I’m thinking about a young friend of mine in the UK who just got an entry-level job with an alternative energy provider after graduating from university with a master’s degree.

He’ll be making about £35,000.00 per annum, which I am told is a very decent starting wage in England, with the expectation that within a few years he’ll be making quite a bit more than that.

What was really interesting to me as an American were his working conditions and holiday/vacation time. He’s not expected to put in more than 8 hours a day, and company culture actively discourages long days rather than encouraging them.

What was most surprising to me is that he already has 30 days of vacation time per year, which he can start taking once he’s put three months in on the job.

This is all but unheard of in the United States, as I’m sure you know, and it’s really not all that common in the UK either. The company hypes shorter working hours and generous vacation policies as reasons they’re a great place to work.

In fact, they’re consistently ranked as one of the best places to work in the UK.

Al Gore’s energy foundation just endorsed the company by investing a rather enormous amount of money with them, and the UK energy regulator just endorsed them by handing over hundreds of thousands of customers from a recently collapsed provider, so their policies are not making them uncompetitive in the marketplace.

I suppose it’s a matter of culture, though. Will Brits and Americans accept shorter hours and better working conditions? We’re sort of conditioned against it, aren’t we?

A number of people I know are saying my young friend is spoiled and his company is pampering him. That’s the kind of attitude that works against better working conditions.