This is such an American problem. I moved from the EU to the US so I have always been pretty strict with work hours. I finish at 17 and don't work on weekends.
I have applied the same approach in the US and I have never had anyone tell me that I have to put in more hours. However, I see a lot of movement over the weekend and at weird times (people working past midnight). But the thing is that no one is really forcing them, I think this way of thinking is embedded within the average American relationship with work.
I have observed this in my wife too. She stays past her contract hours but mostly because a lot of people in her company do the same.
I think this is a "self reinforcing peer pressure problem"
I moved from Canada to Germany to avoid that work culture. Everytime I visit home, I feel like everyone is working all the time. When I work with North American colleagues, I have to explicitly tell them that I don't expect a reaction outside of office hours.
As the tweet goes:
> Europeans' out of offices are like "I will not be working until 18 September. All emails will be automatically deleted."
> Americans: "I am in the hospital. Email responses may be delayed by up to 30 mins. Sorry for the inconvenience! If urgent, please reach me in the ER at..."
I have applied the same approach in the US and I have never had anyone tell me that I have to put in more hours. However, I see a lot of movement over the weekend and at weird times (people working past midnight). But the thing is that no one is really forcing them, I think this way of thinking is embedded within the average American relationship with work.
I have observed this in my wife too. She stays past her contract hours but mostly because a lot of people in her company do the same.
I think this is a "self reinforcing peer pressure problem"