work-life balance

Work in Germany. 5 Reasons.

Germany has some of the strictest labour laws in Europe. The country has gone to great lengths to try to ensure that workers rights are enshrined in law. This makes it a particularly attractive place to live and work in.

YouTube comments:

“Bildungsurlaub” / educational vacation is limited to 5 days per work-year, but you can combine the educational days of two years to a total of 10 days. In most cases you will have to book a surveyed course to profitize on this regulation. Sick leave with payment through your employer is limited to 7 weeks, after that you will receive “Krankengeld / sick-leave-payment” through your health-insurance which is only 70% of your salary.”

“There are laws for everything. I work for myself. Imagine you earn 200k in a year. More than 40% is going to the gouverment. You also have to pay more for health insurance if you earn more. Same thing with investments like rental objects. And 1000 other things. And now? Energy, food almost everything is getting more expensive. life was good a few years ago.”

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.”

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.”

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.”

Why Most Google Employees Quit After 1.1 Years

YouTube comments:

“I’m surprised that Google have such aggressive deadlines, considering them not having any noticeable new products the past few years, in addition to the closure of many of their products.”

“I disagree with this. My experience at Google was awesome. It was like working on a cruise ship and in my two years I can only remember having to stay late 2-3 times. I only left because once you work at Google other tech companies want you really bad and will pay more to get you.”

“As a current Software Engineer @ Google that started on 02/28/2022, I can see why Googlers quit! It’s hard to past the yearly perk review as a rookie, Junior SWE and if you don’t show steady progression within your role, you will continue to barely pass your yearly perk or even fail! The 5 reasons you mention on here are factual but I would add not passing the yearly perk review or getting a “meet expectations”, then you will most likely quit, because you will feel the pressure to perform at a much higher level. This takes a tole on your mental and emotional health big time! No amount of money is worth your mental and emotional health and feel like you’re going crazy!”

Do Germans really have work-life balance?

It’s common to hear that Germans are great at switching off once their working hours are done, but according to a new survey, this may not be entirely true.

The survey commissioned by Novotel surveyed around 5,000 adults across Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Poland to investigate their habits and working schedules. Surprisingly enough, it found that the Germans have the worst work-life balance of all four countries, with 58 percent work and only 42 percent leisure time.

Working hours. Holidays. And more.

A key issue for many workers is flexible working time in order to have a work-life balance. Negotiating a work/life balance can help enable parents (both men and women) to reconcile their work with their family lives and women in particular to participate in the labour market.

Finding the right work-life balance can allow workers to take leave from work so that they can participate in education or training or take up an interest, hobby or leisure pursuit. This may mean that employees can reorganise their working lives and hours around shorter days, weeks, months or years.

German families tend to be small with only one or two children. The men are still quite often considered to be the head of the household, even though both the wife and husband work.