic here on C-D). Many people become tied to larger corporations due to their need for a decent healthcare plan - a plan costing $600 a month via an employer would be $1400 a month privately. It tilts the balance towards bigger companies over small ones that don't have the same buying power and limits peoples mobility.
In terms of doing business, I agree that the attitude in the US is "want it here and now". Doesn't mean you'll get the same RESPONSE from everyone but that will be the expectation of you. Of course that doesn't mean it will be done well. There are several British employees at my company and a common thread we find in discussions about the differences is that in the US quantity definitely beats quality, at least in my industry. People are expected to perform to a certain metric and reach "their numbers", whether or not a job is done right is not measured at all, the beancounters really do rule. I'm not sure how less formal the US is - definitely less structured in many ways but there are other more subtle rules concerning how people are expected to behave. I've found the US to be far more conformist than the UK even though they tout individuality at ever turn. I'd say there's also less socializing between the different levels and positions than in the UK, which is a shame.
In a nutshell, I'd describe the UK business environment as more human and the US as more robotic.
Good points there
I always found the team player thingy a bit too "socialist" for my taste as I am an utter individualist, a lonely rider, the exact opposite of a team player.
Other than vacation times... the biggest difference is job security, in the UK you can't just be fired for no reason...in the US you can, except Montana. It's called "at will employee"...you can be in a job for 20 + years and get fired no reason at all..as long as it's not age/race/gender discrimination...that i find scary.
That's not true. Employees are hired at will, but you can't be fired for 'no reason'. My company goes to great lengths to inform its employees of law suits that have been brought because employers abused their employees in some way or didn't document training or disciplinary actions.
That's not true. Employees are hired at will, but you can't be fired for 'no reason'. My company goes to great lengths to inform its employees of law suits that have been brought because employers abused their employees in some way or didn't document training or disciplinary actions.
It depends on the state but in "at will" states individuals may be fired for any reason without notice as long as it is not due to a disability, race or other protected status. People can sue, or try to sue but that doesn't mean they will win.
Much as I hate Wikipedia, they have a fairly decent overview:
"any hiring is presumed to be "at will"; that is, the employer is free to discharge individuals "for good cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all," and the employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise cease work."
They also detail the exceptions and states that provide some extra protections - such as Nevada.
Other than vacation times... the biggest difference is job security, in the UK you can't just be fired for no reason...in the US you can, except Montana. It's called "at will employee"...you can be in a job for 20 + years and get fired no reason at all..as long as it's not age/race/gender discrimination...that i find scary.
Only certain states have the "at will firing" law on the books.
There are several British employees at my company and a common thread we find in discussions about the differences is that in the US quantity definitely beats quality, at least in my industry. People are expected to perform to a certain metric and reach "their numbers", whether or not a job is done right is not measured at all, the beancounters really do rule.
OMG! *BACK* in the, *BACK* in the, *BACK IN THE USSR!*, as Paul McCartney once crooned. You're scaring me. Meeting the quota was the only thing that mattered in the Sov. Union. People churned out cr@p that began falling apart before it got loaded onto the truck for delivery. And we all know what happened to THAT economy!!
That's not true. Employees are hired at will, but you can't be fired for 'no reason'. My company goes to great lengths to inform its employees of law suits that have been brought because employers abused their employees in some way or didn't document training or disciplinary actions.
My husband practically was last December, he was the only one given the full 6 % pay rise that year in his studio, and 6 months before won the employee of the year award in a company of over 3500 people, so it wasn't because he wasn't doing his job. He was fired without any prior warning (written or verbal) one day out of the blue, After 4 years of hard work, long hours and deadication, his studio manager just said, the company is heading in a direction to him, as he had spoken up over their technology direction (he's was the Technical Director) so it was part of his job, but the Art Director (best friend of the manager) disagreed ..the studio then closed within 4 months. I would put a smiley face inserted here, but there's no pleasure out of a studio of people losing their jobs.
He didn't make a fuss with HR, there was no point..as he was given 3 months compensation, and to do so might mean he could legally lose it if he complained ...but it wasn't fair that the manager did this without following company protocol of a written warning first. Oh well they lost a good employee, and my husband was lucky enough to find another job straight away.
We've been living in the states for 12 years, and he's worked in the games industry for 20 years and never had been fired before, or given any disciplinary warning, always been told he was irreplaceable, last to be let go etc..(even with his last studio manager) but after this and discovering that you are "At will" in California , he will never feel completely secure in his job here, no matter how hard he works. So as to my prior comment, it is scary..and it couldn't legally happen in the UK.
Last edited by nickie74; 10-07-2012 at 01:26 AM..
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