Quit work?

I was out having dinner last night with an old college classmate who is working for a big MNC phone company in a senior position. In her work, she has to travel globally quite a lot and has tele-conferences with people from different time zones which often deprive her from sleep. After 12 years with the company and climbing to her level, she declared that she is really tired and thinking of retirement. With the economic crisis now, her company is offering voluntary retrenchment packages to all non-critical personnel. She's aiming to take that package but desperately needs to convince her boss that she's not critical. She claimed that she's really tired from working so hard for 16 years after graduation which is the same amount of time that I have been working.

So, am I tired from work? I am not sure. Comparing myself to her, my work is not that demanding and I am definitely not deprived of sleep because of work, not since at least 4 and a half years ago. In fact, my work is so non-demanding that I can actually do my online MBA during office hours, so I really have nothing to complain about. But of course, comparing to her, I am not getting that kind of pay package for that kind of work stress and responsibilities. She brought up an interesting point about the different work ethics of the westerners and Asians. She has staff from Europe and the US when on vacation leaves, will totally be non-contactable but her Asian, especially Singaporean staff will always make sure that they are contactable and are always willing to give up more of their private lives for the sake of work. And the most infuriatingly unfair thing is that the Europeans and the Americans are usually paid much higher salaries. So why do the Asians have to work so much harder? Are we by nature workaholics or is it just simply due to way that we are being brought up? Or is it because we are just being scared of losing our jobs? Is this our competitive edge?

My sister-in-law has quit her job to spend more time with her 3 children and her husband has been retrenched a few months ago. I am not sure how they can afford to do that but I am quite envious of them. To be able to quit one's job to spend time with the children is a far-fetched luxury for me. I am afraid to lose my job, I have 2 children and a mum to take care of. I am grateful that I am still having a well-paying job now when the whole world is in crisis and I definitely hope that the economy will recover soon. I am not feeling guilty that I do not have time for my children because of my work, I know that our lives will be even worse if I do not have work and for that, I am grateful to my company for keeping me employed. For those of you out there thinking about how you hated your work, think about how lucky you are that you have work instead. And for those of you who are able to quit work and still put food on the table for your family, you are the most lucky ones.