Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

seedtable.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 86 posts

Re: Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

#21

Post by simongray »

SeaSeaRider wrote: post #18
rococode wrote: post #9

I've often read that Stockholm, and Sweden in general, has great work-life balance. This list seems super cool for folks who may be interested in (what I've heard is) a more relaxed lifestyle while keeping some work excitement in their lives from a startup environment. It's really interesting to see how successful Sweden has been in pushing itself as a good home for startups. Also, is the logo on this site messed up?…

You heard wrong. Sweden has one if the longest working weeks in the EU. Normal work day starts at 8am. Most stuff that you read about Sweden (ie stuff that gets shared on socisl media) is false.

On the contrary, Swedes work some of the fewest hour per person in the OECD. The only people that work fewer hours than the Swedes are Germans, Danes, Norwegians, and the Dutch: https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-worked.htm

Re: Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

#22

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

SeaSeaRider wrote: post #18
rococode wrote: post #9

I've often read that Stockholm, and Sweden in general, has great work-life balance. This list seems super cool for folks who may be interested in (what I've heard is) a more relaxed lifestyle while keeping some work excitement in their lives from a startup environment. It's really interesting to see how successful Sweden has been in pushing itself as a good home for startups. Also, is the logo on this site messed up?…

You heard wrong. Sweden has one if the longest working weeks in the EU. Normal work day starts at 8am. Most stuff that you read about Sweden (ie stuff that gets shared on socisl media) is false.

> Normal work day starts at 8am.

No, not necessarily.

Most of my career has been spent working in Sweden and/or for Swedish companies.

At only one company of the several I have worked for — my first programming job — were employees expected to arrive at 08:00.

All the others have started at 09:00, with a fair degree of flexibility.

This isn't to say Sweden is some paradise — it categorically isn't — but let's at least be accurate with our numbers.

Re: Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

#23

Post by [deleted] »

SeaSeaRider wrote: post #18
rococode wrote: post #9

I've often read that Stockholm, and Sweden in general, has great work-life balance. This list seems super cool for folks who may be interested in (what I've heard is) a more relaxed lifestyle while keeping some work excitement in their lives from a startup environment. It's really interesting to see how successful Sweden has been in pushing itself as a good home for startups. Also, is the logo on this site messed up?…

You heard wrong. Sweden has one if the longest working weeks in the EU. Normal work day starts at 8am. Most stuff that you read about Sweden (ie stuff that gets shared on socisl media) is false.

[deleted]

Re: Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

#24

Post by bobl »

rococode wrote: post #9

I've often read that Stockholm, and Sweden in general, has great work-life balance. This list seems super cool for folks who may be interested in (what I've heard is) a more relaxed lifestyle while keeping some work excitement in their lives from a startup environment. It's really interesting to see how successful Sweden has been in pushing itself as a good home for startups. Also, is the logo on this site messed up?…

It is significantly harder to attain a high quality of life at decent cost in Stockholm these days. Especially since the housing market is high, but stalling, and there is a recession looming. Sweden pushing itself as a good home for startups seem to largely correlate with becoming a worse place to live in, and therefor to a large extent be posturing. There have also been more obviously successful startups in the past then there are now. Moving to Stockholm could still be the right move for some people, but I would advice looking at the situation carefully beforehand.

Re: Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

#25

Post by imartin2k »

RavlaAlvar wrote: post #14

How hard would it be for a non-eu citizen to get a working visa in Sweden?

It depends a lot on how much the company that you apply to would need you. Of course there is also a factor of luck and dependency on the immigration authorities' processes (particularly now that Brexit is said to occupy a lot of resources). But if you have a skill set which is highly in need, your chances should not be tooo bad.

Be aware though that finding a good apartment in Stockholm is extremely hard right now. Although even the craziest rents are way below the SF Bay Area (but of course the pay is, too).

Re: Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

#26

Post by yitchelle »

dmitriid wrote: post #20
SeaSeaRider wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You heard wrong. Sweden has one if the longest working weeks in the EU. Normal work day starts at 8am. Most stuff that you read about Sweden (ie stuff that gets shared on socisl media) is false.

> Sweden has one if the longest working weeks in the EU. Normal work day starts at 8am. We're talking about startups on a website mostly for programmers, right? Programmers enjoy nearly free work schedule. I've seen people come at work at 7 in the morning and leave at three in the evening. Or come to work at 10 and leave at 7. Second, work-life balance is paramount in Sweden. No one will bat an eye if you have to pic…

Speaking from Germany, what you have described is true for here as well.

Re: Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

#27

Post by yakshaving_jgt »

chosenbreed37 wrote: post #17
drakonka wrote: post #12

I am lucky enough to have lived and worked in tech in Stockholm for a little more than six years now. I originally moved here specifically for the game development industry and it is so nice to see it (along with tech companies in general) continue to grow and evolve here. As an employee there is a vast array of employer options and coupled with the work-life balance for me it's pretty much the perfect place to live…

Nice. Have you worked anywhere else in Europe? How does it compare to Berlin? Are the salaries comparable with other major European cities? You say work life balance is great but I hear it can be expensive to live there. What's your experience? Is English widely spoken in offices or do people have to learn Swedish in order to work effectively?

It is expensive to live there. If you're a programmer, you will live a far more comfortable life living and working in Poland than you would in Sweden, despite how much Swedes tend to look down their nose at the Polish.

I speak from experience.

If you're working a low/zero skill job, you would be far better off in Sweden, although the market is extremely competitive.

Sweden has a major problem with housing, so you can forget renting an apartment in a major city — you will spend roughly 18 years on a waiting list to be able to rent anything in the centre of Gothenburg. This isn't hyperbole.

Just about everyone speaks English. Some younger people actually speak English more correctly than a significant proportion of the English population in England. Unsurprisingly, learning Swedish language and culture helps you blend in. It's not a particularly difficult language anyway.

Re: Best Startups to Work for in Stockholm

#29

Post by mselivanov »

RavlaAlvar wrote: post #14

How hard would it be for a non-eu citizen to get a working visa in Sweden?

Demand for programmers is very high. Given that you speak English and have good programming skills getting job in Stockholm is pretty easy. In my current team there're 3 Russians, 3 Brasilians and one Iranian(among non-EU workers). All of them were relocated by the company. The relocation takes up to several months.
Post reply on HN