They want people who may be really unhappy to stick around 3 months? That is really surprising to me. I know not everyone who leaves a job is unhappy but many are
People don’t always quit because they are unhappy. They may be reasonably content but got a better offer, they may be planning on moving, they may be retiring, they may have decided to try working in a new field…
What are you calling the rest of the world? Not busting your chops; I just didn’t know most other industrial countries weren’t closer to us. A couple I am aware of its more like 2 weeks to a month. but that’s a couple former SSRs.
Note that 2 weeks is, in most places, just by custom. In most places in the US, unless you signed a contract otherwise, you can quit on the spot at any time, or be fired at any time.
Presumably the employer would like as much notice as possible, because it will let them restaff without a gap. Of course, if you give them too much notice, they might restaff before you’re ready to leave and then you’re gone anyway.
In Canada, notice requirements are essentially a provision for severance pay. In theory the employee is required to give notice and work for the notice period, or the employer could fire, and give notice, and require the employee to work out the notice, but in practice the notice period is converted to cash in lieu. If the labour standards law says two weeks notice, then the employer pays two weeks wages right away.
Here’s a link to the Ontario chart for notice requirements. (I’m using Ontario because its labour laws probably apply to the single largest group of employees in Canada). It’s basically one week notice for each year worked for that employer.
India is 3 months , I work with Indians. I’ve heard Europe is 3 months too. Don’t know about Asia, South America, etc. What I heard about India is if you don’t stay 3 months it’s a bad black mark against you in your next job.
And yes many US people quit with no notice and are fired with no notice too. Been laid off myself 2 times with no notice.
I don’t know about the rest of Asia, but Japan and Taiwan are definitely not three months. Generally a couple of weeks, sometimes up to a month. My friend is quitting and was asked to stay for two month. Another friend had a part time job and they had wanted two months, but that was laughable.
I suspect that three months is simply an India thing, but maybe our European doppers can check in.
also heard in India many people think they should be managers (more than in the US) but obviously not everyone can be a manager. And I’ve heard recently that many places have decided the cost savings with India staff is not worth it due to low quality of work. So they are moving work back here. Penny wise and pound foolish. I even know a guy from India who got rid of his India staff due to quality issues and the time zone difference.
Doesn’t surprise me in the least based on my experience. I once worked for company B that was using a small service contract with company A to try to get their foot in the door to take over some work that was currently done by company C (who’s main service desk was in India). While they were waiting to see if they could get the other contracts, B ran their service calls from the US and made sure to provide top-notch service. When the contracts came up for renewal and company A decided to stay with company C for all of the other work, company B moved the service desk to South America. They still fulfilled the terms of the contract, but things were much slower to get resolved and communications were a big issue.
And from what I heard from people who remained, the account managers ended up having to spend about half their time translating between the South American people working for B and Indian people working for C because they couldn’t understand each other’s accents.
Happy story: I got an offer to start teaching (college, full-time) three days before the semester started. I told the school I MIGHT need two weeks’ notice and they said “Well, okay, but your classes will be taught by a different substitute teacher every day…”
So I went into work and told the receptionist that I needed to talk to the Big Boss, but I wanted to wait 'til she was in a bad mood. “Really? Well, you won’t have long to wait today! I think she has one of her doozies building up in there…”
Got the word, walked in, said I got the teaching job I always wanted, but I wanted to give her a good two weeks so my projects could transition smoo…“NO! You are deserting us! You get out NOW!”
“Hello, school? No problem, I can be there tomorrow for teacher training!”
It’s been a long time so I may be misremembering, but I thought I gave six weeks notice in South Africa. I think that was standard at the time.
In those places that expect 3 months notice, do they give you three months notice when you’re laid off?
@Bijou Drains
I’m not clear on your comment / question - are you saying that in the “rest of the world” if an employee quits their job, the employee must give their employer 3 months notice !?! I’ve worked in Canada, Europe and Asia and I’ve never heard that. Do you have a source for that?
Or are you talking about the severance a employer must give the employee when they terminate the employee? That sounds more like it. In my experience, most countries have far more generous severance laws than North America.
@Northern Piper
Re: Ontario
I’m not clear from your comment - If the OP is talking about the notice period an employee gives their employer, my understanding for Ontario is that employees are legally required to give the employer one “pay period” notice if they are quitting.
If you’re paid weekly, you’re required to give your employer one weeks notice, if paid monthly; one months notice and so on. This is unless you’ve signed an employment contract that provides for more notice. If the employer wants the employee gone sooner, they’re obligated to pay them out for the balance of the pay period (effectively, the “notice period”).
The “one week per year” is the minimum severance pay that an employer must pay the employee if they terminate the employee. (Which I don’t think is the OP’s question.)
Has that changed?
I had to actually look up what it is here, because I honestly had no clue - between one and four weeks depending on how long you’ve worked, apparently. That’s the official standard for what your employer has to give you, and I’d normally assume it was reciprocal.
I had to look it up because I would normally just give ridiculous amounts of notice myself - I told my last job I was leaving to go study as soon as my application was accepted (that was about three months before), and other notices I’ve given have been similar or longer. I may be weird in that I’ve never looked for a job while stably employed at another, though.
I can’t top my husband though - he once gave a year’s notice (that was a back-to-study one too. His boss thought he was joking at first…)
I gave a six month notice three months ago but I am retiring for good. Two other co-workers are also retiring. One gave three months, one gave four months.
Retirement is different, people in the US often give a month or 2 or 3 months notice. Some even give a year. But I know people who gave 2 weeks for retirement because they were very unhappy with their job.
I am asking about notice when someone quits. For 3 months outside the US the source is a friend of mine so he could be wrong.
@ Aspidistra
I think this assumption is wrong. In most places they recognize that it’s far easier for an employer to find a new employee than an employee to find a new suitable job. Additionally, governments want to encourage workers to change to better paying jobs, upgrade their skills through education, improve their standard of living and pay more taxes etc. Having to wait long notice periods to leave a job is a disincentive to switching jobs.
Certainly in the EU and other countries (outside the US and to a degree Canada) workers rights are considered important, so the longer notice / severance period for employers is designed to provide a disincentive to capriciously firing workers. Fired workers who can’t find a job end up costing society.
One company I worked for wanted to close a French factory (low productivity, poor quality and high wages), but French law (maybe 15 years ago) said if they shut the factory, they had to continue paying the workers full salary until retirement age then pay them retirement.
@ hajario
retirement is usually a very different case. If you’re happy with the company, you’re trying to give them lots of time to find and train someone to replace you and leave on a positive note. But the long notice period is still your decision, it’s not legally required. I do know people that were unhappy said F-you and gave the minimum one weeks notice.
Plus, I’m sure in your case, they need ample time to plan a huge retirement party. 
Fair enough.
I recall a Swedish co-worker telling me it’s something like three months there. Of course if that’s the norm, the people at the new place know to wait.
My understanding from my German son-in-law and a Swiss worker is that most higher level people were on contracts. It is difficult to quit before your contract expires, but it is also difficult for them to fire you until then. My son-in-law had to stay in this contracting job a few weeks after my daughter moved back to the US until his contract ran out.
Whenever the international companies I worked for had a layoff the notification was for the US with a proviso that European layoffs would be done differently.
I don’t know about India, but people seemed to walk away from our design center there at a moment’s notice, and others got hired without having to wait.
I gave two weeks notice at my last employment, selling computer systems. The boss accepted my resignation immediately. Was I fired? It sure felt like it.