7 Differences I Found Working for US & UK Companies

Brits and Americans do things poles apart

From my experience working for both UK and US companies, things are not always done in the same way. I am a Brit who has worked in many multinational companies. On several occasions, I have worked closely with colleagues in the US. I have even had a manager based in New York, so I feel like I have enough experience to form an opinion on the differences between work culture in the UK and the US.

I would like to stress before some wiseguy calls me out for stereotyping whole nations. This is just from my personal experience and may not be the standard across the board.

However, it was clear that even in companies in diverse industries; I was seeing similar patterns from UK and US workers that indicate the unique differences that may have been influenced by location. These are 7 things I noticed that were different in the UK & the US working environments.

1. UK workers talk more fluff vs the US talk more directly

I found that small talk can be a bit of a problem in the UK. We often spend half the meeting going around asking each person on the call how their weekend was and if they have any future plans. Although I do think there is a time and a place for this, sometimes it really eats into your day and can actually increase stress levels, as there is less time to get the work done.

My US colleagues, in contrast, who I found equally friendly, may start the call with a bit of chit-chat, but it never seems to drag on. There always seemed to be a tighter agenda to stick to and conversations more focused on the work.

2. US workers appear ‘happier’ to do overtime

Happier maybe the wrong choice of words here. Maybe willing is more accurate. But I found that in the UK if you ask someone from the UK to stay late or attend a call after 6 pm, you need to have a seriously good reason. Even a few minutes after 5 seems like an absolute p**s take.

Work ethic in the US seems to be a lot higher. Or they are more accepting to just get on with it to meet any last-minute deadlines. But there too does seem to be more of an expectation in the US to do longer hours.

According to research by Foothold America, the average British employee works 37.4 hours a week, where the average American works around 40 hours.

This stat is an understatement of my personal experience. Most Americans I have worked with often work way more hours than this, and don’t even seem to complain about it.

3. US workers glass half full vs UK workers more glass half empty

As expressed in the above point, Americans appear to be able to just get on with work a bit more and have fewer complaints throughout the day. We Brits love a good moan. And we are not ashamed to admit it. Whether that be moaning about the shite weather or moaning about policies. If we are ever asked to do anything more than what is on our job description, expect a sigh and a whine to come your way.

I think this point is not just work-related but in general. Again, without generalizing, from my own experience, Americans seem to be a bit more happy-go-lucky with Brits more pessimistic. This can often translate into the workforce.

4. Pay in the US is WAY higher

I’m not bitter about this, I swear. Maybe this is why people in the US seem a lot happier! US workers may be more inclined to go the extra mile, as they are handsomely rewarded for doing so.

Despite London and New York both being crazy expensive and similar costs of living, rates in NY are way higher. The average salary in the US vs the UK is very different.

British employees typically make £52,000 for a senior position, compared to the US where positions are paid much higher at $104,940.

With this in mind, I would probably be a lot more willing to do a few work overtime hours. And maybe complain less.

5. Holidays in the US are non-existent vs holidays in the UK are everything

Pay may be much higher in the US as workers do longer hours and rarely get extended periods off.

Holidays in the UK are around 5 weeks, compared to 2 weeks in the US, with US employees usually only take a week.

Holidays are protected by UK law and people are much more precious about them than in the US. In terms of talking points, discussing future holidays is up there with weather chat. A big part of the culture in the UK is working towards your next vacation. People in the US often don’t even use their full allocation. I am yet to meet a Brit who doesn’t take all of their holiday days!

6. UK workers get better benefits and are protected better by unions

Again, this may explain large differences in pay. In the UK, workers are entitled to much more benefits than in the US. Better sick pay, longer maternity time off, and way more holidays as expressed before. We Brits don’t have it all bad.

In general, I think UK employees have more rights and are treated better in many cases. I was working as a contractor for a large tech company and our team was going through a restructure. This led to redundancies. I remember it being a lot more brutal in the US. Employees were only given a day's notice, often fired on the spot. You would ask about someone in the US team and their manager would nonchalantly say, “ they have left”, with not much thought or emotion.

In the UK, we were entitled to a 1–3 month notice and had to go through a long-winded consultation to express why we were getting let go. This is again influenced by UK law, where it seems employees are a lot more protected than their US counterparts.

7. Seniority seems to matter much more in the US

Don’t get me wrong, in both the UK and US, hierarchies matter in the corporate world. But I feel from my experience, hierarchy is everything in the US.

My US-based manager in our team meetings would often talk about how someone is more senior than another employee, so we should contact them or listen to their feedback and not the junior employees.

When I was working in a UK-based company, I found the hierarchy to be a lot flatter. As a junior employee, I was often in meetings with Directors and very senior members of staff. They would listen to my feedback and take my advice on board as I was a specialist in an area outside their know-how.

In the US, there were similar cases where my manager would listen to my explanation of a certain task before attending meetings with senior members of staff, often not inviting me.

This isn’t a sob story. I wasn’t hurt that I wasn’t invited to the meeting. In fact, I was just happy to leave on time and was busy counting the days down until my next holiday!

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