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66% of Americans say they want extended European-style vacation policies at work

(www.cnbc.com)
137 points pg_1234 | 4 comments | 26 Aug 23 08:47 UTC | HN request time: 0.639s | source
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lionkor ◴[26 Aug 23 09:33 UTC] No.37271090[source]▶
> While the average American is lucky to get 11 vacation days

WHAT? Does that count sick days as well, or is that a myth?

Here in Germany, I get 30 vacation days per calendar year, plus any sick days, and thats fairly normal.

Edit: Sure the absolute salaries here are lower, but the cost of living is vastly different and the social support structures and healthcare are different, too. That should definitely be kept in mind.

I dont need to drive my car a lot, because my city is fully walkable/bikeable, and thats not a super rare thing here. There are a lot of factors.

I feel vacation days are just a basic requirement for happiness, whereas being rich maybe isnt

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cloogshicer ◴[26 Aug 23 09:49 UTC] No.37271175[source]▶
Exactly.

I live in a big European city. You basically don't need a car - pretty much anything within the city is reachable in about 30min, and public transit is comfy.

Also, I have a public transit ticket that allows me to travel the entire country for a year, which only cost about 1000€.

Yes, salaries are lower, but I also don't have to save anything to get my kids through university, or keep emergency funds for health issues.

Also, I can't just get fired without cause. And if I do get laid off, I have 3 months of grace period, plus potentially years of unemployment money.

Also, the government even pays for certain courses so I can find employment again.

The social system in Europe is amazing.

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throw0101b ◴[26 Aug 23 11:16 UTC] No.37271732[source]▶
> Also, I can't just get fired without cause. And if I do get laid off, I have 3 months of grace period, plus potentially years of unemployment money.

Which causes companies to be very slow in hiring people, because if business turns they have less flexibility. European countries have some of the highest (youth) unemployment rates in the OECD:

* https://data.oecd.org/unemp/youth-unemployment-rate.htm

* https://www.oecd.org/employment/unemployment-rates-oecd-upda...

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1. hdjjhhvvhga ◴[26 Aug 23 12:56 UTC] No.37272449[source]▶
> Which causes companies to be very slow in hiring people, because if business turns they have less flexibility.

This is not entirely true. They are more considerate in hiring which means layoffs, including mass layoffs, happen more rarely as they have consequences.

But they can fire people (and they do) when things go bad. This is one of most common reasons for firing people. What they cannot do is to fire me today and tomorrow hire someone else to exactly the same things that I was doing unless I was doing something wrong and they justify it.

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2. flashgordon ◴[26 Aug 23 17:33 UTC] No.37274934[source]▶

  Talent in Australia etc is just as awesome and doesn't burn itself out while being productive.  Having sane and "fair" working conditions goes a long way.
I was having a conversation with a senior director about 5 years ago about why not opening an office in Sydney. Plus points being high levels of professionalism and reasonable TC (stock comp being unheard off at the time). His retort was well if stock is not there people won't be incentivized. For folks talking about meaning and impact I was shocked how he couldn't fathom the idea that may be people just wanna do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay! Oh well
3. ballenf ◴[26 Aug 23 19:16 UTC] No.37275949[source]▶
I don't think you showed any part of the statement being untrue.

Kinda seems like you're just arguing that being very slow to hire has big advantages.

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4. hdjjhhvvhga ◴[27 Aug 23 10:43 UTC] No.37281349[source]▶
Sorry for being unclear: my point was about the "if business turns they have less flexibility" part (apart from, as you noticed, being of the opinion that overhiring is not a good business practice).