"" The average is somewhere around ten to fourteen days per year not including the three public holidays; however, most choose not to claim much of their voluntary entitlement2. To most Europeans, the notion of not taking vacation time when it is entitled to them would sound quite absurd. The American would either much rather take the cash for working extra days, or feels that if one leaves, their jobs would be threatened because the company would realize that they are replaceable. What Americans choose to do with that extra money may explain the cultural difference in that respect. Americans are notoriously materialistic and the extra hours are put in so that they could purchase something iconic of their job status. While it may be in American culture to work more, it may not be doing as much for their productivity as one might think. Americans are much more prone to becoming burnt-out' from working excessively leading to less quality work hours.
Some of the ideas I expressed above about Americans even started to sound peculiar to me as I was writing them, but Europe is a stark contrast of equal peculiarity. Why? Maybe because of the large taxes individuals pay discourage longer hours and degrades the work ethic of the entire nation. According to the Sunday Business Group, Germans are working seventeen percent less hours, down to 1400 hours annually, than they were in 1980's while Americans keep rolling at forty hours per week or 1800 annually3. However, Germany is the world's third largest economy.
Perhaps Europe should be looking toward "Ireland, whom has been setting the pace by improving its GDP per person employed at more than twice the rate of that in America between 1980 and 2001.4- Ireland offers corporate tax breaks that appeal to multi-lateral corporations and encourage them to build or expand businesses within Ireland's boarders. It is the ideal place to locate for the European market given its unique position as the western-most country in the European Union.