Germany explores 4-day workweek amid labor shortage

Post by FlyingSnake » Thu, Feb 01, 2024, 8:22 PM UTC

pitkali wrote: post #62

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I spent the summer in Berlin and, as an American That's a pretty bad way to get an impression of a whole country. That's like those American tourists visiting only the instagramable parts of Paris and Rome and then say they "saw Europe" lol. Especially that Berlin is basically an American/Expat enclave in Germany where the native Germans are a minority to the point they're annoyed that nobody at cafes, bars and rest…

> Especially that Berlin is basically an American/Expat enclave in Germany where the native Germans are a minority to the point they're annoyed that nobody at cafes, bars and restaurants can take their orders in German. This is a pretty tired trope. As an immigrant living in Berlin since 2020, first in Prenzlauer Berg and now in Schöneweide, I still haven't found those enclaves that even speak English, let alone don'…

Post by pi-e-sigma » Thu, Feb 01, 2024, 8:28 PM UTC

harryf wrote: post #45

mushufasa wrote: post #20

I spent the summer in Berlin and, as an American, was a bit culture shocked by how little time people worked, and how so many people I met bragged about collecting paid time off for reasons they admitted to making up, which the government enforced all employers must allow. As an employer, I'd be afraid of hiring in countries like Germany for an international workforce if that meant I have to have a patchwork of speci…

One issue is the way taxes work in Germany that disincentives entering the middle rungs of a career ladder. Like if you’re a software engineer and want to become an engineering manager, you might end up earning less after tax as a manager than you did as an engineer as your salary increase puts you in a new tax bracket. Otherwise Germanys economy is optimized to support medium to large German companies with export bu…

Post by pi-e-sigma » Thu, Feb 01, 2024, 8:31 PM UTC

anticensor wrote: post #17

freitzkriesler2 wrote: post #3

I wish someone would investigate what a 6 day week would look like(4 work, 2 off). This article was always a fun exercise what if scenario and if world wide agreement could come to be, would be an innovation on par with the 40 hour work week. https://calendars.fandom.com/wiki/6-Day_Week_Solar_Calendar_...

Religious people would object violently.

Post by shasts » Thu, Feb 01, 2024, 8:35 PM UTC

mgraupner wrote: post #64

shasts wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can confirm this. My wife has a master's degree in engineering from a TU9(top 9 universities in Germany).And a B2 language certificate. She has not found a job so far. Been more than a year and half since she started actively applying. At times she ticks all the requirements in the job description, and still no luck. She is planning to go to a bakery starting next week. The guy at the bakery was so surprised to see s…

So she's got a degree in engineering from here in Germany, knows the language pretty well, but can't land a job here? I don't know where you are in Germany, but that sounds pretty much unbelievable. I live in Bavaria in a mid-sized town with 140.000 residents. I know companies here where almost half the staff is Indian/other nationality and it does not matter at all how good your German is (I know multiple Indians wo…

Post by FirmwareBurner » Thu, Feb 01, 2024, 8:45 PM UTC

lutrinus wrote: post #42

mushufasa wrote: post #20

I spent the summer in Berlin and, as an American, was a bit culture shocked by how little time people worked, and how so many people I met bragged about collecting paid time off for reasons they admitted to making up, which the government enforced all employers must allow. As an employer, I'd be afraid of hiring in countries like Germany for an international workforce if that meant I have to have a patchwork of speci…

Interestingly, as a German who lives in a bubble where people take their jobs very seriously, I was equally surprised when I experienced pretty much what you described while visiting the US. I guess there are “proud to be lazy” kind of people in any country. It’s definitely not a widespread German cultural thing, though, from my experience.