[Servant of the Nine]

"Social life is nil in such a job, as you spend 10 to 12 hours at the office at nights and then spend the rest of the day sleeping while others around you are active,"

US workers work longer hours and more days than any other nation. When some country wonders why it can't get out of the third world, it might consider working their asses off.

So9

[expat_panama]

US workers work longer hours and more days than any other nation..

According to the Economist magazine, this is only partially true.  US workers do work a lot more hours than say, the French, Germans, and other European workers.  But even though Asians may work more hours than Americans, their productivity is a lot less.  The reason is that while Asians work more, Americans work smarter.

It is nice to be able to get someone to answer the phone when I call tech support-- I really don't mind talking to someone overseas.  I only wish the poor sap would just (a) post his troubleshooting flow chart on the web so I could read it directly, and (b) develop the skill to creatively deal with the unexpected so he could fix my computer. 

But those workers that can do that, end up costing more or working elsewhere.