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

cnbc.com

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

#4
> 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

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

#7

As much as I like my vacations, I would rather prefer US salary over it.

Does the US salary hold up against the benefits you get in a well-off EU country? Namely free healthcare, automatic payments into pension fund, strong social system if you're ever in trouble, etc.?

It seems to me that, as high as US salaries are, they arent that much higher compared to European salaries when you factor all this in, plus the face that a month of that work youre paid for youre OOO

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

#8
post #4

> 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…

When I first joined a US startup, they said "you can take unlimited PTO -- we suggest starting with a week per year"... I negotiated that up to the five weeks that are standard here in Denmark.

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

#9
post #6

Did the survey ask if they wanted a pay cut to match European style wages?

Fair question. I think many Americans in higher income brackets would say yes; it’s just that they’d never had the option. Ditto on a 4 day work week.

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

#10
post #6

Did the survey ask if they wanted a pay cut to match European style wages?

I suspect the survey results will change drastically if each person was shown this table: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disposable_household_and_per_c...
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