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Comment by matrix_escape | Hacker News Reader

I think its a lot more than 25%. In Sweden where I work, people are relaxed at their jobs. Coming in at 8.30 am and leaving at 4.30 pm with a full lunch break in the middle is normal. Taking a couple of coffee breaks or ping pong matches and chatting with collegues is normal. There is casual talk all day long and bosses are also leaving work early to pick up children, spend time with the family and just enjoy their lives. I think something around 35 hours is what we do around here, but getting payed for 40 of course.

The American culture honestly seems totally crazy to me. There is a massive difference in how you view yourselves over there. If you dont succeed at making some kind of a career, you feel like losers? Please step out of the matrix a little bit guys. Life is not getting some position in a company so you can work even more. Its about finding happiness.

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This is pretty standard in the US, especially if you don't work in some MegaCorp cog-in-the-machine type of situation.

I think a good percentage of people working their asses off and working 60 hours a week are people who ARE actually successful. I don't blame them for turning work into a hobby.

What? Where are these 8:30-4:30-with-a-nice-long-lunch jobs?

In my experience, smaller (non bigcorp) companies have to fight to survive and don't have these luxuries..

Is it really so unusual for someone with relatively marketable skills to have a standard 8 hour work day with a proper lunch break?

This is just an anecdote though. I work in the US and can come in after 10am and leave by 4pm if I want. I can work remote when I want to and have done this for a week out of state and just random weekdays. This is all on a 40hr salary that hasn't been cut. I bring my dog to work and go to lunch when I want to. I shoot the breeze with coworkers when I want to. We still get our work done. There are some times when I work later, but it's because we're trying to get something out and I want to help.

Just saying not everywhere in the US is as bad as people make it sound...

> This is just an anecdote though.

No, it is not. The guy is telling about a generic situation. And I can tell it goes the same way in Finland too.

Yours is an anecdote though. You know pretty well your case is not common.

Not sure how common it is here or anywhere else based off these comments. That's the point. We now have 3 people saying they've got flexible jobs in 3 different countries. It doesn't generalize to 'everyone/most in those respective countries' from that alone. And country-pride or whatever isn't enough to sway me, sorry.

I know a number of people here that have more flexibility in their jobs than the Sweden job as described. Did I say 'generically, US is better' or anything like that? No, because maybe it's not true. Maybe you two are right.

Are you guys cool with starting at 10:00?

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