American work culture is toxic because the laws favor employers’ interests than the employees. There’s no legally mandated paid parental leave, limited vacation time, and a high employee turnover that companies do not care about.
Companies have and make so much money that they can afford to not care about their employees. Companies don’t mind paying an extra $20k of turnover costs as long as they get an extra 10 hours/week out of the current employees. They make a lot of money, anyway.
The work hard and get paid a lot model is a model that I agree with. However, there are companies who work you to the ground without paying for it. You may think these companies don’t exist but they do and I’ve experienced them firsthand.
American work culture is toxic because the laws heavily favor employers in favor of employees. Employees are losing power every single day with the lack of unions. Chipotle shut down its store that voted to unionize. Companies do not want to give employees any power.
Experts say that move was illegal but we’ll only know after there’s a court ruling. Companies do everything in their power to take away power from employees and keep them dependent on them to continue working.
It’s what keeps millions of employees in the rat race and working until 65 and beyond.
What is American Work Culture?
The American work culture is a phenomenon that many countries around the world haven’t seen before. There are many European Amazon employees who went on strike and complain of the American work culture that Amazon dictates upon its employees.
On the other hand, the argument is that Amazon pays better than the industry average. However, European employees favor work life balance above everything else. The European employees are shocked when they see just how much Americans work.
It is highly difficult to fire and layoff employees in Europe but it’s obscenely easy to do in America. If the employer decides they don’t like the color of your shirt, they can fire you, without legal repercussions, generally. That is at-will employment at play.
It isn’t just warehousing jobs that gets a bad work-life balance.
Even the corporate employees at Amazon are burning out. I’ve met a few who worked at Amazon for 7 months who quit thereafter. Yes, they pay you very well but at what cost? Is it really worth the additional stress? At some point, the money gets old.
American work culture is toxic because employers expect you to go above and beyond in your work. But refuse to pay above and beyond the industry average. I once interviewed with a company who offered a 40% below industry average pay.
They still couldn’t fill in the position, 2 years later.
What Makes American Work Culture Toxic?
There are many distinct reasons what makes the American work culture toxic.
1) No Legally Mandated Paid Parental Leave
The United States is the only wealthy country on the planet without any guaranteed paid parental leave at the national level. It’s no wonder that the American work culture is so toxic. The government does not legally have policies in place to place our personal lives above our work lives.
We are legally thought to prioritize our work above everything else. No matter how wealthy of a country we are, the government teaches us to always want more. It’s no wonder the financial independence, retire early is gaining steam. People are tired of the American work culture.
People have their own dreams and aspirations they want to pursue, all on their own. However, their grueling work schedule prevents them from pursuing those hopes and dreams. Starting a family is one of the most important life decisions that people make and love to do.
However, so many miss out on those important personal moments because work just prevents employees from doing so.
2) Sick Leave that Goes Unused
American work culture is toxic because it’s normal to not use sick days in America. Companies actually see employees as weak if they use sick days. One boss literally told me to work from home once I told him I was taking a sick day.
I have no idea how that wasn’t a violation of the law, but that’s what happened.
Americans leave billions of dollars on the table by not taking their sick days for which the employer compensates them for. We shouldn’t feel guilty about using sick days because the employer and the employee agreed the sick days are a part of your compensation.
It’s not just physical health that we should take sick days for. It’s mental health as well. There’s nothing wrong with taking a mental sick day to recharge and take care of yourself so you can be more productive for your employer. It ultimately benefits the employer, anyway.
There’s a push for employers for employees to be healthy so they can be productive.
3) High Employee Turnover and Burnout
American work culture is toxic because employers don’t care whether there’s high turnover and burnout. All they care about is is the work done even at the expense of the employee. Goldman Sachs’ employees attest that the company pushes inhumane work conditions upon its employees.
The company doesn’t care. If the employee decides to leave, they’ll just fill that seat with someone else. Like nothing happened. It’s just a cost of doing business, to them. There’s high employee burnout and turnover and companies don’t mind it because all it costs is money to them.
Something they have in spades. Companies have so much money that they wouldn’t be able to spend it all, even if they wanted to. If Jeff Bezos says he couldn’t spend all his $100B fortune even if he wanted to, companies can’t spend their trillion dollar fortune even if they wanted to.
Companies don’t care about your well being and health.
American Work Culture is Toxic! What to do About it
So then what can we do about the fact that the American work culture is toxic? Below are 7 actions you can take today to combat the toxic work environment!
1) Don’t Overwork
There are clear signs of being overworked. If you are experiencing any of those signs, why go above and beyond for your employer who doesn’t care about you? Why give so much input to a system that doesn’t give commensurate output right back to you?
American work culture is toxic enough already, there’s no point in giving so much of your life to an employer who doesn’t give the same amount of care and respect, in return. Working hard is fine but overworking is not.
It’s better to last 10 years with a $100k salary than it is to last 5 years with a $150k salary.
You don’t want to burn out because the effects are potentially permanent. I know because I’ve been there. I didn’t think I could ever get back to normal because it lasted 3 months. It was a scary time but thankfully, I powered through everything.
American work culture glorifies the “hustle culture” and “overworking”. It’s time to stop being convinced by that and follow our own path.
2) American Work Culture is Toxic? Take Your Vacation and Sick Days
So many Americans leave money on the table by not taking their vacation and sick days. Billions and billions of dollars go to waste, as a result. Many coworkers I worked with in my prior job didn’t take their entire allotted vacation days.
They didn’t roll over, they all went straight to waste. That’s such a shame! That’s a good $1 – 5k in compensation that went out the window. It’s high time employees stop feeling guilty about taking vacation days and actually take a proper vacation.
The popular joke is that a European on vacation means an automatic email saying, “I’m on vacation, please talk to my coworkers as I won’t be checking email”. Americans on vacation means an automatic email saying, “I’m on vacation but I’ll still be available on email”.
The American work culture is toxic. You earned your vacations and it’s time to take them.
3) Find a Better Paying Job
There’s nothing wrong with working hard as long as the pay reflects it. There’s a reason investment banking analysts earn $150k in their first year out of college. They work their fingers to the bone. While I personally don’t think working 80 hours a week to earn $150k out of college is worth it, it’s still an option commensurate with the value they provide.
If the American work culture is so toxic that you’re working overdrive, it’s time to find a better paying job that reflects the value you bring to the company. Good paying jobs are out there. Many of my friends are earning $200k+ in their late 20s only.
There are people making $450k at Netflix who aren’t even executives! It’s going to take a year or two to find but good paying jobs are out there. It’s a mistake to stop at the $100k income level. You should keep going to at least $200k income level.
That’s when life becomes much less stressful.
4) Reach Financial Independence
If the American work culture is toxic, financial independence is the antidote to the toxicity. Financial independence lets you walk away from everything and work on your schedule. If your boss makes you angry? You just walk away. What are they going to do? Never hire you again?
You don’t need another job ever again, anyway. It’s an amazing feeling to work because you want to and not because you have to. The company I’m currently working for, I personally want to work for the rest of my life, barring layoffs and economic disasters.
That’s a great spot to be in. Where the money doesn’t matter but what you really want is the enjoyment of the work. Financial independence lets you only associate yourself with people who you like and respect. If there’s anyone you don’t care for, you don’t need to associate yourself with them.
This is the antidote to toxicity.
5) Diversify Your Income Sources
If the American work culture is toxic, it’s time to diversify your income sources so you are not dependent on just one income. if you have multiple income sources, it doesn’t hurt when one of your income sources is gone. These days, creating multiple income sources is more than possible.
This is the biggest reason to why have a side hustle? You get to combat any inhumane work environments. There’s an unlimited amount of side hustle ideas and opportunities for everyone to take advantage of down the road.
9-5 income + side hustle income + investment income eventually makes you a millionaire. However, aside from earning more money, the side benefit is that your risk is now dispersed. Sure, your 9-5 income may be the highest number out of all 3.
However, the risk is still dispersed across multiple categories. That’s where you win.
6) American Work Culture is Toxic? Try Quiet Quitting
Quiet quitting is a recent phenomenon in which employees do the least amount of work so that they don’t get fired. If the American work culture is toxic, you can combat it with quiet quitting. You may be at a point where if you do even more than what you’re doing, you are going to get burned out.
You may quiet quit not because you want to stick it to your employer. But because you are going to actually quit otherwise. There’s no point in working until 9pm if you get your work done by 5pm. Quiet quitting will most likely hurt your career.
However, you may be at a point where you don’t care about furthering your career. Rather, you just care about doing good work and then going home for the remainder of time. If the company still recognizes your work and thinks you are doing good work, then so be it.
However, otherwise, you’re not going to intentionally look for more opportunities.
7) Take a Sabbatical
Sabbaticals are more common now than ever. Most sabbaticals take 5 years before the benefit kicks in. If the company doesn’t have a formal benefit in place, you can always ask your boss to grant you a sabbatical. Everything in the world is negotiable.
They may still end up saying no, but that’s completely OK. if the American work culture is toxic, there are ways and loopholes to get around those tough work environments. You earned it. Five years is an eternity to work for a company.
No one really understands just how long a year actually is. After the year is over, you can absolutely pat yourself on the back for a job well done. At 40 hours a week, that’s 2080 hours at a minimum that you spend working to perfect your craft.
A significant amount of time to spend out of your life.
American Work Culture is Toxic: Protect Yourself
The cold hard truth about the corporate world is that no one ever looks out for you. You have to look out for yourself. The American work culture is toxic but no one owes you anything to take care of you. You will have to decide on your own how to manage the grueling work schedule of corporate America.
No one helps you navigate the waters, you have to figure out how to do so yourself. It’s not an easy thing to do. There are higher ups who haven’t figured out the delicate balance between work and personal life. Many executives are divorced because they haven’t figured it out.
The American work culture is toxic because you are expected to be a cog in the machine. If you can’t hack it, then you are perceived as weak and “damaged goods”. They’ll never directly tell you to your face but you will know and feel when someone perceives you as such.
Take the time to take care of yourself. Companies will do everything they can to further their interests. If they have to burn you out in that pursuit of profit? They’ll do it without blinking an eye. You are nothing but someone who the company can use to further their interests.
You are only good to them as the money you make them. That’s what makes the American work culture so toxic. The capitalistic system doesn’t care about your well being. Your well being shouldn’t be placed first all the time. However they shouldn’t be neglected to the last of the priorities.
You have to look out for yourself and protect yourself.
American Work Culture is Toxic: What to do About it Shortlist
- Don’t overwork
- American work culture is toxic? Take your vacation and sick days
- Find a better paying job
- Reach financial independence
- Diversify your income sources
- American work culture is toxic? Try quiet quitting
- Take a sabbatical
