One Year in the UK and Can't Wait to Leave.

I have never understood how people think the UK offers a work/life balance.  I am obviously in the wrong industry here!   

Can't see any work/life balance on my end either...

All, I'm sorry. That was a bit insensitive of me. I didn't mean it as a personal attack on the original postee. I guess what I was trying to get at is to maybe give it more time?  It does seem like all the negative experiences of adapting at times outweigh the positives. It's tough to roll with the punches. So, I hope GwynH has more positive experiences in the future.

Thank you! You can stay now   

I have never understood how people think the UK offers a work/life balance.  I am obviously in the wrong industry here!   

In my experience, the work/life balance between the US and UK has been like night and day.  Perhaps it is more industry-specific rather than country-specific?  Or perhaps I've just been lucky with the group I work with?  Or perhaps my previous US employer was less work/life balanced than other US employers?

I dont necessarily think work/life balance is great in the UK as it gets manic and so busy where you're overworked and underpaid BUT the one comment I'd make RE work/life balance is where holiday comes into play. Having more annual leave where it's not some type of taboo to take the time as well as having decent sick day policies is where the UK work/life balance really outshines the US (IMO)

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I dont necessarily think work/life balance is great in the UK as it gets manic and so busy where you're overworked and underpaid BUT the one comment I'd make RE work/life balance is where holiday comes into play. Having more annual leave where it's not some type of taboo to take the time as well as having decent sick day policies is where the UK work/life balance really outshines the US (IMO)

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See I had so much more annual leave in the USA.  I worked a 9/80 schedule, so had every-other-Friday off.  Which was awesome.  Full shut down at Christmas.  Plus 15 days annual leave.  So with the week at Christmas and the bonus 26 Fridays off, I was living the dream.  Only needed to take 4 days off to have a full week off for half the time....

And let's face it - US employers tend to treat employees like grown ups... and not so much so in the UK....  I find there is a real Big Brother culture, infused with paranoia.

See I had so much more annual leave in the USA.  I worked a 9/80 schedule, so had every-other-Friday off.  Which was awesome.  Full shut down at Christmas.  Plus 15 days annual leave.  So with the week at Christmas and the bonus 26 Fridays off, I was living the dream.  Only needed to take 4 days off to have a full week off for half the time....

And let's face it - US employers tend to treat employees like grown ups... and not so much so in the UK....  I find there is a real Big Brother culture, infused with paranoia.

That last line! Yes, so much, and the quality of work is so much lower as a result. Its very frustrating. With my health issues they were easily accommodated in the US because as long as I got my work done on time, within approximately the hours I was contracted for (at any hour of the day, didn't really matter) and I showed up for conference calls everything was good. Here they are tracking everything and using that to determine your productivity when it's a really rather useless determination of the quality of work.

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When I was in the US I hated the cubicle....

Now, my kingdom for a cubicle....

I’m pretty insistent about my work life balance and don’t mind making it plain that I’m only available for extra or out of hours work in an Emergency.  And there had better be an actual fire.


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I read somewhere (here maybe? another blog?) that the toughest years as an expat are 2,3,5,7 and 10. We are on 5.5 and I can't tell you how many days lately I've been yelling about wanting to pack up and go home. I'm tired of the shitty pay, the shitty housing, the shitty political climate, the shitty service, the shitty passive aggressiveness, all of it.

We moved here in our mid to late 30s and even since 2014 its changed a lot. 2016 was like the last good year I can remember, everything has felt downhill. And what work-life balance? Both of us work long hours because we work with (pick more than one): incompetent, lazy, useless, buck-passing, pointless people who always seem to be on vacation or otherwise out of the office. I took as much vacation last year as I did in the US and I'm on my second back injury in three years from spending 60+ hours a week at work sitting on my ass, trying to deliver a project that was underscoped, badly budgeted, poorly resourced but apparently 'critical'. For that I got: no raise, no bonus, no kudos, no nothing. Other Half can't even get a damn raise in two years, hes 50% under the UK market, and he's in a high-demand field, but trying to get through the recruitment process here is a NIGHTMARE. I feel like we have been treading water for almost three years and I know we are losing money by the month due to sterling crapping out and increasing inflation.

Our dream/goal (was) to get citizenship so we could spend time here or the US or wherever in the EU - I love fall and winter here, but hate the spring and summer. Brexit more or less ruined that goal, and now we are sitting and waiting out the clock (11 more months!) so we can just get the stupid passport to have SOMETHING to show for these years and then move on. I don't want to move back until after the election anyway, but in the meantime I'd rather try and get new jobs, move to a new place, and join some new groups because this last 2.5 years has just SUCKED on all fronts.

We have a new Canadian guy at work and at some meeting where the British people talked round and round, essentially reiterating the same points but not taking a decision or responsibility, we came out of that meeting where he was shocked we got all three procurement asks. I wanted to tell him - 'no, we got two. You got the British No for the third, but they weren't going to tel you to your face that your idea for the third wasn't something they actually wanted or needed so instead they made it sound like it was a go, but they have instead kicked it into the long grass and we are to never speak of it again." Although it was great fun double teaming my terrible manager earlier this week in trying to pin the guy down on specifics and answers on this project. Excellent sport. Should do it more often.

Every word of this is absolute gospel.  I’m also working on an incredibly critical project that is so critical that no money can be spent on it and no manager can make an actual decision. 


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When I was in the US I hated the cubicle....

Now, my kingdom for a cubicle....

That same job with the every other Friday off had an office.  Now I have a desk that juts our into a walkway.  Not like I have CRAZY sensitive information up all day everyday or anything... 

I enjoy the social side of a bank of desks.  I do not enjoy knowing someone walking by can see very sensitive information,

I read somewhere (here maybe? another blog?) that the toughest years as an expat are 2,3,5,7 and 10. We are on 5.5 and I can't tell you how many days lately I've been yelling about wanting to pack up and go home. I'm tired of the shitty pay, the shitty housing, the shitty political climate, the shitty service, the shitty passive aggressiveness, all of it.

We moved here in our mid to late 30s and even since 2014 its changed a lot. 2016 was like the last good year I can remember, everything has felt downhill. And what work-life balance? Both of us work long hours because we work with (pick more than one): incompetent, lazy, useless, buck-passing, pointless people who always seem to be on vacation or otherwise out of the office. I took as much vacation last year as I did in the US and I'm on my second back injury in three years from spending 60+ hours a week at work sitting on my ass, trying to deliver a project that was underscoped, badly budgeted, poorly resourced but apparently 'critical'. For that I got: no raise, no bonus, no kudos, no nothing. Other Half can't even get a damn raise in two years, hes 50% under the UK market, and he's in a high-demand field, but trying to get through the recruitment process here is a NIGHTMARE. I feel like we have been treading water for almost three years and I know we are losing money by the month due to sterling crapping out and increasing inflation.

Our dream/goal (was) to get citizenship so we could spend time here or the US or wherever in the EU - I love fall and winter here, but hate the spring and summer. Brexit more or less ruined that goal, and now we are sitting and waiting out the clock (11 more months!) so we can just get the stupid passport to have SOMETHING to show for these years and then move on. I don't want to move back until after the election anyway, but in the meantime I'd rather try and get new jobs, move to a new place, and join some new groups because this last 2.5 years has just SUCKED on all fronts.

We have a new Canadian guy at work and at some meeting where the British people talked round and round, essentially reiterating the same points but not taking a decision or responsibility, we came out of that meeting where he was shocked we got all three procurement asks. I wanted to tell him - 'no, we got two. You got the British No for the third, but they weren't going to tel you to your face that your idea for the third wasn't something they actually wanted or needed so instead they made it sound like it was a go, but they have instead kicked it into the long grass and we are to never speak of it again." Although it was great fun double teaming my terrible manager earlier this week in trying to pin the guy down on specifics and answers on this project. Excellent sport. Should do it more often.

Hi I read your comments with interest.I have only been here for 14 months but I already experienced 3 things you laid out.
lol
I know I didn't give UK enough time to assimilate but I am giving up my right to live here because I am moving back to NY after the holiday season ends.

As someone here mentioned the greatness of NHS, I am only returning here IF I become unemployed or jobless in U.S
I won't be dying on the street and it is a comfort but in the meantime, I know I dont belong here intuitively so  I am leaving

I wish you a good luck too

Hi I read your comments with interest.I have only been here for 14 months but I already experienced 3 things you laid out.
lol
I know I didn't give UK enough time to assimilate but I am giving up my right to live here because I am moving back to NY after the holiday season ends.

I know you've put a lot of thought into this decision. So much luck to you,  jcotter. I hope the transition is seamless! 

All the best jcotter. Be happy wherever you are.

Hi I read your comments with interest.I have only been here for 14 months but I already experienced 3 things you laid out.
lol
I know I didn't give UK enough time to assimilate but I am giving up my right to live here because I am moving back to NY after the holiday season ends.

As someone here mentioned the greatness of NHS, I am only returning here IF I become unemployed or jobless in U.S
I won't be dying on the street and it is a comfort but in the meantime, I know I dont belong here intuitively so  I am leaving

I wish you a good luck too

It definitely takes more than 14 months, but my mood still swings wildly towards wanting to go home 2 years in and the feelings of having given up everything stable to be here are front and center (and then I think about health insurance and it puts things in perspective, but doesn't fix the problems). I would not recommend moving to England to anyone. I know things will continue to steadily improve, but not without a significant amount of work, and hope the government doesn't throw the country off a cliff.

Good luck with your move!

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As someone who has been in a UK-US relationship for 16 years and lives in the US, it's pretty heartbreaking what's happening before my eyes. For a while I saw definite benefits to moving to the UK (NHS, strong currency, better work-life balance, better quality of life and food, access to Europe, etc.) but I don't think any of these things are guaranteed anymore. I can't believe the direction things are headed.
Believe me, I've been desperate to find one reason why it makes more sense to live in the UK than the US, but right now I can't find a single one. Nothing about the UK is worth the stress of the immigration process, and the worries about arriving with zero credit, fewer job prospects and a severe cut in income. Sure, it's beautiful and charming in places, but it's not like you can enjoy that much when you can't make ends meet.

I'm sure it would be different if I didn't already have a settled life in the US and could come over with all my worldly possessions in a suitcase. In many ways, I wish I moved back years ago when I had less to worry about, and before they tightened up immigration laws.