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Job gripe...how many hours per day do you work?


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I have a built-in expectation that a normal business day is about 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. But in my J company job, it is usually 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m.

 

My old boss complained about this company and the lifestyle, then changed jobs. I just heard his new working hours are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. By choice I guess.

 

Am I losing touch with reality, or is a 12-hour-workday somehow normal? It seems crazy to me. Maybe some lawyers and hotshots have to work those hours, but EVERYBODY?!

 

It gets worse. I sometimes come in early, and when I do, they are all already here, all of them, sitting looking at papers and computer screens as if they'd been here hours.

 

I got in at 8:24 a.m. this morning, and they were all already here...they were all here when I left last night too.

 

Most of them have a commute over 1 hour. What do they do, besides work? How can they live like this?

 

Huh?!

 

What are YOUR working hours?

 

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So you in Japan these days? or still in Michigan?

 

I work 7 hour days. usually 1 to 9 or 10 -6.

But then again I dont have a "real" job, :p

 

My last real job back home I worked 8 - 5:30 (8 1/2)when I was in the office.

In summmer when working outside due to the nature of the work ( road sealing ) it was sometimes 6am to 6:30 - 7pm - killer, got home had dinner and went to bed.

The worst thing was all the labourers were on hourly wage and raked in a lot of overtime, where as I was on a salary and was getting shafted

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Man, landscaping and road work are tough!

 

As a boy I always wanted to grow up to be the guy with big muscles in denim overalls running the jackhammer, because I figured the gals would like me better. That was before I learned that having a cute puppy on the beach is the best way ever to pull chicks, and no hangover or hearing loss required.

 

I've been back in Tokyo since March, so I'm changing my sig! Ta glider!

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I hate jackhammers - heavy, awkward and very uncomfortable. Cause really bad RSI too from the vibrations. The only thing I hate more is concrete saws.

When I was a student and working in the holidays on construction gangs, guess who got delegated the Jackhammer :rolleyes:

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Usually

 

Here 12 - 9

Home 8 - 5

 

Sometimes

 

Here 9 - 9

Home 7.30 - 6.30

 

I'm a firm beleiver in being paid overtime. That way the boss has the option of getting you to work longer in an emergency but it will cost them. Encourages them not to abuse your time.

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My company was admonished by the labor authorities for making people work too much overtime. Since then, we have monthly internal meetings to arrange fake overtime numbers to ensure we are reporting overtime figures that are below the official limit.

 

But people continue to stay in the office for 60-80 hours every week, while only getting paid for a few hours of overtime.

 

In the US, you couldn't get people to work 1.5 or 2.0 jobs for take-home pay of maybe US $20k and a 2-hour commute.

 

It's hard to even explain this to people back home. They figure I'm making it up.

 

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a student of mine - 26yr woman - is an in office insurance agent and has since the typhoon season wreaked havoc, worked long long hours. Even Saturdays & Sundays but not all. The company rules state no woman can work pass a certain time - 7:30 I think - but this rule has been conveniently waived.

 

I said to her last week that the daily 4 hours+ overtime should make a nice little bonus for her.

 

HA, HA. Her boss explained to all that because of the large amounts of claims, hence payouts, they can't pay overtime - making all feel guilty for even thinking about it.

 

As a generous consolation though he has bought on 3 occasions choux cream for the female staff.

 

Fark Off!

 

This is from one of the BIGGEST insurance companies in Japan.

 

UNIONIZE then CRUSH. \:D

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0500-1830 one month

1800-0530 the next

 

includes weekends/holidays... we never, ever, ever, ever, close.

 

only benefit is we work 3 or 4 days, get 2 or 3 off, only falls on a weekend or holiday by chance though

 

no overtime by the way... military salary

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work usually 15:30-7:30 and a few mornings of 9-12.

 

Unions would crush Japan. Can you imagine the losses these companies would make if they had to pay people decent wages and overtime? They should really just worry about increasing production levels and there would be no need for everyone to be working these ridiculous hours.

 

I used to love the boss (in OZ) asking me to do OT & having the choice to say "nah, I'm going surfing"! But OT was a good option as we were always paid 1.75-2 times.

 

Though the next job I am likely to be doing when i go home will probably require longer hours \:\(

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Working fewer hours would result in greater productivity during the hours worked.

36 is the number of hours a human can work at full pace in a week then productivity decreases from hours 36 to 60. From 60 hours every hour worked requires 2 hours the following week to fix your mistakes made because you were so tierd.

 

Thats why firms should hire the correct number of staff.

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well, I am happy to say I have NO working hours. I don't get screwed by a boss, or stay in the office looking busy trying to fit in with the rest of the staff.

 

The only down side of my situation is the lack of cash flow.........but, I'm coping.

 

I used to work in Tokyo 9am-5:30pm, mon-fri, no overtime, 1 saturday every 2 years (and this was one too many).

 

I hate work, but I like spending money, so maybe I'm going to have to change my views about the whole thing soon........moving back to Oz where the pay is less, the choice of work is fewer, and the taxes are much, much more....... shifty.gif

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Back in the States, worked "market hours" at the San Francisco Stock Exchange. Nothing to do after the market closes, so nobody lingers or does overtime. But since we were based on NY time, it meant really weird hours (5:30am-1:30pm).

 

In Japan, spent 2 years at a tv-production/CG graphics firm usually doing 10-7, sometimes up to 10,11pm for crunch projects.

 

Now, we basically set our own hours, so it just depends on workload - usually between 4-6 hours on a typical day (client work, looking for new work, updating ones skills, etc). Somedays we skip out altogether and just go shopping, hit the movies or whatever. Downside is that revenue is not a constant, and we have to always generate new projects and clients.

 

A friend at Microsoft Japan seems to have a 9-6 schedule. Ditto for a marketing exec friend at Vodaphone Japan. Former co-workers on the trading floor at investment bank here seemed to work market hours (9-6). The marketing staff at a client's press office are doing 10-6. Knew an interior designer formerly at Seibu Kensetsu whose official hours were 9-5, but always seemed to work until 10 or 11pm (until she quit, that is). Some middle-managers we know at Itochu seem to usually do 9-9.

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Usually two hours in the morning and three in the evening. Sometimes work a few hours or so in the middle of the day as well. Teach kids parties some weekends, but generally my working week finishes at 10am on Friday clap.gif . Those are only contact hours and I probably put in another eight hours per week for preparation, administration and so-on. Beats working for a living :p

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Those are some interesting working hours.

 

I worked on a contract basis (paid by the hour) at Kmart's world HQ in Michigan, and the job order was to spend 35-40 hours per week on it.

 

This often had us leaving around 5 or 5:30. But we were the contract guys, so I figured we were special. I figured the regular hires would be working longer hours.

 

Well, one day I stayed until 6:30, and when I popped out of my cubicle the place was a graveyard. Everyone was long gone! Amazing. It was like that episode of the Twilight Zone where the guy wakes up and there's nobody left in the world except him.

 

I passed the legal dept. on the way out and one guy was in there, looking totally defeated and swamped with impossible, urgent tasks.

 

"Working late?" I asked.

 

"Yeah, about once a month there is a day when I have to stay until after 7, just to get things done on time..." He sighed the sigh of a martyr, and leaned back in his leather chair in his big clean private office.

 

A memory of dirty old concrete-and-cigarette-smoke flourescent-lit work spaces with no partitions, cubicles or doors flashed in my mind. In the memory, it was after 8 p.m., as usual, and more than half the crew was sitting at their desks and shuffling slowly through some kind of report or apple-polishing job. That, or playing mah-jong on the computer.

 

If only he knew, boys, if only he knew how bad it could be.

 

;\)

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I work an average of 14 hours a week for an average of 7 million yen a year (for somebody else). However, I've got many projectst theatening my relaxed lifestyle. Soon I might just find myself working 6 days a week/80-100 hours a week. Kind of depends on bank financing. If you could all cross your fingers for me for about 3 weeks I would be very grateful. \:\)

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