The “Overtime Culture” in a Global Corporation

This article uses a multilevel model to study financial professionals' expressed interest in working part-time. The sample includes 260 financial professionals in the United States, Hong Kong, and Great Britain who do similar work for one division of one multinational company headquartered in the United States. The authors find that the hours worked are similarly long across countries. Critical constituents, that is, employees with family responsibilities, are most likely to be interested in part-time work. Even net of critical constituency, however, Hong Kong finance professionals are much more likely than their American and British counterparts to be interested in reduced-hour arrangements. American finance professionals are least likely to express interest in working part-time, suggesting a strongly American emphasis on a culture of overtime in this U.S.-headquartered global company.