MUMBAI :  A new global study from CareerBuilder shows that a typical day in the office is not so typical across the globe: When you look at the average workday in the 10 largest economies around the world, you begin to see how alike workers can be—and also where they differ the most. The global survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive© from May 9 to June 5, 2013, included more than 5,000 hiring managers and human resource professionals in countries with the largest gross domestic product.

INFOGRAPHIC:http://cb.com/1gnMhxK

Driving vs. Public Transportation

Advertisement

While the 10 countries surveyed have the largest economies on the planet, they also have some of the largest populations, but instead of taking public transportation or using other ways of getting to work, the majority of workers indicate they drive themselves to work every day,
•    U.S. 82%
•    Brazil: 74%
•    China: 69%
•    Germany: 63%
•    France: 62%
•    Italy: 60%
•    Russia: 60%
•    U.K.: 58%
•    India: 52%
•    Japan: 44%

Suit and tie optional

Of the 10 surveyed countries, India is the only place you’ll see the majority of workers in business formal attire (50 percent), such as suits. In every other surveyed country, business casual (e.g., slacks, button-down shirts, sweaters) is the standard dress code as below
•    U.S. 64%
•    Brazil: 57%
•    Italy 51%
•    UK: 51%
•    Russia: 50%
•    China: 49%
•    France: 45%
•    Germany: 45%
•    Japan: 42%
•    India: 36%

Advertisement

Communication preference

Although everyone might seem to be glued to their smartphones, tablets and laptops these days, face-to-face conversations still rule the workplace. In all 10 surveyed countries, in-person communication beat electronic messages such as emails, texts and instant messages by large margins, with phone conversations being the least used.

•    U.S.: 
o    Face-to-face: 59%
o    Digital: 30%
o    Phone: 10%
•    UK:
o    Face-to-face: 68%
o    Digital: 20%
o    Phone: 11%
•    France:
o    Face-to-face: 79%
o    Digital: 15%
o    Phone: 6%
•    Germany:
o    Face-to-face: 73%
o    Digital: 15%
o    Phone: 13%
•    Italy:
o    Face-to-face: 66%
o    Digital: 23%
o    Phone: 11%
•    Russia:
o    Face-to-face: 80%
o    Digital: 10%
o    Phone: 9%
•    India:
o    Face-to-face: 60%
o    Digital: 23%
o    Phone: 17%
•    China:
o    Face-to-face: 81%
o    Digital: 16%
o    Phone: 2%
•    Japan:
o    Face-to-face: 42%
o    Digital: 32%
o    Phone: 27%
•    Brazil:
o    Face-to-face: 45%
o    Digital: 32%
o    Phone: 23%

Advertisement

Socializing with coworkers

Socializing with coworkers outside of office hours can be a good way to learn about your colleagues or relax after a hard day at work. Yet, not everyone is eager to participate. Workers in China and India are more than twice as likely to attend social events than workers in Germany and the U.S.When asked do you socialize with coworkers, the following said yes,
•    China: 98%
•    India: 93%
•    Brazil: 76%
•    Russia: 68%
•    Japan: 66%
•    France: 64%
•    UK: 55%
•    Italy: 53%
•    US: 41% 
•    Germany: 38%

Hours spent at work each week

Advertisement

The number of hours workers spend at work is pretty consistent around the world, but while Chinese workers spend slightly less time at work each week, they report (29 percent) bringing work home with them at least once a week, higher than the other countries.
How many hours do you work each week?
•    31-40: U.K. (47%), China (46%)
•    41-50: Japan (48%), U.S. (47%), India (46%), Germany (44%), Brazil (43%), Italy (42%), Russia (40%), France (37%)

How often are youbringing work home?
•    US: 
o    1 Day a week: 18%
o    Never: 26%
•    UK:
o    1 Day a week: 17%
o    Never: 30%
•    France:
o    1 Day a week: 19%
o    Never: 32%
•    Germany:
o    1 Day a week: 19%
o    Never: 39%
•    Italy:
o    1 Day a week: 25%
o    Never: 43%
•    Russia:
o    1 Day a week: 25%
o    Never: 39%
•    India:
o    1 Day a week: 26%
o    Never: 29%
•    China:
o    1 Day a week: 29%
o    Never: 30%
•    Japan:
o    1 Day a week: 18%
o    Never: 59%
•    Brazil:
o    1 Day a week: 22%
o    Never: 30%

Advertisement

Taking vacation

When asked how many days they took off from vacation, workers had strikingly different answers depending on where they live. Italian workers took off the fewest days, with the nearly two-thirds majority taking 7 days or fewer (64%). Forty-six percent of Japanese workers took more than 35 days off, more than workers in any other countries.
•    0-7 days:
o    Italy: 64%
o    UK: 29%
o    Brazil: 20%
•    8-14 days:
o    India: 34%
o    U.S.: 27%
•    15-21 days:
o    China: 28%
•    22-28 days:
o    Russia: 35%
o    France: 25%
•    29-35 days:
o    Germany: 30%
•    35+ days: 
o    Japan: 46%

Survey Methodology

Advertisement

This survey was conducted online within the U.S., Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.K. by Harris Interactive©on behalf of CareerBuilder among400 to 2,279 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, government and non-government) in each country between May 9 and June 5, 2013 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples ranging from 400 to 2,279, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error between +/- 4.9 and +/-2.05 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.