A look at the numbers behind remote work and increased vacation time not being the solution to a work-life-balance.
YouTube comments:
“If you want to make real $ there is no such thing as work life balance.”
I quit my $120k job
I decided to quit my job after I realized these 3 lessons. Although I heard of these 3 things before, they never clicked inside my head until these events happened in my life.
YouTube comments:
“If you don’t have a dream, someone will hire you to build their dreams.”
“I think the scariest thing for most people (myself included) is leaving the security of the job that you have. When you sent have another form of income already leaving that job can be terrifying.”
“I can relate to your experiences when you told the story about the interaction with your parents. I have a similar experience and I realized this has gotten worse when I put my well being: mentally and physically on the back burner for work. The biggest turning point for me is when I started to see my parents physical changes from old age; graying of hair, memory declining and just not recovering as quickly as they used to. That’s when I realized I f’d up. The excuses of I’m too busy to see them or the free time that is being sacrificed is for what? To out-compete your colleagues or hustle more than what is expected from the job description? We are expendable as you said. I took a seat back and started to see this toxic culture that it is “ok” to work off hours or be on call at a moment’s notice EVEN when you are on vacation; it’s not ok. It’s starting to crack and wake people up. The pandemic just accelerated it and you see stories of people wanting to take their lives back by pushing for WFH or do what is expected from you. Nothing more nothing less. My point to this story is that this isn’t unique. I feel there are many of us who are feeling this way and it’s not too late to change. Just need to make a commitment and walk that path.”
Why I left my tech job
Tech jobs are known to have some of the most lavish benefits and perks, not to mention some of the highest salaries in the country. Still, that is not enough to keep some millennials from quitting. CNBC Make It spoke to several people who left their lucrative tech jobs to find out why they did it and what they are doing now.
YouTube comments:
“I am 50 years old working in the high tech industry, mentally tired and sick of the weekly 8 to 5 routine. Never got a proper day off even through the pandemic. Hats off to the millenials and GenZ that think differently and put more weight on LIVING rather than just WORKING.”
“As someone who used to work 80 hours a week, quitting my job to become a freelancer was the best thing I have ever done. Sure I still work a lot of hours and often close to 70-80 hrs a week, I feel like I am doing this for myself and not some corporation.”
“I worked a low paying tech job for six years and still felt the burn out. The problem is that tech is very fast paced and competition focused. You can barely keep up. Though I got promoted regularly, my higher ups told me the truth before they left, they said that I was severely underpaid based on my skills (essentially I branded myself a one stop shop for the marketing department as I am both technically knowledgeable, people oriented and strategic). I maxed out at $50K. So I decided to jump ship with little planned. Now I run a financial agency with my husband and we make $250K a year as entrepreneurs and we have the freedom to set our own lifestyle.”
“We don’t want perks. We want more money and we want autonomy. It’s simple.”
Harmony not Balance
Jeff Bezos. Founder of Amazon. About work-life balance. Or as he would call it work-life harmony.
America’s Overwork Obsession
Work hard, make money, send your kids to college, retire to Florida. it sounds nice in theory, but the reality of work in America is dramatically different from the American Dream we’ve all been taught to believe in.
YouTube comments:
“You aren’t paid by how hard you work, you’re paid by how hard you are to replace.”
“I used to work for a company in Montreal (Québec) that had an important partnership with NY and, you guys, you are INTENSE. This American girl spent three weeks at our office, and she proudly said she would stay in the office until 2 a.m. just to get the project/ do a certain transfer on time instead of waiting the next morning like a regular person (or just tell the client that we were humans beings getting good night sleep at 2 a.m., and postpone the thing.). For her it was perfectly normal, and she looked at us as if we were lazy for going out for beers after work and getting a life. All my American contacts were like that, to different levels, but from our perspective they were always “difficult” to work with because they did not have limits or boundaries with work…I was regularly receiving emails at insane hours from people working in the same time zone as I was, and one girl was impressed that we were NOT doing 12-hour days. In a way it was sad.”
“I’m American now living in the UK. I had the American work mentality when I moved here and everyone thought I was crazy. I felt so guilty taking any of my 25 paid vacations days a year. I would log into my work email whilst on vacation and got told off for it. I got pregnant and only took 6 months of my 9 months paid maternity leave. I eventually calmed down my workaholic tendencies and honestly I feel more balanced. I enjoy my time with my son and husband. We can plan vacations abroad 2-3 times a year and I’m able to shut off as soon as I leave work. Don’t even get me started on healthcare.”
Why are Americans choosing to quit their jobs in record numbers?
The United States is seeing its highest “quit rate” since the government started keeping track two decades ago. Bill Whitaker speaks with employers who are scrambling to find help and people who left their jobs and aren’t looking back.
YouTube comments:
“I’ve worked in the food industry since I was 16, I am 30 now. I’ve never been offered a management position or any other kind of supervisory role so I opened my own restaurant in 2020. I got tired of being overlooked so I took my fellow co-workers and gave them a job at my restaurant with great pay, great benefits and I really did for them what my former jobs refused to do which is giving them “respect”. So far I’ve had not one employee leave my business.”
“Bad environment, low pay, employers are demanding more and paying less. I quit my job because I was expected to do the job of 3 people and constantly reprimanded for not being able to keep up. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has gone through this. A lot of businesses, corporations treat their employees like dirt, unimportant. They are way too many managers out there that have absolutely no people skills and are high on a power trip.”
“I’ve worked since I was 13. I walked the day I turned 55. It was always the plan. Nobody ever gave me a dime. I kept telling everyone at work I was going to leave. No one believed me. I left everything at my desk. Got up and left. I’m now 62. Just started S.S. All those years I worked my way up the ladder. When I got there I realized there was just more work. Get out early if you can.”
“Also let’s take some social responsbility for ourselves- it’s not JUST the companies that make jobs miserable. I talk to people in the service and retail industries and I personally spent years in IT. On the customer end, people are often entitled, impatient, and rude. It’s far worse that what I remember it 20 years ago. Don’t make your own workplace or that of someone else, needlessly toxic. Your Amazon package being a day late or waiting in line a little longer at the supermarket are not the end of the world. You will survive, I promise.”
Shanghai … wait, what?
Referring again to this article in the New York Times about how a few major U.S. companies are handling the post-Covid work environment. With some employees returning full-time to the office. Others are working exlusively or almost excluisively from home. And many dividing their time between office and home.
“Though most evidence that remote workers are at a disadvantage is anecdotal, at least one study, led by researchers at Stanford University, suggests they are less likely to be promoted than their in-office peers. In the experiment researchers randomly assigned workers at a large travel agency in Shanghai to work remotely or in the office for nine months. Though the remote workers were 13 percent more productive, putting in more hours and making more calls per minute, they were promoted about half as often as their in-office peers.”
“They can get forgotten,” said Nicholas Bloom, a professor of economics at Stanford and one of the study’s authors.
But wait, what, Professor Bloom? That’s Shanghai. Those are Chinese. What does anecdotal evidence from China tell us about how Americans benefit or lose out if and when working remotely?
Quits $80K job to work in grocery store
Yves quit his job even though he had it all: a big salary, health benefits and a pension plan. He sold his downtown condo, too. Why did he decide to drastically simplify his life? Because he was unhappy and unfulfilled. A couple of years ago, he went on a 10-day silent retreat and, after much soul-searching, realized that his job and his stressful lifestyle needed to go.
Now, a year and a half later, he’s living a minimalist lifestyle in a small bachelor apartment, riding his bike to work, and working 3 days a week at a grocery store. He has more time to spend with the people he loves, and a lot less stress. Does he regret his downshifting decision? Watch this video to find out!
YouTube comments:
“I can relate to this guy. I worked in a gov job for 20 years and was in the same situation. I was miserable all the time. Unlike him though, I have a wife and kids to take care of, and cannot simply walk away.”
“I’m 26. I quit my stressful job this year, lowered my expenses, and work 3 days/week at a hospital now. Not a single regret!”
“Saw this 2 yrs ago and i laughed at him thinking he was a chump. 2 yrs later after being in a toxic environment i realize i’m the chump.”
“This guy is telling my story. The only difference is, he actually had the courage to leave once he hit his breaking point. I just made 26 years at my job this past Friday and have been suffering in silence the whole time. Bravo sir for acknowledging your inner voice and taking charge of your life! Thanks for sharing his story.”
Why Americans Are Moving to Germany for Work
Looking at how Germany and the USA treat types of “leave”, there is one universal truth: whereas Germany sees it as a basic human right, America sees it as a commercial bargaining chip… and the statistics in this video schocked us.
Looking at our contracts, our employment in Germany is so much more humane – with a work-culture that guarantees vacation time, maternity leave, sick leave, parental leave and more for all full-time workers.
YouTube comments:
“I think it is important to note that the benefits we enjoy in germany did not just fall from the heavens, but they are the results of many decades of struggle by the workers movement. Do not take these things for granted! Join the union and vote for worker-friendly parties.”
“Before every American now starts to look for a job in Germany, keep in mind, that this is not uniquely German. Nearly all European countries have similar regulations like Germany, sometimes a little less, sometimes even significantly better.”
“When I had my first baby, I was working in retail for a cosmetics company in Germany. They had to provide a chair and stretcher for me to sit/ lie down at all times. I wasn’t allowed to carry anything heavy and after 22 weeks of pregnancy wasn’t allowed to work standing up for more than 4 hours a day. At every doctor’s appointment, my OBGyn would ask me if I was still ok working or if they should give me a Beschäftigungsverbot (a kind of mandatory medical leave), which is fairly common in the last few months of pregnancy, especially for jobs that can be physically straining.”
Really different in Germany & USA
Vacation, taking sick days, maternity leave…work-life balance is really different in Germany & the USA.
So my question for you is: How do you feel about work-life balance? Is there anyone out there who prefers the way that it’s done in the U.S.? And people with children, what’s the parental leave been like where you’ve lived?