Addressing Worker Burnout

By some measures, the U.S. worker is the hardest-working employee on the planet. The U.N. International Labor Organization reports that U.S. employees put in an average of 1,804 work hours in 2006. In Asia, by comparison, seven countries surpassed 2,200 average hours per worker, but the workers' productivity suffered. And compared with workers in developed nations such as France and Norway, which have high rates of productivity, U.S. workers log many more work hours (United Nations 2007). This cultural propensity for working hard helps make the U.S. the richest nation on earth, but it also comes at a price. There's a widespread feeling among U.S. workers that they must work more hours to get ahead in their careers.