Reply to European Expansion: Eye-Opening, Frustrating, and Possibly Not Worth It

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "European Expansion: Eye-Opening, Frustrating, and Possibly Not Worth It - Underperforming employee culture"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Work isn’t the most important thing in life. If you don’t know that now, you’ll likely realize it on your deathbed.[/quote]

+1.

European work culture has it right. [/quote]

Not if you want to actually earn money. [/quote]

Incorrect.  My entire family is in Europe and they make really good money. My H works for an international company and the European are getting paid very well. Americans are buried in debt, the net worth here is actually pretty low. [/quote]

Exactly. Most Americans have been sold this BS that you have to hustle non-stop in order to make money because that's the only thing that matters in life. Europeans in general have a much better sense of balance and their lives on average are much better than those living in 4000 sq ft houses in the US[/quote]

If you say so. I personally don’t want to work 5 fewer hours a week so I can cram my entire family into a tiny house. Make fun of large American homes all you want, but they are way more comfortable, and pretty much every European would buy a larger home if they could afford it.

[/quote]
But ask them if they'd give up their work life balance for that bigger paycheck and house, and most would say no.  Look at the happiest countries in the world.  US doesn't even break the T20. Countries with generous leave make the Top20.

[img]https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeyb1LBsuMu82v0dQj4YdRVZFokSMovOv5cd3rI6cWhA_-WqBP5hlyteA8PKGT5fQtotRRsHbvBm_YQxT2nOPKF1qkjxYNuuAQlsxjVFE2rODeq6Rli27kP9RrFhzA_VbSL_pS7_Q?key=QqQrzorQlpqJsedWOFZFyoTo[/img][/quote]

Eh those studies are biased and heavily dependent on how people consider happiness and what their standard is.

[/quote]
so, Americans have more sh&+ but they are still unhappy, work too much,  and complain a lot compared to those other countries. Got it.[/quote]

Don't forget fat. And all that sh* is poor quality.  Working 10 hours, commuting 2 more so you can buy polyester at Macy's and overpriced diabetes medication.  Don't get me started on the quality of the housing.  [/quote]

Have you even known any Europeans personally? Because I have and I don’t get the impression their lifestyle is much, if at all, better. I’ll give you they eat healthier food and there are fewer overweight people, but I myself am not friends with anyone who is grossly overweight and most people I know eat a healthy diet.

My European friends struggle with the same things as Americans and appear to have a lot less disposable income. What stands out the most is that two white collar professionals have a very limited income that doesn’t allow for outsourcing of any kind. So while they may have an extra 2 weeks of vacation than I do, they can’t afford to go out to dinner as a family, spend their extra time cleaning their house, and vacation by traveling to less expensive locations like Spain. My lifestyle looks opulent compared to theirs and almost embarrassing when they ask me questions about it.

It’s also anecdotal but my European friends appear to have a lot less flexibility at work. I get the impression it’s much more clock in/out mentality and the need to meet every rule, but not a common sense approach to work.

A lot of the advantages they have you could also apply here. You could live in a 1,100 square foot home and commute to work via bus or bike. You could shop at farmers markets and buy less stuff. Here you have the choice. [/quote]

My European co-workers get more vacation but way less money. For instance my 24 and 23 year old kids both working have apartments and both are going on vacation in Europe this summer plus doing beach weekends, trips to Cancun, weekends in NYC and Boston. My 24 year old makes 90K base with a 20K bonus. Her friend who is 25 from HS makes 140k These are salaries of middle aged men with grad degrees in Europe.

I dont outsource anything. I dont thing that is issue. And they have nothing to outsource anyhow. My big Boss at my European company lived in a small house in Germany that believe it or not was rent controlled. He only had one kid. He told me every year he visits his parents house at beach for one month and puts a note up for landlord on all repairs and maint he has to do. Not his job. He had one car on a lease from my company. We paid for it. And did the maint. What is he outsourcing? And my company had a wonderful subsidized cafe at work he have breakfast and lunch in every day.  With only one kid and his parents and her parents nearby they had free babysitting if needed even if they wanted to go on vacation without kid.

It is a nanny state there wtih many         [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics