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The points in the article could apply to policies/norms in Sweden as well. Here, we get at least 4 weeks of paid vacation per year, as well as some insurances and a very generous parental leave (1 year for each parent).
Any time I meet or hear about someone like this, who comes back to the US after living in western Europe, I really have to wonder about them. Especially this one: she's just complaining a lot about life in America not being as great as in Switzerland. Well, that's no surprise. What did she expect? Even worse, she's just in time for Trumpism. She couldn't have picked a worse time to come back.
Lousy work culture that produces the best output in the world. If it is so bad why don't you stay in Switzerland and give up your American passport? Something must be making up for the competitive work culture. I wonder what that is.
Oh, I know: Neglected children growing up to be unhappy at "best" and sociopaths at worst, for one.
Slightly off topic, but the beauty of Switzerland was such a stark contrast to where I grew up in New Jersey that it almost made me angry. All these people, going about their daily lives in Switzerland seemingly oblivious to the fairy-tale landscape around them!
But remember the US is huge. If you like mountains, Checkout Colorado, Montana, Alaska, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon among others : )
"Being rich ruined me for being poor and its lousy perks."
But in Switzerland, my husband's company gave employees six weeks of vacation a year. And yet, I find people get used to it and consider it normal rather than a great thing. I give my employees 36 days of paid vacation per year (7.2 weeks) and, yep, got complaints the other day when I suggested making December 22nd a mandatory holiday day(!) :-)
Slightly off topic, but the beauty of Switzerland was such a stark contrast to where I grew up in New Jersey that it almost made me angry. All these people, going about their daily lives in Switzerland seemingly oblivious to the fairy-tale landscape around them!
For example, the Singapore model can't scale. It's based on rich people and corporations arbitraging the international fiscal system. You can't have another Singapore without having another East Asia and West with it.
Swiss is definitively a privileged place that is benefiting from the overall wealth of Europe and many other countries. We can't have the niceties they are having unless we have huge leaps in overall productivity around the world.
Edit: To explain my point further. Let's say you have a Swiss watch factory that is relaying on export for 90% of its production. With this money it can afford hiring top researchers and paying very high wages even for low-skill positions. This wouldn't be possible if there wasn't a huge market to product this luxury good for (Europe, US and Asia).
The U.S. is very behind many European countries in the work-life balance department. It's kinda surprising that America – with its liberal policies for private companies – is so backwards when it comes to caring about their employees. The points in the article could apply to policies/norms in Sweden as well. Here, we get at least 4 weeks of paid vacation per year, as well as some insurances and a very generous parent…
Lousy work culture that produces the best output in the world. If it is so bad why don't you stay in Switzerland and give up your American passport? Something must be making up for the competitive work culture. I wonder what that is.