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Work/life balance in Hong Kong

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  1. #21

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    Original Post Deleted
    Apparently, fatigued, unhappy people are more compliant and easier to control than their well rested happy counterparts. So there may be a method in their madness. (Can't site any sources, 5 would have my guts for garters)

  2. #22

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    Last week I helped a local colleague with some English for her university course.

    She had to take the part of a character called 'The Fox' in a play.....anyway, an excerpt:

    King: "Ask your Master to come and visit me on Monday!".

    The Fox: (Looking and sounding embarrassed) "I'm sorry Sire! My Master must travel to the neighbouring kingdom on that day!

    My colleague couldn't get the 'looking and sounding embarrassed' bit so I suggested this:

    Imagine your friend is getting married on Saturday and you have been planning to go for months, suddenly Principal Kwok comes to you a few days before, "We are very busy, can I count on you to come in on Saturday?"..........

    I asked my colleague, "What would your answer be and how would you look while saying it?".

    So, she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Yes, of course Principal!".


  3. #23

    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by bryant.english:
    Last week I helped a local colleague with some English for her university course.

    She had to take the part of a character called 'The Fox' in a play.....anyway, an excerpt:

    King: "Ask your Master to come and visit me on Monday!".

    The Fox: (Looking and sounding embarrassed) "I'm sorry Sire! My Master must travel to the neighbouring kingdom on that day!

    My colleague couldn't get the 'looking and sounding embarrassed' bit so I suggested this:

    Imagine your friend is getting married on Saturday and you have been planning to go for months, suddenly Principal Kwok comes to you a few days before, "We are very busy, can I count on you to come in on Saturday?"..........

    I asked my colleague, "What would your answer be and how would you look while saying it?".

    So, she looked me straight in the eye and said, "Yes, of course Principal!".
    Yes, but what Principal Kwok doesn't know is that the very sly Fox is calling in sick Saturday.

    Over to you King.

  4. #24

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    Work/life balance?! No such thing exists in Hong Kong, haha.

    That being said, it depends alot on the field and type of industry you are in. Bear in mind that some (but certainly not all) expats often enjoy better benefits or more days off than many comparable locals. If you are a local working for a local company, well, "annual leave" might as well be some fantasy concept. But to be fair, working condition of some major local companies have improved somewhat then in the past (say 20 years ago). Greater legal awareness on the part of employees as well as greater media scrutiny have lead to some slight improvement. Management can't be as cavalier about abuse of workers as before. For example, there is now a minimum wage in HK whereas in the past that was unthinkable.

    Last edited by Watercooler; 15-11-2012 at 10:24 AM.

  5. #25

    So, it seems some people are happy with their work/life balance, whereas others are working themselves into an early grave. Has anyone out there managed to change things for the better when things have got too much? Or have you just decided that quitting was easier?

    Keen to hear more stories! Again PM me if you don't want the full detail in public.


  6. #26

    I work for a local company. It's an old school local trading company that has been around for 50+ years. We manufacture textiles in China and sell it to the rest of the world. Nothing fancy and not big.

    There are a few expats working there but mostly local staff. Everyone is treated the same in terms of benefits and work hours. The owner who is a HK local actually encourages his employees to work smart and leave on time so they could spend more time with their family. 90% of the employees are gone by 6:15pm including the owner. About a decade ago, they eliminated the 5 1/2 day work week (1/2 day every other Saturdays) and made it a pure 5 day work week. Guaranteed 13th month pay, generous annual leave and sick leave policies, flexible lunch schedules, monthly birthday lunches, etc...

    When I had some medical issues with my twins, the owner without hesitation allowed me to work from home 3 to 4 days a week indefinitely. That kind gesture really choked me up. Wow. He told me that with skype, internet, e-mail, and cell phones, I could be just as productive at home than in the office. I was the first employee he allowed to work from home. He is a local HK man nearing his 60's. He is old school but really doing his best to change workplace policies to adapt to the modern needs of his workers. As you could imagine, everyone works hard and respects their work environment. We come in on time, work hard and leave on time. No drama.

    I know this is not a story you typically hear in Hong Kong but I'm sure there are more of these companies out there. I'm American and I also see a good work/life balance amongst the professional locals. I would not necessary say more than the US but about the same.


  7. #27

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    I also found locally owned small companies to be the best to work for here. Old school!

    Large corporations are pretty bad, although I worked at MNC's in the UK and they were the best jobs I ever had.

    The worst I've experienced are HK companies owned by expats. They seem to adopt the worst of both cultures in their business practices. The horror!


  8. #28

    So gothamtohk has a great story of how things can work really well, anyone care to tell me about their bad experiences?