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Work Culture, Ethics, Time at work, Importance – India vs. America
Work occupies most of our life, if you think about it…officially you are supposed to work for 8 hrs to be considered full time. But, people work differently in different countries depending on the culture. If you are planning on settling in a country, this is something very serious to think about. Let me share my thoughts on this…This article is part of the Series: Settle in US or India? Life in USA vs. India? Move back?
Work Culture in US vs. India, Time at work, Importance of Work ?
As I mentioned in previous article about Work Culture in America, most of the people in America tend to work only 8 hours a day. Typically, they work from 8 AM to 4:30 PM or early. It is common to take 30 min lunch break. Some eat at desk and some just grab a quick lunch. When it comes to importance of work, people consider work as just work and not LIFE. With few exceptions, they do not worry about work after they go home or even work on weekends doing work. It is just way the culture is…Work is just part of life and NOT life…As per ethics, most people tend to have good work ethic, they work when supposed to work and get their job done on time. Deadlines are critical part, you should never miss any deadlines…being on time is important.
Unlike in India as I talk to my cousins, friends, juniors working in IT, they go to work at 9 AM or so and come home at 9 PM. Most of them stay at work for 12 hrs. It is not necessarily working for 12hrs…there is a difference…people take long lunches, tea breaks, other breaks….The reality is, because most of the software engineers are single, they tend to stay at work….but as life progresses and you become senior and become manager, you may come home a little early… People work late hours, they sometime work on weekends…Unfortunately, Work is viewed as the thing in Life trying to succeed and get promotion or anything like that…There is nothing wrong with it…it is just the culture that shapes the environment….work ethic is more relaxed, you just work long hours and spread it over….deadlines are important, but people tend to negotiate with boss, being on time is important, but not strictly followed….These are just some differences and constantly changing as east is adopting west.
Decision about work life for Settling in US vs. India
Lets do math here, 1/3rd ( 8 hrs) of your life is tied to work and if you are young and living in India and working in IT, then your life is tied more than that it is almost 50% more ( 8 + 4 hrs) than what you would spend in US. Although, east is embracing west and we are trying to adapt many things, still the differences remain. Unless you are in a big managerial role and be able to work flexible hours, India is a questionable choice in this aspect…think about it logically, so much of your productive time in productive years of your life (22 – 32 or so) is just spent at work or doing work….I personally think you can do so may creative things and have fun in life if you live in US during these years. Unless you get flexible hours and have an option to work only 8 hrs a day, it is not a great choice to move to India from work perspective …. I hope that things will change in India as time progresses …but for now, this is how it looks.
What do you think about just this aspect of work Culture ?
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
I have worked in some of the most reputed companies in India and found that Indians are adopting westren culture be it meeting deadlines or eliminating flattery and judging an employee by his/her quality of work. By my experience, I can surely tell one thing that if one is a good worker and is contributing positively to the company, he/she would never fail to impress the top managers and would be definetly appreciated.
Kumar,
I dont think working in India in our 22-32 is bad . I do feel wherever you are it mostly depends on the company you are working for. Am in India and i see the differences between my timings and my friends in diff companies . Good companies have really flexible timings, freedom to the employees and when we have such a lot of trust put in us we do work better , while some companies are torturous, asking der employees to work hard rather than smart ! Same applies for US too am sure .
Agree with you Namita. In India too, it depends on the org people work under, and many times, I have seen it depends on the employees too. Managers are hired from external orgs ( services based mostly), and they start expecting the folks to work 24/7 , which is against the respective org’s culture. People reporting under such managers somehow feel obliged to listen to them. But, if one is lucky to work in orgs, which do not support such environment, the sub ordinates can definitely speak up. I myself , have spoken up in such times, and thankfully, other folks follow the trend. Sadly, yes, cant say the same for all orgs
. Also, I feel that many ppl are just workaholics, and always in the run, such ppl cant be helped even if the org is good.
I Agree with you about the cultural differences in work style between east and west. In the east which is comparatively less prosperous, and development is in its initial stages people are rugged more. In contrast, the west is more prosperous and have a through understanding of work cultures. I have worked both in India, and US and feel the work culture is better-off in US and India is catching-up. But the slow nature of work here is creating a certain sense of inertia, and making us more relaxed. When we return to India it might take while to catch-up back with fast pace again.
Hello Mr. Kumar,
I am working on a report on business culture in India. If you or someone else could answer a few questions I would greatly appreaciate it.
I have always heard that in India it is customary to take rest periods/naps after lunch. Is this true?
Is gender an issue in the work force?
Are Americans well accepted in the India business world?
When an American accepts a position in India – do companies normally supply training on culture, ethics and business practices?
Are there any social expectations within the work force?
Thank you
Dana
Dana,
It is very hard to generalize the statements. These are just my thoughts.
I have always heard that in India it is customary to take rest periods/naps after lunch. Is this true?
Lunch is a social thing, people tend to take long lunch and socialize. This is slowly changing with western culture.
Is gender an issue in the work force?
India is fundamentally a patriarch society. It is changing with the westernization and gender is not an issue anymore…but still in the rural areas, it can be.
Are Americans well accepted in the India business world?
I would think in the Business world, yes well accepted.
When an American accepts a position in India – do companies normally supply training on culture, ethics and business practices?
I do not know for sure in India. I did not work much in India. In US, I have seen in my company americans do get cultural training when working with Indians and other internationals.
Are there any social expectations within the work force?
It is the work culture and respecting the boss, not disagreeing with boss directly in public, etc..
Thank you for your reply. Your answers will help my decisions on which topics I’ll discuss.
Dana
Welcome Dana !
Dana,
Only one thing I would like to comment on is – you mentioned taking naps during lunch hours or after lunch.
Well actually this kind of things were followed in India only 10 to 12 years before and that too mainly in Government jobs. Reason – gov employees does not have fear of loosing jobs during those days which has changed now. Gov due quick progress and development in India. Private and Publiv (Gov jobs) both has high risk if you do not give proper working hours and do not meet required deadlines. No chance these days if any one would even think of taking a nap during working hours. Such things happens but in rural areas where mostly people are not that educated or are farmers. A govt employee is considered to be a very important person even though he just a clerk in a village.
I hope this may help you.
REgards,
Victor
Thanks for adding more insights Victor !
Regarding Dana’s question about social factors (last question), I have another question on that topic.
In India if a coworker or boss invite you to their family members’ wedding or any family function what is the requirement one must attend? How does it look if we don’t attend?
Does it matter if that person is a boss or coworker?
Is it true that if we go we shouldn’t go empty handed? What do we bring to a wedding (as a gift)?
I don’t know where you get your information from for your article. You state that leaving work “on time” is the norm here and granted the few exceptions to that rule. I worked on both coasts and in between and worked in I.T. in the US for just under 30 years. I don’t know anyone who didn’t bring work home – Americans and otherwise. I do know people who left either on time or a little later. My last manager got angry with people who just put in 8 hours at work. Companies I worked for included – IBM (where a 12+ hour day wasn’t that atypical), Prudential, and ADP. If we didn’t put in the time, we knew we could be replaced.
Sam, I am not generalizing here, the info is only based on my experience. I worked in Midwest as well as in South and I did talk to few of my friends who work in coasts as well….What you said is true too…honestly, it totally depends on the work culture of company, your manager and other factors…Trying to compare on a macro level in this article…
As Kumar says yes it does depend on the company’s culture and few other factors. Another factor this depends on is the economy.
The last few years have been pretty bad. For those still with a job, they may be working the job of 3-4 people. In these cases there is no chance of working only 8 hours a day. People forsake meals to work throughout the whole day, sometimes not drinking water or even having restroom breaks. I am talking about IT and office jobs. People feared to lose their jobs so they won’t be lazing around. When they put in those long hours 10-14 or more hours a day they are working hard, not browsing net, going for tea breaks or simply being at the office to fill time cards. They are doing work. In the 90s I don’t think it was so bad when the economy was good. People were working less hours then. (My thought from learning from my and my friends/family’s experiences.)
Hi Kumar,
This is a hot topic .. whenever two indians meet in US this topic will come.. just wanted to add like,
1.In India the salary hikes are very frequent … in my opinion i don’t think the hikes are frequent in US.Now a days indian IT companies are paying more salaries..
2.Career growth- In india one can get promptions ( becoming manager ,VP etc will happen fastly..) but in US it will take very long time to get into that position.
3.Job stability- i think in India the job stability is more compared to US.
thanks
Vijaya
Vijaya. You make valid points.
The reason I feel these points are true today is the economy of India is growing rapidly. If we saw US in the 90s during the IT boom, people were rapidly moving up and through organizations getting hefty pay increases within companies. Even other companies would scoop those people up and give a 10-20K raise! It was pretty wild.
In US… I think it is possible to move up the ladder but it is probably different than in India. I don’t know much about the Indian situation, but in US it depends on a worker’s merit. If they are at work and doing good, hard work their path to promotion is much quicker than someone who just does what they are told. Employees who go above and beyond what is expected of them, help others and look for mentoring opportunities that take them to the next step are more likely to get promoted. If the person is very enterprising and understands their field well, this can happen quickly. I have known people who because they were flagged by their managers as ‘having potential’ were immediately set up with supervisors who were ‘grooming them’ for the next level. Generally people are groomed and are not give a position in the next level just because they were there for a particular amount of time.
@kumar
it is smashing information, after reading this i am sure one will choose to be in usa only
need to say that.
good one
thanks
easwaran