United States – Page 2 – understand-culture

New green card system to tackle shortage of skilled workers

December 2022. The German cabinet agreed in principle to immigration reform in a bid to secure more skilled workers. Europe’s biggest economy is currently experiencing a lack of roughly half a million people to its workforce and wants to make up for the shortfall.

The federal government said it wanted to boost immigration and training to tackle a skills shortage which is hampering the country’s economy at a time of weakening growth. Meanwhile, an aging population is increasing pressure on the public pension system.

Germany is also keen on granting immigrants from the Western Balkan countries that are not in the EU, such as Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, access to their job market for an unlimited amount of time. The proposals to amend the Skilled Immigration Act, first introduced in March 2020, include an “opportunity card” for jobseekers.

YouTube comments:

“Germany is a great country to move — But living in Germany is difficult, salary is relatively low, bureaucrats, high taxes, immigrants can never feel german even of they acquire citizenship. In Canada you feel Canadian right after you arrive there. Germans are not that open minded as people from English speaking countries. Language barrier is real!”

“The title should be the shortage of CHEAP labor shortage.”

“That is fantastic news for US citizens, cuz i don’t think any US citizen want to give up their citizenship for any other country. US allows dual citizenship. I am sure many Americans would love to live in a social democratic country.”

“The solution is simple, make English the 2nd official language along with German. It would facilitate literally EVERYTHING in an instant. Plus, It would be a safe bet that skilled workers would come in droves! What happens is, understandbly so, most workers prefer to exclusively migrate to countries in whom they don’t have to start to study a new language from scratch to be able to integrate and maybe after a decade will be successful at filing their tax reports in German. Examples are Malta, Singapore and a few others. It would make Germany 50 times as attractive for international job seekers who would traditionally rather opt for Canada or UK….or if they happen to be plastic surgeons or Astronauts with half a mil in the bank: the US.”

Persistence

Jeff Bezos. Founder of Amazon. About the importance of remaining persistent.

Jeff Bezos work-life

In this Sessions short, Jeff Bezos details why there is no such thing as work-life balance.

YouTube comments:

New York City rich and poor

January 2021 Even before COVID-19, New York was already defined by a gap between the rich and poor. Yet during the pandemic, wealth has become a determinant of survival. The pandemic hit New York in the spring, with almost 800 people dying from COVID-19 each day in April.

The city has been uneasy since then. People’s lives have been shaken by months of stay-at-home orders, changing public health measures, “Black Lives Matter” protests, the presidential election, and above all the economic consequences of the pandemic, including ever-widening inequality between New Yorkers.

Job Security in an Insecure Time

2018. American workers struggle with massive layoffs and the stress of an unknown future.

YouTube comments:

“$70k + Benefits? YOU MAKE ENOUGH MONEY. How can you not survive on that? They expect a job for life where they never have to save or plan or invest or learn any new skills. And they say millenials are entitled?”

“The US needs a union revival. This is disgusting to watch.”

“I you’re making 70 grand a year, you should be saving at least 20 thousand a year, but Americans like to buy their toys and squander their money like there’s no tomorrow. Just do the math: 20 thou/year over 15 years that’s 300 thou, house paid off plus compounded interest. just saying.”

Poorest states in America

Poverty in America. It’s a concept that shouldn’t be a thing here. I mean we are the richest nation in the world, right? Well, look around today and you’ll see a lot of us are struggling. For many it’s their own fault – lots of us are broke because of decisions we made.

But plenty of Americans live in poverty because of things outside of their control. Perhaps it was a loss of jobs. Or in many cases, it’s the cost of living. Yes, poverty is a complicated issue here in the US. And no matter who is in office, it’s a problem without an end in sight.

I got laid off at Microsoft

If you are another creator and care deeply about helping others, please reach out — would love to put our heads together, collab, and continue to help others.

https://youtu.be/-mZbLX8EsWk

YouTube comments:

“The one takeaway is you can NOT NEVER EVER trust a company. They are not your friend, they are not your family. No matter how hard you work for a company the ones at the top will feed themselves first. It’s sad but it’s a true fact. We need to start to learn to be self-supportive.”

“I got laid off in early 2000s. I stayed in the IT sector. Earned 24 IT certifications and focused on DOD military networks and secret clearance type position focused around security and cyber security. After making this move, I never had to worry getting laid off. At the end of the day, you have to focus on yourself.”

“Many kudos to you: bright, articulate, and well-grounded. As a hiring manager and someone who’s been in the industry for a very, very long time, I can say these layoff decisions are often not even something corporations consult us on. When you work for a corporation and you’re generating revenue for them, you’re amazing, awesome, outstanding, and irreplaceable. When times get tight, you’re simply a line item on a balance sheet. The single best way to not have a layoff negatively impact you is to be relevant. Keep your skills current; always be learning; and don’t be afraid to self-promote if you’re manager isn’t seeing it. Have no regrets. Look forward, not backward.”

“Let me be honest and frank. Don’t get stressed and/or emotional over being laid off. You are expendable. Your loyalty should be to yourself and your family, not to any one company. Do not get too attached to co-workers. It only makes the layoff that much harder to deal with. When looking for employment, do not make job security one of your main objectives.”

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.”

Quitting my job was a big mistake

YouTube Comments:

“No matter how much I suffer after quitting my job, I will never suffer more than having worked from the job I quit.”

“I went from being an entrepreneur with 6 figure income to an employee. I can honestly say, being an employee is not that bad since i do get to “slack” at times and still get paid since I’m efficient at my work. Definitely not the same for self-owned business. I think a balance between the 2 is the sweet spot for me.”

“I own two successful businesses, and I recently went through the same exact thing. There are days where I wonder if I made the biggest mistake of my life not going to law school after I crushed the LSAT. But then I had a moment where I wanted to spend time with my new wife. We were exhausted, run down from our businesses, and… we made ourself relax in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday. We didn’t have to ask permission, we just did it. As I looked around that day at people with their heads down working, I realized what the sacrifices were really about. We look at things differently. We plan and look forward based on ambition, not quotas and box checking. We were, truly, masters of our own destiny. And most importantly, it felt like we were. You’ll feel like this again. And it will pass again in the wake of your successes. Just remember: nobody on this earth can threaten your livlihood if you don’t appease their corporate/company byline. If the unthinkable happens and you DID fail… you’ll just innovate, adapt, and overcome. You said it yourself in one of your videos, if you focus on your failures, you ignore the massive volume of wins you’ve ever had. It’s all a race for financial independence and peace. Godspeed, and I’ll see you at the finish line.”

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.”