You are right, of course, but considering those rights from the standpoint of someone who never had them before, I can understand that someone sees them as benefits ;). Besides; they are rights here, but apparently they are benefits in the US. Just my own 0.02 ;)
Isch koeltoerr .. In Amerika ben je een loser als je toeslag ontvangt, dus noemen ze het een benefit. Wij zijn nuchter , fuck die ratrace. Ik neem die benefit/ toeslag wel en werk minder 👋
When I got a burnout (in the Netherlands) my company took such great care of me. I got a personal coach and when it became clear that I wouldn't return to work at their company they helped me build up to be able to work again an coached me into finding a job that fitted me better. They also said they would continue helping me get a new job even after the two years of obligations ended for them. Even if I can't look back on my time there happily, I am forever grateful to them.
In Europe we didn't get these regulations because they fell from the sky all of a sudden. We got them through our behaviour in the voting booths for decades. You can do the same in any other democracy. Even in the USA.
@@zhufortheimpaler4041 what happened in the voting booth? Seems that the majority is fine with current situation otherwise they would have done something differently.
In theory, yes. In practice, the USA's first-past-the-post/winner-takes-all voting system combined with gerrymandering has resulted in a two-party system in which both parties are effectively owned by the major corporations and therefore vehemently opposed to any kind of workers' rights, or even change in general, because that would be "un-American", "unpatriotic" and dare I say "communist" -- and we obviously can't have that!* So sadly, the US voting booths never offer a choice for workers' rights, because neither party is allowed to offer them by their corporate overlords. *) the real reason, of course, is that they're afraid it would impact their bottom line (even though experience in the NL and the Nordic countries shows that happier workers are overall more productive workers, and on fewer hours, making them better bang for buck...)
@@zhufortheimpaler4041 Its also an emotional thing. There's something about "the red scare" that really stuck in the emotional consciousness of Americans, I think, that leads them to reject anything that is not purely capitalistic as "communist/socialist" which is immediately bad. If you reduce it to a binary, you could say that Europe prefers big government where the USA prefers big corporation. Any government interference that would seek to limit the freedoms of corporations to persue capital is seen as communist and rejected - even by those who would greatly benefit from it. Its a difficult spot the US finds themselves in, because it really requires a nationwide mindset shift.
As a Dutchie working for an American company and getting teared apart for having the audacity of getting a burnout after covering for colleagues for years and always putting the company above my own wellbeing... yeah, that was a rude awakening. I have a couple of friends who are American expats, and they are like 'never going back'. Your wellbeing and having a good work-life balance is considered far more important over here than having a good salary. As long as you can make a living, you're golden.
I'm in the Netherlands and currently recovering from a burn-out. When it hit, I called in sick, and didn't work at all for like three months, then gradually came back to work again, slowly increasing the number of hours. During that whole time, I continued getting my full pay. I had some vacation time planned around Christmas and New Years, and easily got those converted from vacation days to sick days. In July, I'm going to take 4 weeks off for summer holidays and after that I'll still have 2 1/2 weeks of leave left on my balance.
I am a Dutchman and I also had a burn-out. But I was working for 15 years, 80+ hours a week with it, before I collapsed. Now I am at home for more than 4 years. Don't push it to hard. I don't know if I ever can work again. But I am working on my return to work again.
Thank you for your comment. I'm in the US, trying to learn more about Dutch culture all the time. Here in the US people talk about "freedom" all the time... without any idea how much better other places have it because their citizens have worked to assure rights that actually protect people are the law.
The equality works both ways: you can state your opinion both to the janitor and the ceo. And you can not be rude to the janitor and the ceo. Being rude to people "below" you would land you asap before the ceo's desk. The video's about US Karens totally rip apart service workers would be unheard of here.
Your reaction makes you realize how lucky we really are on this side of the pond. Your final remarks .... when people are crushed by a cultural system like that ... Simply not acceptable. I'm sorry you and your loved ones had to deal with that. Work / life balance is a blessing .... It really is! Thanks.
The reason why it is ‘difficult’ to fire an employee is that a company also has an obligation towards an employee. They have to be trained and schooled in many professions and if an employee is underperforming, they get a warning, which is also mentioned in the employee file. You need to have at least 3 bad note in your employee file (with a six month interval between them) before they can fire you without interference of a judge. Between every bad note the employer needs to make improvement plans with you so you can better yourself. When there is a reorganization or a mass dismissal, the company Works Council has to be consulted for who, why, when and how. If an employee is really misbehaving like, discriminate a coworker, foul mouth a superior, has committed a criminal act or fraud, they can be fired immediately. A company or employer has rights and obligations towards employees and an employee has rights and obligations towards the company or employer. It’s a give and take. So definitely not the American way, but a better way.
I work for a company that has it's HQ located in America. I can assure you they basically ask for their people putting in minimal effort, that's about as much as you'll get from the company, so really can't expect more when putting in more effort only gets you rewarded with MORE WORK.
Well, all this is the same in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. The Netherlands I think only stands out in extra vacation days and the openness in burn out.
Actually the Netherlands is in the ‘lower regions’ together with eg Germany and Spain, regarding holidays and legal free days. Also, we in NL have no compensation when a holiday is on a weekend, like they have in Belgium for example.
@@michelrosier468 That's a very Dutch way of thinking about it, and it makes sense. Back in Canada, if Christmas was on Saturday and Boxing Day (Tweede Kerstdag) was on Sunday, they'd bump up to Monday and Tuesday. 2022 really illustrated this for me.
In the US you make nominally more money, but you also need that money to pay for many things that you don't need to pay for in the Netherlands. The end result is that the standard of life is more or less the same in the Netherlands as in the US, but the quality of life is much better in the Netherlands, because there are many things that you don't need to worry about in the Netherlands that are very worrysome in the US.
I work in IT in the Netherlands I'm past 50 years old and I have in total 385 vacation hours and I work 36 hours a week with a 9 hours work day from Monday to Thursday. So I always have a nice long weekend and in total based on the 9 hours workday I have about 42 vacation days a year. Seeing I work 4 day's a week I can take leave for 10 weeks if I combine that with some national holidays I can stretch that to 11 maybe 12 week so you are able to go on pretty long vacations or multiple ones every year. Problem is the children they are limited in the vacation time and when they can go on vacation, it is not easy to get your kids out of school to go abroad or anything. That said you can even buy additional vacation hours if you want, I personally never done that. But I have colleague who have done it and it is not that expensive, and you can even compensate it with worktime etc. About Burn-out, it is indeed mostly viewed as to much commitment towards your work sometimes even relate towards the hours you work for the company. Even though I have a 9 hour workweek I start my day at 0600-0700 but seeing I'm in IT is sometimes work much more then the 9 hours a day. These extra hours can be paid out and/or compensated in vacation hours etc. So yes Burn-out has not stigma it can have multiple factors and as always here in the Netherlands Family comes before work and if you think that is not the case just wait until the boss tells you that is the case. When my wife was sick I could stay at home take care of the kids my Boss said take your time don't be back too fast just make sure your family is totally up and running again. Another day I was at work while my daughter had her birthday my Boss came to me and asked why are you here go home do some fun stuff with your daughter and family. Also we can work from home whenever we want and calling in sick is never an issue. One day I was sick just a 24 hour flu or something so within a day I was back at work my Boss told what are you doing here go home. If you feel up to it work from home and if you are still feeling fine next week you can come back to work. So yeah it is totally different, I never looked back once. If I go back to the States even though it feel a bit nostalgic it comes with some kind of culture shock, it is very weird.
Indeed. Being a wage-slave is nothing to brag about. It just means you live to work which is a very empty existence and a waste of your life, if anything.
well on the difference on salary; the appartments cost at least 3x as much in america for the same space. health insurance is about 140 euro, while comparable health insurance is between 600 and 1000 euro in america. just those 2 differences evens out the salary gap between the two countries. we may have lower salaries, but we also need far less to have the same quality of life you would have in america. ps: watching the vids of you both for years now. and i honestly think you would fit in great over here. :)
Americans earn a lot more, but here's the thing: if you offset the costs that Americans have to pay out of their own pockets, they pay a lot more and end up with less of their money than we do here in europe. Money isn't everything, especially when you're exploited like that.
Thanks Amy for sharing your thoughts on this...always interesting to hear different perspectives! And also for sharing your story...I'm sorry to hear about your brother, I can relate in a way too. One of my best friends committed suicide right when I arrived in The Netherlands, and he was the one who taught me that there's more to life than work. Anyways, best of luck and maybe see you on this side of the world!
Don’t think we’re lazy all the time. We do work hard. But our ‘above and beyond’ usually is differently motivated. When we get the chance to improve something in our job, either for our company or our colleagues, we will. Not to get paid more or climb higher or to get the appreciation, but simply bc the improvement will make a better workplace. And we get the space and the responsibility to do that. But yes, our free time is important too. And when you’re sick, you’re sick.
I'm going to do the shitty thing of commenting before watching the entire video, but I can't right now but have some things I would like to say. This might not be the audience that needs to hear it the most, but it might give someone some perspective of the mostest greatest country in the world. It's linked to the differences of the society I live in in Sweden and what I know about the US, so not completely on topic, but I got burned out here and can't even imagine what it would be like if I lived in the US. And I know that there are many Americans that are aware of and frustrated by a lot if not only everything of what I'm going to bring up. I'm swedish, we have our problems, but everytime I learn about more fucked up things I can think "at least I don't live in the US". I would like to list some crucial differences between working and living in America vs Sweden. For some reason a started with other stuff before getting to the employment, not sure why. 1. Salary I hear many arguments that we earn less money and pay higher taxes, but you have to look at our social securities, rights and expenses we don't have and have to account for. 2. Healthcare Not only do we have (almost completely) free universal healthcare, we also have unlimited sick days that, with some conditions and doctor notes, are paid. You can receive up to 80% of your income capped at $120 per day, after one year it's 75%. Most prescription drugs are capped at a total of $250 per year and I believe it includes a lot of necessary supplies. Yes, our healthcare system has huge flaws, but we don't have to chose between our health or being able to provide for ourselves and our families. 3. Parental leave While pregnant you have the right to parental leave at least 7 weeks before and 7 weeks after birth. The non-birthing parent have the right to 10 paid days in connection to the birth, in some cases someone close by can have the right to use that for a single parent. The two parents have the right to 480 paid days, each parent have 90 days reserved, the rest are shared between them. You get paid up to 80% of your income with a cap of $120 per day unless your union gives more money. You can take sick days while on parental leave without losing your days. 4. Childcare All schools are free, from preschool to university. The costs depends a bit on where you live but these are in Gothenburg, the second biggest city. Kindergarten costs are based on household income but capped at $170 per month for children under 3 and $110 for children over 3. For multiple children you pay in full for the youngest but the cost decreases per child and the fourth and more are free. School children between 6 and 13 can stay at school after the schoolday until maybe 5 pm, but I'm not sure. That's also incom based and capped at $110 up to 9 years and $56 10-13 and works the same for multiple children. School lunches are free and every school based activity is free, but the children can sell stuff to earn more to trips and such. You can also recieve money for taking care of a sick child, up to 120 days per year unless the childs condition is severe. 5. Education Pretty much everything is free, there are some private schools but you can become pretty much anything without paying tuition. Schools provide you with pens and notebooks and stuff at least until high school, and no teacher have to pay for any material. 6. Study loans The interest for 2024 is 1,23 and for a maximum of 240 weeks full time studies you recieve $1300 per month of which $900 are a loan. The loan is tax free and you start paying 6 months after the last month with loan. 7. Disability I don't know very much about what you can get but you can recieve money if your disability hinders you from have a job. You can also have the right to a personal assistant if it's needed, and you can get help with transport. You can apply for adjustment of your home and vehicle. You also get wheelchairs, prosthetics and such. I'm guessing a lot of these have some costs, but I don't know what and how much. I'm just going to assume that it's reasonable enough that you can afford it. A disability also gives you rights to adjustments and accommodations in your workplace and you can't get discriminated. 8. Vacations You have the right to 25 vacation days per year, and something about the right of four weeks consecutive in like april to october or something. You earn vacation pay every month so depending of how long you've worked at the company it can be unpaid. If you leave before you've used you vacation days you get the money with your last paycheck. 9. Unions You have the right to be a part of a union and I would say most workplaces are union connected. The unions negotiate conditions and pay and have a strong impact on employers and industries. Union fees are income based but I'm not sure of how much and maximum and stuff. 10. Job security You have to have strong grounds to fire someone and if you are unemployed you can recieve a maximum of $1100 per month or a maximum of $2600 if you're in a union, with conditions of applying to jobs and stuff. 11. Working conditions There are regulations of how much an employer can require you to work and how many hours in a time period with minimum rest between shifts and stuff, both by law and negotiated by unions. The employers are often required to provide clothes and equipment depending on job and tasks. 12. The police Boy, the police are a whole different category in Sweden compared to the US. They generally aren't out to get you and you can't get a citation just because they felt like it. There are a great number of restrictions regarding what the police are allowed to do and we don't have nearly as much problems with police violence and innocent people getting in trouble. The police doesn't get more funds the more citations they give out, and they don't normally have as heavy weaponry. I believe that you are entitled to compensation if anything in your home gets destroyed due to a police actions, but especially if you're innocent or there was a mistake made. It might come down to home insurance, not sure. There are restrictions on how long, intense and how interrogations are allowed to be conducted, and while it can never be perfect and I do believe the Swedish police work with a more open mind to who is guilty than what's common in the US. I know that there are great and awful cops in both countries, but I do believe there are large differences in the education and work culture. 13. Judicial system If you get arrested there have to be special circumstances to keep someone in jail, I believe for any time but especially until a trial. Your life doesn't crumble because something got you in trouble, innocent or not. I don't know too much about our judicial system but I do know some. I believe you never have to pay your legal fees in a winning trial and you can't just sue someone to get them to settle to avoid an expensive trial. I do believe a lot of our prison sentences are too short, but I stand by our prisoners rights to still remain a human with rights and dignity. We don't have privatised prisons, how the fuck is that even allowed to be a thing? There are so many, in comparison, "minor" mistakes that can completely ruin your life in America, not to mention how many innocent people are stuck behind bars. I find it awful to hear about the stories of american former inmates, how are they supposed to turn their life around after what they've been through? And how are they supposed to feel any motivation the way they've been treated? They're seen and treated like a second class citizen, are often not allowed to vote, and were treated like crap by a country that they're now expected to serve and be a part of? 13. Guns Oh, lord. The gun debate. I'm extremely against guns and the insanity it brings. I don't have to be afraid that someone who can't control their temper is gonna get upset and pull their gun on me. Yes, we have problems with gangs and gun violence, but there's almost no gun violence outside of that. And no children accidentally killing themselves or someone else. I can't believe there's even any debate about that. Like I said, our country have huge problems and flaws but we do have a lot of protections and rights. I've been unable to work for several years due to depression and burnout with recently diagnosed AuDHD, but I've been able to get by. I'm currently studying and live pretty comfortably with an income of $1400 per month, and so does a lot of my classmates. There's so much I don't have to worry about and can take for granted. I'm not sure I would be alive if I lived in the USA, unless I was able to live at my parents with them providing for me, and even then I'm not sure I would see a future worth living where I could handle anything at all. After a long road I live in my own apartment with my boyfriend and am studying to become a frontend developer with little debt and my only struggles are my personal well-being.
Plus … a part of the taxes we need to pay in Europe goes to Ukraine too. And I for one am happy Ukraine gets the money they need. I’d be more than happy to see a larger part of our tax money to go to a country that really needs it. And not JUST for their safety, but for ours (and yours) as well.
About the weapons. One needs a permit to own one, and they are not as easy to get ones hands on as it seems to be in the US. And truth be told, I don't think Swedes in general want one. I certainly don't.
I got very sick when i was 6 weeks old with a brain disease while my parents where poor... If i had lived in the USA i wouldn't be typing this or my parents would never be able to move up to the middle class with my medical bills. Isn't it sad that i feel blessed not being born in the USA?
Going “above and beyond” without expecting any extra payment? How does that make economic sense? Employees should be paid for the value they add. That should imply the so-called “quiet quitting” work ethic, or our Dutch "doe normaal". Working without the incentive of being paid extra is typically what we would expect to see in a Communist regime. So I’m actually surprised that this going “above and beyond” is so prevalent in Capitalist America.
You get paid for your overtime one way or another. You get pay raises greater than you peers. You can leave to a better paying job. When bad times come, you KEEP your job instead of being fired. Being ambitious in the Netherlands you get NOTHING.
I'm Dutch (living in The Netherlands) I've got a American friend. we like each other, he want's me to come over to the states . I like the the US But after being there many times I've got doubts . My daughter doesn't want to leave Holland. At the moment I don't know what I want to do .
I don't remember if it was Germany or UK (doesn't really matter) but one guy who came from US of A spent whole year working without taking a single day off. So one day he was "invited" to CEO office where head of HR was also there. They took his laptop and mobile and told him to GTFO for 3 weeks and don't go back before that time. And they took his tools of work (laptop, mobile) to make sure he's not able to work.
What use is it to me if I earn a buttload of money, but I have to tear myself apart for it, my body doesn't get any time to recover, precisely because the employer wants it that way. The end result is burnout or a total nervous breakdown. Is it really worth the money? If I'm in bed early then it's no use to me. At most, the cross will say “He's worked himself to death” I prefer “Work to Live” to “Live to Work” and death
It seems, that in the USA the promise, that hard work pays off, is no longer being kept. This promise is held in front of you, like a carrot to a donkey, so that you function as you should.
It was NEVER a promise in usa!!! Never. Question is = did you save $$$ as a tool for future use? Or just spend on USELESS stuff. All anyone Needs is FOOD and SHELTER. PERIOD
@@Steve-gx9ot 67% of the USA's gross domestic product depends on domestic consumption. So if everyone thought and acted the way you say here, things would be much worse in the USA. And one more question, your statement also applies to the rich, right? Or do the rich need more?
It is not true that your contract becomes permanent after three years or three temporary contract: most of the times you will get a permanent contract after ONE temporary contract. Plus: due to the huge shortage of staff you can get a permanent contract in some case, right away.
Some good things that were not mentioned is paid maternal and paternal leave around the birth of a child and cheap college tuition, just around 2500€ per year. (Both aspects are even more generous in Germany, paid parental leave is longer and college is free). So yes, top dollar is relative when you have sky-high student loans to pay off, live in fear if medical bills, work long hours, have to hide burn-out, hardly take any vacation, can be terminated at will, have little or no paid sick leave and parental leave. In the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe the net earnings gap between top jobs and normal jobs is much smaller because the high earners subsidize the welfare state. And so it should be.
I have the feeling that in the US it is all about status In the Netherlands it is very hard to get an A or a B on a test. I even had a teacher who never gave an A for a paper because he said, nobody was perfect.
“We zeggen dat het hoogste cijfer voor de student een 8 is. Een 9 is voor de docent, een 10 is voor God.” would translate to something like: Students can get up to a B (80%). Teachers can get up to a A (90%). Only God can score an A+ (100%).
I'm a teacher in the Netherlands and get around 55k a year. It's more than a lot of people get and you can live quite well off of that. The cost of living in the Netherlands is just way lower.
Came here to say exactly this. $65k in the USA isn't much because you need a lot of money for stuff we get for (nearly) free. Healthcare costs in the USA are ridiculously high, just to give one example.
Notice this one : ☺️The Dutch company AFAS : As of 2025, AFAS will always give all employees paid time off on Fridays. The software company is introducing a four-day working week to give employees the opportunity to pay extra attention to themselves, informal care, children or volunteer work. Employment conditions such as salary, 13th month, pension and holiday pay remain the same and working days still last 8 hours, the company writes. The employees who already worked 4 days will receive a salary increase and will therefore be paid for 5 days from then on.
Putting in extra or working "overhours" will net you the best results when you work for a small company, or a what we call 'one-mans-business'. A workplace where there is next to no corporate presence. These places tend to be run very casually and friendly towards the employees as well. I worked in an architecture firm like that for 4 years and it was the best place I've ever worked. I actually came to work with a smile and had no issues putting in a bit more time to meet deadlines. The boss showed his appreciation very often and I'd say the work culture was, though cliché, family like. Every holiday we'd go to the boss's home for a BBQ or x-mas dinner. Paid for trips (4 days) to a sunny resort with the whole team. We'd get an extra cash bonus twice a year. I would've stayed there until my pension if the boss didn't get very sick and had to close the business. Now I work for a bigger corporation and the differences are very apparent. It's far less personal/casual and though the work culture is still a good one, I go to work with a very neutral mood and I have no incentives to put in extra time or go beyond what is expected of me. I start work at 8 and I leave at 16:30 on the dot. I just do what must be done (to the best of my abilities) and no more. The more the corporate influence is present the less 'soul' a workplace has imo. The pay is better and I have an additional 7 days off per year but I'd still give it up to go back to the smaller architecture firm if I could.
One thing about those 20 vacation days (it's 4x the amount of hours you work per week, so you always have 4 weeks off), those are mandatory. Your employer needs to have good reasons to refuse you your vacation and no reason is good enough to prevent you to take at least those 4 weeks off per year.
About the money, when you do comparitions chances are that with all the out of pocket expenses in the USA eg health care, pension plans, college funds for your children, you just may have more on the bottom line in Europe than in USA.
in my 20s and 30s, I worked my ass off here in NL. ICT Application manager EPD (electronic patient database) for the biggest academic medical center and University of Amsterdam (AMC), EPD contains all medical info for every patient. (x-rays, movie clips of earlier surgery, blood levels, and so on.. Just everything). If it stopped working for any reason, all planned surgeries are on hold and more than 10.000 Employes need to work on paper. I can tell you, It was even for US standards, a good salary. But I always was on edge, like you had a company that was 24/7 standby.. There comes a moment you realize that a human being is not build for this. Miserable everyday. like a 5 out of a scale of 10. So I decided to try to make a living from my hobby (I was a wood worker). In the evening (2 days a week) I learned at a best school. And after two years I graduated. It was not mandatory, but now I can proof my customers that I'm a professional and qualified wood worker. It was so much more fun! But even longer days. The first two years you are actually 100% of your time at least on some basis busy with it (Ideas, plans, actual work, finding customers). But it was all worth it becuase, it fun and it's your own. after 3.5 years I did pretty well. But I made the mistake to join the festival scene, making stages etc. for a woodworker thats, the real thing. It's creative, always different. And B2B pays a lot better. Corona kicked in --> 3 months later I had to sell my house --> 6 months later I was in a huge depression. I lost everything. But because you got a lot of protection here and if you keep searching there are many ways to reboot your live. Every month I was payed by the coverment the minimum (anybody has that right here), And because of my mental state, I was declared 73% disabled with a good change to recover. If it was declared that 73% without change of recovery, then I wasn't allowed to work anymore for the rest of my live. And really I didn't took advantage, I was really unable to do anything. everything above 60% disability do have the freedom to not actively search for a job. So you get all the time to recover, changing your field of work. It was the best thing that good happen to me. I slowly started to build things from scratch. First with a lot iof savings a descent computer after a few years I got a small, but really nice apparment. Now I work for 24 hours (3 x 8) and the rest of the days I do all kinds of charity work. I have a smaller income, but I pay everything, If I want a new computer or phone, I just wait a bit longer to spare the money. And I enjoy every day! It feels more healthy, I need 1 hour less of sleep each night. It's a long comment, but my conclusion is: you can contribute and make yourself important and loved by society. Much more spare time. Just change a few "parameters", don't let others tell you how to live. 🙂
Actually, a teacher makes something between 3800 Euro and 7900 Euro a month, plus one 13th month at the end of the year and another month of holiday money in May. Plus, of course, what the gentleman calls "benefits" like pension payments, travel expenses and in certain cities an amount for housing expenses. It is also a bit unfair to compare NY or SF with an average Dutch city. In SF or NY the rental prices, and cost of living is most likely 2 to 4 times more expensive. You need a car to get around and when you put your kids on a sports club you pay a scandalous high amount to a professional travelling sport team. Europe and the US are simply incomparable. Break your leg and you just lost all of your extra money and lose your job.
In the Netherlands you must take every 2 weeks of, the rest of youre vacation days you can sell to the company and they must give you the money (the company must give you 28 payed vacation days)
I wrote it a month ago on charlie's comments: Quote: So time to move. Pack up the family and set off on a new adventure. You like the Netherlands and Germany anyway, so off you go to the Dutch border. You can learn Dutch there and americangirlreacts can learn German. That way you both get something out of it. And since the Dutch speak English better than some Germans (it's in the old word family), it's certainly more helpful as long as you haven't mastered the languages yet. But wherever you go, you'll be better off than in the US. best regards from germany Quote end Think about it.....i think you won't regret it.
many people, even in Europe, complain that they are shortchanged... everything has become more expensive and this is noticeable everywhere. But it is true that many also buy luxury things that are not necessary at all, large purchases on installments, etc.... yes, things can get tight. It's in your hands If you have benefits it is very difficult, but of course there are always shops that are cheaper and with everyone, if you want it but you can't afford it......don't get it. the world won't end if you can't afford a luxury item. And as far as working hours and free time are concerned, I work around 12 to 13 hours a day as a truckdriver and then have plenty of time left, everyone at the company is addressed as YOU, including the top at the office... we don't crawl for someone else, and if you don't like it, you won't be fired, but they will listen to your objection. At least, that's how it works at where I work (and many other companies) greetings to Charlie
Ooh, David got fired recently (cost cutting).He did a video on what it's like to get fired in the Netherlands. And don't get confused between the words "working hard" and "working a lot". In the Netherlands the goal is to either relax (which includes taking a minute to chat with your co-worker) or to make every minute count. Work smarter then any competitor, so you don't have to work more. Take more time on how to do your work smartly and less on brute forcing your self through the pile of work. But the amount of work we push through can still be a lot, just in less time. Cutting clients that take too much of our time is a good thing. It's not about total revenue, it's about profitability. Just saying in the Netherlands "working hard" and "working a lot" are two very different things.
In the Netherlands some amount of the taxes also goes to other countries that the Netherlands is helping. Plus taxes that people pay in the Netherlands go to army, school, goverment, hospitals and so on. To fire someone the company/ boss needs a good reason. That could be company is going bankrupt or when you did something that wasn't allright for the company.
I am going to be totally honest here, in Europe we really do value time off - and it would be virtually unthinkable for most people to work under the strain of the American working culture (40+ hours a week, no paid vacation) even with the option of having American salaries. The latter being somewhat skewed du to the extreme costs involved when it comes to the US healthcare system. I've often encountered Americans online who like to flash their wages and salaries, talking about how much money they've got .. and they more often than not seem to be in disbelief when we're not impressed.. we REALLY are not. Name dropping does'nt work here... you guys seem stressed out and I shudder to think what that kind of mentality does to a society.
Everything is overpriced. The purchasing power that comes with the high salary is a lot less than it appears when you look at cost of living. People who flail their salaries online are coping. Even accounting for the Facebook / Social Media attention craze, that is a sign of narcissism. Our society in the West is in free fall in every regard.
i have this saying; there is nothing more valuable then time off. so it doesn't matter if the boss pays me double when i do overtime, i value my time more with my friends and pets.
correction on what is going to ukrane they are shipping old stock to ukrane and they are listing the price of the replacement as the cost of what they are shipping its incredibly dishonest and i see it as lying to the public
Don't look back, look forward. Who are you, what do you stand for, what are your ambitions, for now and for the future. Inform yourself widely and well. Look at all the pros and cons. Above all, try to learn from people who have already taken identical big steps in their lives before taking such a big step yourself. Try to get in touch with fellow expats. There is certainly a lot of work for restaurant employees, but catering and catering are two, so please don't forget that! At the moment, there is a lot of demand here for practical people with extensive experience in a technical background. Wish you all the best!
The US-Dollar don't go to Ukraine. Its more the opposite, most of the money that should benefit Ukraine makes modern weapons for the US-Army, which gives the already paid old ones to Ukraine. So the money is ultimately for investing in modern weapons, stimulating the economy, benefiting a lot of States producing this, partly in brandnew factories. And... the old stuff like patriots, bradley etc. performs in the war so well that everyone want US-weapons. Conclusion: US benefits as a whole from giving Ukraine old stuff, that otherwise rotten in military warehouses.
good point ... actually the old stuff wouldn't be rotting in warehouses, they often reached or are close to the "use before date". next would be expensive dismantling. two birds killed with one stone: millions in aid for ukraine, new investment in the military industry which makes wall street happy. those that get a job too of course .....
16:40 Heyyy.... I live in Poland. That's next to Germany on east side. Even though we're not the richest country in Europe with population of 38M we took 3M Ukraine refugees and gave Ukraine half of military equipment we had. In total USA of course donated more but in percentage of GDP it's like nothing compared to what we gave. So stop braging about tax dollars being donated to Ukraine. Those people are in need and if Putin breaks Ukraine then guess who will be next. Just to realize you something: Poland GDP is around $717 Billion (0.717 Trillion) USA GDP is around 26.7 Trillion (26 700 Billion) How many Ukrainian refugees you got in USA when war started? Because as said we got 3M. Note that your country is 330M of people while mine is 38M. So if you don't want to piss Europeans then never say anything like this again. And remember - this is not just some local conflict you don't care about because you're on the opposite side of the ocean. If Ukraine falls that means World War 3 with USA involved even bigger than during WW2. And this time this won't be Europe only but also USA, China and everything between. This will be trully WORLD WAR with everybody involved.
Well yes, of course people don't want to go above and beyond when their boss has not once considered going even a crumb above or a pinch beyond paying you the absolute minimum they can get away with. If I am hired to pick up green phones, I will ignore an orange phone ringing, doesn't matter I am already there, doesn't matter there is overlap with other skills I already have, I won't do it. Feels kind of rude to ask someone to do something they weren't contracted for. Got no respect for laziness, but if you get the tasks done, good enough. And if you do want an employee to be more diverse, it needs to be negotiated up front.
The money in the US doesnt really go to the war in ukraine. It goes to the super rich. In eg tax cuts… in most european countries taxrates raises the more money you make so it evens out much more. That americans doesnt focus more frustration toward the super rich is sad cus THATS where all your money is! Thats where your extra workhours go, into the pockets of the business owners that does nothing more than owning your company.
Honestly, Things change the last years also in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands it was customary to reach a decision together. All kinds of organizations from left to right were heard and had a major voice in Dutch politics. Unfortunately, nowadays people expect something to be done "for me" and the "for us" feeling disappears. Counting all your blessings and then knowing how to appreciate them disappears. So, unfortunately we also see in the Netherlands that ultra-right ideas are gaining more and more influence on our society.
"Ultra-right ideas"? Wanting to live in safety and walk outside without being robbed and being able to buy food and a house are not ultra-right ideas. The indigenous people of Europe can't even start their own families, because we have to pay so many taxes to support refugee families and their children. Is that the "equality" the left can't stop talking about? Equality is a lie. This is real life, not a Disney movie.
"Ultra-right ideas"? Wanting to live in safety being able to buy food and a house are not ultra-right ideas. The indigenous people of Europe can't even start their own families, because we have to pay so many taxes to support refugee families and their children. Is that the "equality" the left can't stop talking about?
In addition the Netherlands is also a lot safer and better for raising kids. Teaching how to be independent and responsible at a young age. Parents also don't have hover around their kids anytime they want to play outside. A little note around the "doe maar gewoon dan doe je gek genoeg" saying it can also have the context of "just being yourself is good enough to be accepted" "and if they don't accept you it's their loss" this does wonders for your self esteem and mental health and not getting lost in the rat race.
8:15 "Working above and beyond" is just plain stupid. Do you get paid more than the people who refuse to do that? Are your chances of promotion better? Are you safe from being fired when the shit hits the fan? Most certainly not. Your wage does not increase, promotions are based on nepotism and not on achievements and don't even think a minute that you won't get fired if the boss has a bad day in the office. 20:15 A temporary contract doesn't have to be extended for 3 times before someone can get a permanent contract. I have known lots of people who either got a permanent contract from the bat or after their first temporary contract ended. It just depends on how good and valuable you are at your job. A permanent contract sounds ominous like "I'm working here forever." but it just means that your employer can't fire you without serious repercussions, while you still have the option to switch from employer as you see fit.
Yes, you get paid more, yes, you get promoted, yes you are safe from being fired if you work above and beyond, and you ALSO get to LEAVE and get hired by a different company. And no, your boss when they have a bad hair day does not go around firing anyone. What a load of crap. The workmans compensation they have to pay, paperwork, lawsuits under EEC etc they have to worry about... You truly must be a shit worker to worry about this stuff. I've never seen anyone fired who did not DESERVE to be fired.
@@williamgeardener2509 Ah, poor baby boo boo have a bad low end job experience which you pretended was da Shite... Its called reality bud, sorry you are lazy and yes, people are not equal, many are worth more than others by their actions.
The money spend on war in Ukraine is spend in the US itself to produce new weapons. Sending old stuff and replace current stock with new stuff. What is spend is very little compared to the total Defense budget of the US.
"Not a lot of people want to do that" regarding going above and beyond. I think Gen Z might be the most Dutch generation in many ways. Don't do stuff you're not paid to do. There's even a MAXIMUM number of hours you are allowed to work, including ALL jobs. My Dutch company pays for my cell phone too. I never answer it. It's mostly an emergency hotspot, honestly. Regarding teachers - American teachers end up paying for supplies out of pocket. That's not a thing here. Schools buy supplies. In fact, parents don't buy supplies in elementary school (basisschool). Paper, pens, etc... all in. Check out David's video about his recent layoff. ua-cam.com/video/bZ3d_jpZslE/v-deo.html
US has local and state taxes in stores Imagine the cost of yhe premium health insurance in the US and just realise this is included in the taxes you pay! Cost of living is lower. Vacation days in europe given them with pay!!!!
Life is short do you want to work your arse of getting rich? = go work in the States. Life is short do you want more leisure time and just want to earn enough for your needs so you can persue your hobbies and vacantions = go work in the Netherlands. Neither side is superior and both sides offer a way to spent your life but are different. We Dutch get a few years extra life expectancy not because our hospitals are better they are not. On the other hand even the poorest part of our population can afford surgery. Hence people with earnings less then $1800/month can get grands from the government to help them pay for it. They actually give you money so you can afford the already very cheap Health insurance which cover more costs then expensive ones in the States. Taking that stress away from everybody is worth a lot... Same goes for rent if your not making enough than government gives you money so you can , that's why we hardly have homeless people and from those that are a lot of them are addicts who would use grands given to them to get of the streets just towards their addiction(s).
You, Charlie and your family should come over to the Netherlands. Language is no problem, finding a job is no problem. A house or apartment is bad. But companies over here will help. Children's health care is free to the age of 18. No gun violence unless you are a criminal. But hey, criminals are all over the world. As a woman, you can go freely everywhere around. Check out other expats with their channels. Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 ( Truly the Land of the free)
I don't think we have to worry about criminals. They all came to America last week. lol. but for real, we will be there as soon as we can. :) I've been checking out a lot of expats channels. I's super excited
Hello, it is difficult to move to the Netherlands as an American but I am sure a lot of people on your channel are willing to help you. You have a working mind set. That is welcomed in The Netherlands but you will not be worked like a dog In The Netherlands but you do have tedious or demanding jobs here too like working in restaurants but that yields good money.
In the US, all those "Big" bubblecompanies should be proud that people want to work for them. And that should be the same for all companies there. Be happy that people want to work for you, otherwise you didn't exist. And your healthcosts? Why pay doctors and other medical personel so much money? Because they studied on a famous University?
Well, most American jobs pay 50% more and the difficult jobs pay double or more. It's the difference that allows them to go out for breakfast every morning or build that swimming pool next to their house. You have to appreciate that a lot of people thrive in the US system. If there is ONE statistic you should remember then it is this : people who invent something new overwhelmingly move to the USA, they have the rest of the world beat all by themselves 5 to 1. No, I did not make that up. And that says something very profound. If you are special (you are probably not) then the USA is the place for you.
a 7 in the Netherlands is equal to a 10 in America, our education system is so much better, and the level of thinking is much higher, America is not called the dumbest country in the world for nothing
educational system i agree. here you get the about the same level of education on every school, while in america some schools are just buildings to detain youth for several hours a day instead of having them on the streets. no educational value. but after that you go full on "fascist" with stating "the level of thinking is higher" ...nahh it isn't!! just look at our "maga"-esque political surge . idiocies are global in this age. we got the same level of dumbness ! i know a lot of insanely dumb/stupid dutch people. i mean, speaking of genetical designated dumbness! that is easily found in many of those highly religious closed off villages like Urk, Bunschoten Spakenburg, katwijk of Volendam. half their population is cross-eyed and just able to function!! dumbest country? well did we put dutch people on the moon? nope we didn't. was it dumb of them to fly in planes with foodstuff to fed your (great)grandparents after ww2 and the Starving Winter? there is stupid stuff in society, but it doesn't mean all the people are.
Dude. Calling America the dumbest country in the world is just rude and narrow minded. Their educational system is subpar, but Americans aren't dumber by default. Just under- or misinformed. And I'm Dutch, not an American.
@@TheExplorder oké dan speek je Nederlands, ik zeg niet dat ze dat zijn, maar de rest van de wereld wel, het onderwijs daar is er opgericht om alleen kennis op te doen over de verenigde staten over de rest van de wereld leren ze niets, dat maakt ze niet slimmer zeg maar.
Just look up how much of the tax dollars go to Ukraine it's really a very small percentile. All though some of your politicians want you to believe almost all of the tax dollars are going abroad.
The dutch gouvernement also gives a lot to the ukrainn. And we also take in a lot refugees. I don't mind I think it is a good thing, we are a rich country. But there are defenetly things that go wrong in were our taxes go to ore how mutch taxes you pay. And ,yes, a lot of our good bennifits get paid out of the taxes. By the way, if you ever get the chanse to move to the Netherlands you would have no trouble in getting a job whit your experiance in working in restaurants. We have a enormous shortisch in personel. So learn dutch!❤
We take refugees, but if you compare to other countries in Europe then it's not a lot really. Main problem is the lack of housing. One of things is for example that old people are now staying longer in their houses, instead of getting a room in a care center, which was the usual procedure. My parents lived until they were 90+ in the old house recently, which was large enough for a family of 4 at least.
@@giselavaleazar8768If we don't have enough housing, we shouldn't be taking in more people. We are a very small country with a very high population. People shouldn't have to give up their homes because the government keeps letting refugees in. That is a ridiculous statement.
@@katenl8976 Please read more carefully. I didn't state that we need to increase or decrease any number. I evaluated a statistic. I described the main practical problem that we have with (legal) immigration. NL is not a large country that's a fact, but it's not true that we don't have any space for new housing for anyone, Dutch people, expats or refugees. To be clear: I didn't say anything about what we should do or not do.
From the narrative it looks as if the Dutch are a lazy people but most people are skilled workers and proud of there trade and my experience is that many of them will do that extra step for delivering a good product, but they know their rights and you have to respect them. The so called benefits are products of hard negotiations between workers(unions) and employers or government.
People who do the work have better ideas as to how the work could be done better for everybody! If everyone is happy the work place is happier to work in And is more productive and makes more money!
My condolences for your brother... I hope one day US citizens will get the same workers-rights as we do in the Netherlands. At the same time, it seems a lot of US-citizens dont want it, even those who could benefit greatly from it. I haven't been to the USA, but from what I know via the internet it seems most Americans prefer big corporation over big government. And you will need some government interference in order to keep corporations in check, and prevent corporations from cannibalizing the citizenry. Still, the European way is not for everyone. People who are highly entrepreneurial, the US is probably great for them. For me, I am deeply grateful to be Dutch and live in the Netherlands. You sound like you'd be happier here. Maybe consider moving?
your comment at 24 min 05 seconds of this video says a lot about the difference between an american and a dutch or belgian. You would benefit from being sick every time you go on holiday to take advantage of the system. There are plenty of profiteers here. Just stay where you are.
As an American you always worked 40+ hours? That is not much considering that I as a Dutch always worked 70+ hours for the government, but only got paid for 40 hours.
If you mean talking or lobbying is working than it is possible otherwise it's BS. If you work 6 days a week it's 12 hours a day.1hour break a day 1 hour to go and get home. 14 hours a day.than you have to eat at home and shower get groceries etc. Sports? Family and friends?
@@paulbulk7044 No, I mean working in an Dutch Governmental Office as a file content information specialist / policy official for higher management and political officials. From 07:00 untill 21:00 or 22:00 hours sometimes without real breaks, fetching dinner at the internal restaurant and eating while working. Go home, sleep immediately and get up at 06:30 hours, have a quick shower and go to the office straight away. (15 minutes walking ). When needed (political urgencies) even in weekends. That was done by other single people as well. That is /was the mentality of municipal officials in Amsterdam. Groceries once a week. Friends,family no. Sports what´s that? But what means BS?
In Germany a lot of people that go to college can t find a job so they have to do a working class job .....and they are not happy .... What you say about Gen Z goes for a lot of young people goes for Germny too..... Work Life Balance is bad in Germany in the Working class 50- 60 are normal There a life to work Attitude ....
You criticise Gen Z for not doing anything they are not paid for. Wonder how the US ended where it is. Also we may pay higher taxes, but we have things like healthcare, maternity, and paternity leave etc.
We are efficient and value our life, going the extra mile because you have to results in marginal gain in results, and will cause burnouts nullifying all the gain you did with the extra bs mile. Often i do see my peers and me doing the extra mile, not because we have to, because we want to and makes us happy not the company per say.
Your money doesn't go to the war in ukraine. It goes to your own defense industry so the US can make more money. What goes to ukraine is the old stuff you are replacing with new stuff. Who's money does go to ukraine then? Europe's money. Look it up, don't be ignorant.
It's insane the difference between generation to generation. I've always been taught to work hard. Hard work pays off but they just don't get it. Robots will be here before we know it...
@@americangirlreacts@americangirlreacts exactly my thought,they want everything but are not prepaired to work for it. The give me,give me,give me more generation.
Gen Z means, the end of the alfabet. The end. of???? sanity, the human population??? i hope my great grandkids wil still have a world where they can live a normal life, but i doubt it
You started saying "America". America is not even a country, not a even a continent. Happy you say USA a bit later unfortunately not consistantly, even the US is not a correct word. Salary is not compatable. in NL you have pretty much have free education for your kides and everybody has FULL health insurance.
I wish the narrator of the video would stop saying 'benefits" They are not benefits, the are "RIGHTS"
You are right, of course, but considering those rights from the standpoint of someone who never had them before, I can understand that someone sees them as benefits ;).
Besides; they are rights here, but apparently they are benefits in the US.
Just my own 0.02 ;)
@@markgroothuis8569 Oh, both words actually mean the same in this context. You have the right for those benefits.
@@madjack7777 touché' 😶😀😃😄
@@madjack7777 naah , that would be like saying if you car insurance pays you out after an accident you recieve benifits
Isch koeltoerr .. In Amerika ben je een loser als je toeslag ontvangt, dus noemen ze het een benefit. Wij zijn nuchter , fuck die ratrace. Ik neem die benefit/ toeslag wel en werk minder 👋
When I got a burnout (in the Netherlands) my company took such great care of me. I got a personal coach and when it became clear that I wouldn't return to work at their company they helped me build up to be able to work again an coached me into finding a job that fitted me better. They also said they would continue helping me get a new job even after the two years of obligations ended for them. Even if I can't look back on my time there happily, I am forever grateful to them.
In Europe we didn't get these regulations because they fell from the sky all of a sudden. We got them through our behaviour in the voting booths for decades. You can do the same in any other democracy. Even in the USA.
the USA even had them back in the 50´s and 60´s
@@zhufortheimpaler4041 what happened in the voting booth? Seems that the majority is fine with current situation otherwise they would have done something differently.
@@Bladel1965 republican presidents. Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush Senior and your country is fucked.
In theory, yes. In practice, the USA's first-past-the-post/winner-takes-all voting system combined with gerrymandering has resulted in a two-party system in which both parties are effectively owned by the major corporations and therefore vehemently opposed to any kind of workers' rights, or even change in general, because that would be "un-American", "unpatriotic" and dare I say "communist" -- and we obviously can't have that!*
So sadly, the US voting booths never offer a choice for workers' rights, because neither party is allowed to offer them by their corporate overlords.
*) the real reason, of course, is that they're afraid it would impact their bottom line (even though experience in the NL and the Nordic countries shows that happier workers are overall more productive workers, and on fewer hours, making them better bang for buck...)
@@zhufortheimpaler4041 Its also an emotional thing. There's something about "the red scare" that really stuck in the emotional consciousness of Americans, I think, that leads them to reject anything that is not purely capitalistic as "communist/socialist" which is immediately bad. If you reduce it to a binary, you could say that Europe prefers big government where the USA prefers big corporation. Any government interference that would seek to limit the freedoms of corporations to persue capital is seen as communist and rejected - even by those who would greatly benefit from it. Its a difficult spot the US finds themselves in, because it really requires a nationwide mindset shift.
As a Dutchie working for an American company and getting teared apart for having the audacity of getting a burnout after covering for colleagues for years and always putting the company above my own wellbeing... yeah, that was a rude awakening. I have a couple of friends who are American expats, and they are like 'never going back'. Your wellbeing and having a good work-life balance is considered far more important over here than having a good salary. As long as you can make a living, you're golden.
you have a couple of American immigrants as friends fyi.
American expats are like the new gastarbeiders. They benefit from the Dutch middleclass and get 30% tax deduction.. for now .
Some people always have to correct someone, get a life!, @@geertstroy
Getting a job here is the easy part, the biggest problem will be to find affordable (social) housing.
I'm in the Netherlands and currently recovering from a burn-out. When it hit, I called in sick, and didn't work at all for like three months, then gradually came back to work again, slowly increasing the number of hours. During that whole time, I continued getting my full pay. I had some vacation time planned around Christmas and New Years, and easily got those converted from vacation days to sick days. In July, I'm going to take 4 weeks off for summer holidays and after that I'll still have 2 1/2 weeks of leave left on my balance.
I am a Dutchman and I also had a burn-out. But I was working for 15 years, 80+ hours a week with it, before I collapsed. Now I am at home for more than 4 years. Don't push it to hard. I don't know if I ever can work again. But I am working on my return to work again.
Thank you for your comment. I'm in the US, trying to learn more about Dutch culture all the time. Here in the US people talk about "freedom" all the time... without any idea how much better other places have it because their citizens have worked to assure rights that actually protect people are the law.
The equality works both ways: you can state your opinion both to the janitor and the ceo. And you can not be rude to the janitor and the ceo. Being rude to people "below" you would land you asap before the ceo's desk. The video's about US Karens totally rip apart service workers would be unheard of here.
sorry for your loss, i lost my sister at age 19 due to cancer, losing someone so close...thats one of the worst things ever...
Your reaction makes you realize how lucky we really are on this side of the pond.
Your final remarks .... when people are crushed by a cultural system like that ... Simply not acceptable. I'm sorry you and your loved ones had to deal with that.
Work / life balance is a blessing .... It really is! Thanks.
The reason why it is ‘difficult’ to fire an employee is that a company also has an obligation towards an employee. They have to be trained and schooled in many professions and if an employee is underperforming, they get a warning, which is also mentioned in the employee file. You need to have at least 3 bad note in your employee file (with a six month interval between them) before they can fire you without interference of a judge. Between every bad note the employer needs to make improvement plans with you so you can better yourself. When there is a reorganization or a mass dismissal, the company Works Council has to be consulted for who, why, when and how. If an employee is really misbehaving like, discriminate a coworker, foul mouth a superior, has committed a criminal act or fraud, they can be fired immediately. A company or employer has rights and obligations towards employees and an employee has rights and obligations towards the company or employer. It’s a give and take. So definitely not the American way, but a better way.
That way is Not better than usa way
Sounds like Hell for anyone who is not lazy
Very Dutch:
Stop talking about work.
Let’s talk about us !!
I work for a company that has it's HQ located in America. I can assure you they basically ask for their people putting in minimal effort, that's about as much as you'll get from the company, so really can't expect more when putting in more effort only gets you rewarded with MORE WORK.
We work to live not live to work. I don't need a bigger car then my neighbors or be the best in everyting. Greetings from the Netherlands.
Well, all this is the same in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. The Netherlands I think only stands out in extra vacation days and the openness in burn out.
Are you a teacher at Fontys? You look familiar. From long ago.
Actually the Netherlands is in the ‘lower regions’ together with eg Germany and Spain, regarding holidays and legal free days. Also, we in NL have no compensation when a holiday is on a weekend, like they have in Belgium for example.
@@Mazil_5 If a holiday is on a saturday and you work workdays, why would you be compensated for a day you didn't work? You're not making sense.
@@michelrosier468 hahaha I did not make this up! Some countries have this principle. Don’t shoot the messenger 😂
@@michelrosier468 That's a very Dutch way of thinking about it, and it makes sense.
Back in Canada, if Christmas was on Saturday and Boxing Day (Tweede Kerstdag) was on Sunday, they'd bump up to Monday and Tuesday.
2022 really illustrated this for me.
In the US you make nominally more money, but you also need that money to pay for many things that you don't need to pay for in the Netherlands. The end result is that the standard of life is more or less the same in the Netherlands as in the US, but the quality of life is much better in the Netherlands, because there are many things that you don't need to worry about in the Netherlands that are very worrysome in the US.
Nou .. als iedereen zzp zou wezen in Nederland in plaats van in loondienst.
Dan hebben we het al een beetje een Amerikaanse situatie ..
I work in IT in the Netherlands I'm past 50 years old and I have in total 385 vacation hours and I work 36 hours a week with a 9 hours work day from Monday to Thursday.
So I always have a nice long weekend and in total based on the 9 hours workday I have about 42 vacation days a year.
Seeing I work 4 day's a week I can take leave for 10 weeks if I combine that with some national holidays I can stretch that to 11 maybe 12 week so you are able to go on pretty long vacations or multiple ones every year.
Problem is the children they are limited in the vacation time and when they can go on vacation, it is not easy to get your kids out of school to go abroad or anything.
That said you can even buy additional vacation hours if you want, I personally never done that.
But I have colleague who have done it and it is not that expensive, and you can even compensate it with worktime etc.
About Burn-out, it is indeed mostly viewed as to much commitment towards your work sometimes even relate towards the hours you work for the company.
Even though I have a 9 hour workweek I start my day at 0600-0700 but seeing I'm in IT is sometimes work much more then the 9 hours a day.
These extra hours can be paid out and/or compensated in vacation hours etc.
So yes Burn-out has not stigma it can have multiple factors and as always here in the Netherlands Family comes before work and if you think that is not the case just wait until the boss tells you that is the case. When my wife was sick I could stay at home take care of the kids my Boss said take your time don't be back too fast just make sure your family is totally up and running again. Another day I was at work while my daughter had her birthday my Boss came to me and asked why are you here go home do some fun stuff with your daughter and family.
Also we can work from home whenever we want and calling in sick is never an issue.
One day I was sick just a 24 hour flu or something so within a day I was back at work my Boss told what are you doing here go home.
If you feel up to it work from home and if you are still feeling fine next week you can come back to work.
So yeah it is totally different, I never looked back once.
If I go back to the States even though it feel a bit nostalgic it comes with some kind of culture shock, it is very weird.
calling ppl lazy for not going the extra mile, which they would not be compensated for is wild
Indeed. Being a wage-slave is nothing to brag about. It just means you live to work which is a very empty existence and a waste of your life, if anything.
well on the difference on salary; the appartments cost at least 3x as much in america for the same space.
health insurance is about 140 euro, while comparable health insurance is between 600 and 1000 euro in america.
just those 2 differences evens out the salary gap between the two countries.
we may have lower salaries, but we also need far less to have the same quality of life you would have in america.
ps: watching the vids of you both for years now. and i honestly think you would fit in great over here. :)
Americans earn a lot more, but here's the thing: if you offset the costs that Americans have to pay out of their own pockets, they pay a lot more and end up with less of their money than we do here in europe.
Money isn't everything, especially when you're exploited like that.
Even simple things like not having to own a car, because you can bike to work can save allot of money. But then you dont have a car.
It's nice to talk about big pay cheks in the States, but you must include in that comparison "the cost of living"; otherwise it means nothing.
Thanks Amy for sharing your thoughts on this...always interesting to hear different perspectives! And also for sharing your story...I'm sorry to hear about your brother, I can relate in a way too. One of my best friends committed suicide right when I arrived in The Netherlands, and he was the one who taught me that there's more to life than work. Anyways, best of luck and maybe see you on this side of the world!
The Dutch saying is more like "Just act normal. Because with you acting normal, you are already acting crazy enough".
Don’t think we’re lazy all the time. We do work hard. But our ‘above and beyond’ usually is differently motivated. When we get the chance to improve something in our job, either for our company or our colleagues, we will. Not to get paid more or climb higher or to get the appreciation, but simply bc the improvement will make a better workplace. And we get the space and the responsibility to do that. But yes, our free time is important too. And when you’re sick, you’re sick.
I'm going to do the shitty thing of commenting before watching the entire video, but I can't right now but have some things I would like to say. This might not be the audience that needs to hear it the most, but it might give someone some perspective of the mostest greatest country in the world. It's linked to the differences of the society I live in in Sweden and what I know about the US, so not completely on topic, but I got burned out here and can't even imagine what it would be like if I lived in the US. And I know that there are many Americans that are aware of and frustrated by a lot if not only everything of what I'm going to bring up.
I'm swedish, we have our problems, but everytime I learn about more fucked up things I can think "at least I don't live in the US". I would like to list some crucial differences between working and living in America vs Sweden. For some reason a started with other stuff before getting to the employment, not sure why.
1. Salary
I hear many arguments that we earn less money and pay higher taxes, but you have to look at our social securities, rights and expenses we don't have and have to account for.
2. Healthcare
Not only do we have (almost completely) free universal healthcare, we also have unlimited sick days that, with some conditions and doctor notes, are paid. You can receive up to 80% of your income capped at $120 per day, after one year it's 75%. Most prescription drugs are capped at a total of $250 per year and I believe it includes a lot of necessary supplies. Yes, our healthcare system has huge flaws, but we don't have to chose between our health or being able to provide for ourselves and our families.
3. Parental leave
While pregnant you have the right to parental leave at least 7 weeks before and 7 weeks after birth. The non-birthing parent have the right to 10 paid days in connection to the birth, in some cases someone close by can have the right to use that for a single parent. The two parents have the right to 480 paid days, each parent have 90 days reserved, the rest are shared between them. You get paid up to 80% of your income with a cap of $120 per day unless your union gives more money. You can take sick days while on parental leave without losing your days.
4. Childcare
All schools are free, from preschool to university. The costs depends a bit on where you live but these are in Gothenburg, the second biggest city. Kindergarten costs are based on household income but capped at $170 per month for children under 3 and $110 for children over 3. For multiple children you pay in full for the youngest but the cost decreases per child and the fourth and more are free. School children between 6 and 13 can stay at school after the schoolday until maybe 5 pm, but I'm not sure. That's also incom based and capped at $110 up to 9 years and $56 10-13 and works the same for multiple children. School lunches are free and every school based activity is free, but the children can sell stuff to earn more to trips and such. You can also recieve money for taking care of a sick child, up to 120 days per year unless the childs condition is severe.
5. Education
Pretty much everything is free, there are some private schools but you can become pretty much anything without paying tuition. Schools provide you with pens and notebooks and stuff at least until high school, and no teacher have to pay for any material.
6. Study loans
The interest for 2024 is 1,23 and for a maximum of 240 weeks full time studies you recieve $1300 per month of which $900 are a loan. The loan is tax free and you start paying 6 months after the last month with loan.
7. Disability
I don't know very much about what you can get but you can recieve money if your disability hinders you from have a job. You can also have the right to a personal assistant if it's needed, and you can get help with transport. You can apply for adjustment of your home and vehicle. You also get wheelchairs, prosthetics and such. I'm guessing a lot of these have some costs, but I don't know what and how much. I'm just going to assume that it's reasonable enough that you can afford it.
A disability also gives you rights to adjustments and accommodations in your workplace and you can't get discriminated.
8. Vacations
You have the right to 25 vacation days per year, and something about the right of four weeks consecutive in like april to october or something. You earn vacation pay every month so depending of how long you've worked at the company it can be unpaid. If you leave before you've used you vacation days you get the money with your last paycheck.
9. Unions
You have the right to be a part of a union and I would say most workplaces are union connected. The unions negotiate conditions and pay and have a strong impact on employers and industries. Union fees are income based but I'm not sure of how much and maximum and stuff.
10. Job security
You have to have strong grounds to fire someone and if you are unemployed you can recieve a maximum of $1100 per month or a maximum of $2600 if you're in a union, with conditions of applying to jobs and stuff.
11. Working conditions
There are regulations of how much an employer can require you to work and how many hours in a time period with minimum rest between shifts and stuff, both by law and negotiated by unions. The employers are often required to provide clothes and equipment depending on job and tasks.
12. The police
Boy, the police are a whole different category in Sweden compared to the US. They generally aren't out to get you and you can't get a citation just because they felt like it. There are a great number of restrictions regarding what the police are allowed to do and we don't have nearly as much problems with police violence and innocent people getting in trouble. The police doesn't get more funds the more citations they give out, and they don't normally have as heavy weaponry. I believe that you are entitled to compensation if anything in your home gets destroyed due to a police actions, but especially if you're innocent or there was a mistake made. It might come down to home insurance, not sure.
There are restrictions on how long, intense and how interrogations are allowed to be conducted, and while it can never be perfect and I do believe the Swedish police work with a more open mind to who is guilty than what's common in the US. I know that there are great and awful cops in both countries, but I do believe there are large differences in the education and work culture.
13. Judicial system
If you get arrested there have to be special circumstances to keep someone in jail, I believe for any time but especially until a trial. Your life doesn't crumble because something got you in trouble, innocent or not.
I don't know too much about our judicial system but I do know some. I believe you never have to pay your legal fees in a winning trial and you can't just sue someone to get them to settle to avoid an expensive trial. I do believe a lot of our prison sentences are too short, but I stand by our prisoners rights to still remain a human with rights and dignity. We don't have privatised prisons, how the fuck is that even allowed to be a thing? There are so many, in comparison, "minor" mistakes that can completely ruin your life in America, not to mention how many innocent people are stuck behind bars. I find it awful to hear about the stories of american former inmates, how are they supposed to turn their life around after what they've been through? And how are they supposed to feel any motivation the way they've been treated? They're seen and treated like a second class citizen, are often not allowed to vote, and were treated like crap by a country that they're now expected to serve and be a part of?
13. Guns
Oh, lord. The gun debate. I'm extremely against guns and the insanity it brings. I don't have to be afraid that someone who can't control their temper is gonna get upset and pull their gun on me. Yes, we have problems with gangs and gun violence, but there's almost no gun violence outside of that. And no children accidentally killing themselves or someone else. I can't believe there's even any debate about that.
Like I said, our country have huge problems and flaws but we do have a lot of protections and rights. I've been unable to work for several years due to depression and burnout with recently diagnosed AuDHD, but I've been able to get by. I'm currently studying and live pretty comfortably with an income of $1400 per month, and so does a lot of my classmates. There's so much I don't have to worry about and can take for granted. I'm not sure I would be alive if I lived in the USA, unless I was able to live at my parents with them providing for me, and even then I'm not sure I would see a future worth living where I could handle anything at all. After a long road I live in my own apartment with my boyfriend and am studying to become a frontend developer with little debt and my only struggles are my personal well-being.
Couldn't agree more. Very, very similar in Germany. Greetz from a German in Hamburg.
Plus … a part of the taxes we need to pay in Europe goes to Ukraine too. And I for one am happy Ukraine gets the money they need. I’d be more than happy to see a larger part of our tax money to go to a country that really needs it. And not JUST for their safety, but for ours (and yours) as well.
About the weapons. One needs a permit to own one, and they are not as easy to get ones hands on as it seems to be in the US. And truth be told, I don't think Swedes in general want one. I certainly don't.
Hear, Hear!
I got very sick when i was 6 weeks old with a brain disease while my parents where poor... If i had lived in the USA i wouldn't be typing this or my parents would never be able to move up to the middle class with my medical bills. Isn't it sad that i feel blessed not being born in the USA?
Going “above and beyond” without expecting any extra payment? How does that make economic sense? Employees should be paid for the value they add. That should imply the so-called “quiet quitting” work ethic, or our Dutch "doe normaal". Working without the incentive of being paid extra is typically what we would expect to see in a Communist regime. So I’m actually surprised that this going “above and beyond” is so prevalent in Capitalist America.
You get paid for your overtime one way or another. You get pay raises greater than you peers. You can leave to a better paying job. When bad times come, you KEEP your job instead of being fired. Being ambitious in the Netherlands you get NOTHING.
I'm Dutch (living in The Netherlands) I've got a American friend. we like each other, he want's me to come over to the states . I like the the US But after being there many times I've got doubts . My daughter doesn't want to leave Holland. At the moment I don't know what I want to do .
I don't remember if it was Germany or UK (doesn't really matter) but one guy who came from US of A spent whole year working without taking a single day off. So one day he was "invited" to CEO office where head of HR was also there. They took his laptop and mobile and told him to GTFO for 3 weeks and don't go back before that time. And they took his tools of work (laptop, mobile) to make sure he's not able to work.
What use is it to me if I earn a buttload of money, but I have to tear myself apart for it, my body doesn't get any time to recover, precisely because the employer wants it that way. The end result is burnout or a total nervous breakdown.
Is it really worth the money? If I'm in bed early then it's no use to me. At most, the cross will say “He's worked himself to death”
I prefer “Work to Live” to “Live to Work” and death
No company deserves more than 40 hours of your week.
I don't care how nice they might be.
It seems, that in the USA the promise, that hard work pays off, is no longer being kept. This promise is held in front of you, like a carrot to a donkey, so that you function as you should.
It was NEVER a promise in usa!!! Never. Question is = did you save $$$ as a tool for future use? Or just spend on USELESS stuff. All anyone Needs is FOOD and SHELTER. PERIOD
@@Steve-gx9ot 67% of the USA's gross domestic product depends on domestic consumption. So if everyone thought and acted the way you say here, things would be much worse in the USA. And one more question, your statement also applies to the rich, right? Or do the rich need more?
It is not true that your contract becomes permanent after three years or three temporary contract: most of the times you will get a permanent contract after ONE temporary contract. Plus: due to the huge shortage of staff you can get a permanent contract in some case, right away.
Some good things that were not mentioned is paid maternal and paternal leave around the birth of a child and cheap college tuition, just around 2500€ per year. (Both aspects are even more generous in Germany, paid parental leave is longer and college is free).
So yes, top dollar is relative when you have sky-high student loans to pay off, live in fear if medical bills, work long hours, have to hide burn-out, hardly take any vacation, can be terminated at will, have little or no paid sick leave and parental leave. In the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe the net earnings gap between top jobs and normal jobs is much smaller because the high earners subsidize the welfare state. And so it should be.
I have the feeling that in the US it is all about status
In the Netherlands it is very hard to get an A or a B on a test. I even had a teacher who never gave an A for a paper because he said, nobody was perfect.
“We zeggen dat het hoogste cijfer voor de student een 8 is. Een 9 is voor de docent, een 10 is voor God.” would translate to something like:
Students can get up to a B (80%).
Teachers can get up to a A (90%).
Only God can score an A+ (100%).
I'm a teacher in the Netherlands and get around 55k a year. It's more than a lot of people get and you can live quite well off of that. The cost of living in the Netherlands is just way lower.
Came here to say exactly this. $65k in the USA isn't much because you need a lot of money for stuff we get for (nearly) free.
Healthcare costs in the USA are ridiculously high, just to give one example.
Notice this one : ☺️The Dutch company AFAS : As of 2025, AFAS will always give all employees paid time off on Fridays. The software company is introducing a four-day working week to give employees the opportunity to pay extra attention to themselves, informal care, children or volunteer work. Employment conditions such as salary, 13th month, pension and holiday pay remain the same and working days still last 8 hours, the company writes. The employees who already worked 4 days will receive a salary increase and will therefore be paid for 5 days from then on.
Putting in extra or working "overhours" will net you the best results when you work for a small company, or a what we call 'one-mans-business'. A workplace where there is next to no corporate presence. These places tend to be run very casually and friendly towards the employees as well.
I worked in an architecture firm like that for 4 years and it was the best place I've ever worked. I actually came to work with a smile and had no issues putting in a bit more time to meet deadlines. The boss showed his appreciation very often and I'd say the work culture was, though cliché, family like. Every holiday we'd go to the boss's home for a BBQ or x-mas dinner. Paid for trips (4 days) to a sunny resort with the whole team. We'd get an extra cash bonus twice a year. I would've stayed there until my pension if the boss didn't get very sick and had to close the business.
Now I work for a bigger corporation and the differences are very apparent. It's far less personal/casual and though the work culture is still a good one, I go to work with a very neutral mood and I have no incentives to put in extra time or go beyond what is expected of me. I start work at 8 and I leave at 16:30 on the dot. I just do what must be done (to the best of my abilities) and no more. The more the corporate influence is present the less 'soul' a workplace has imo. The pay is better and I have an additional 7 days off per year but I'd still give it up to go back to the smaller architecture firm if I could.
One thing about those 20 vacation days (it's 4x the amount of hours you work per week, so you always have 4 weeks off), those are mandatory. Your employer needs to have good reasons to refuse you your vacation and no reason is good enough to prevent you to take at least those 4 weeks off per year.
About the money, when you do comparitions chances are that with all the out of pocket expenses in the USA eg health care, pension plans, college funds for your children, you just may have more on the bottom line in Europe than in USA.
in my 20s and 30s, I worked my ass off here in NL. ICT Application manager EPD (electronic patient database) for the biggest academic medical center and University of Amsterdam (AMC), EPD contains all medical info for every patient. (x-rays, movie clips of earlier surgery, blood levels, and so on.. Just everything). If it stopped working for any reason, all planned surgeries are on hold and more than 10.000 Employes need to work on paper. I can tell you, It was even for US standards, a good salary. But I always was on edge, like you had a company that was 24/7 standby.. There comes a moment you realize that a human being is not build for this. Miserable everyday. like a 5 out of a scale of 10. So I decided to try to make a living from my hobby (I was a wood worker). In the evening (2 days a week) I learned at a best school. And after two years I graduated. It was not mandatory, but now I can proof my customers that I'm a professional and qualified wood worker. It was so much more fun! But even longer days. The first two years you are actually 100% of your time at least on some basis busy with it (Ideas, plans, actual work, finding customers). But it was all worth it becuase, it fun and it's your own. after 3.5 years I did pretty well. But I made the mistake to join the festival scene, making stages etc. for a woodworker thats, the real thing. It's creative, always different. And B2B pays a lot better. Corona kicked in --> 3 months later I had to sell my house --> 6 months later I was in a huge depression. I lost everything. But because you got a lot of protection here and if you keep searching there are many ways to reboot your live. Every month I was payed by the coverment the minimum (anybody has that right here), And because of my mental state, I was declared 73% disabled with a good change to recover. If it was declared that 73% without change of recovery, then I wasn't allowed to work anymore for the rest of my live. And really I didn't took advantage, I was really unable to do anything. everything above 60% disability do have the freedom to not actively search for a job. So you get all the time to recover, changing your field of work. It was the best thing that good happen to me. I slowly started to build things from scratch. First with a lot iof savings a descent computer after a few years I got a small, but really nice apparment. Now I work for 24 hours (3 x 8) and the rest of the days I do all kinds of charity work. I have a smaller income, but I pay everything, If I want a new computer or phone, I just wait a bit longer to spare the money. And I enjoy every day! It feels more healthy, I need 1 hour less of sleep each night. It's a long comment, but my conclusion is: you can contribute and make yourself important and loved by society. Much more spare time. Just change a few "parameters", don't let others tell you how to live. 🙂
Actually, a teacher makes something between 3800 Euro and 7900 Euro a month, plus one 13th month at the end of the year and another month of holiday money in May. Plus, of course, what the gentleman calls "benefits" like pension payments, travel expenses and in certain cities an amount for housing expenses. It is also a bit unfair to compare NY or SF with an average Dutch city. In SF or NY the rental prices, and cost of living is most likely 2 to 4 times more expensive. You need a car to get around and when you put your kids on a sports club you pay a scandalous high amount to a professional travelling sport team. Europe and the US are simply incomparable. Break your leg and you just lost all of your extra money and lose your job.
In the Netherlands you must take every 2 weeks of, the rest of youre vacation days you can sell to the company and they must give you the money (the company must give you 28 payed vacation days)
I wrote it a month ago on charlie's comments: Quote:
So time to move. Pack up the family and set off on a new adventure. You like the Netherlands and Germany anyway, so off you go to the Dutch border. You can learn Dutch there and americangirlreacts can learn German. That way you both get something out of it. And since the Dutch speak English better than some Germans (it's in the old word family), it's certainly more helpful as long as you haven't mastered the languages yet. But wherever you go, you'll be better off than in the US.
best regards from germany Quote end
Think about it.....i think you won't regret it.
Actually, you're saying "NL and GER, lands of the opportunities"
Move to a bordertown and you can both live close to work but work in different countries speaking different primary languages =D
many people, even in Europe, complain that they are shortchanged... everything has become more expensive and this is noticeable everywhere. But it is true that many also buy luxury things that are not necessary at all, large purchases on installments, etc.... yes, things can get tight. It's in your hands
If you have benefits it is very difficult, but of course there are always shops that are cheaper and with everyone, if you want it but you can't afford it......don't get it. the world won't end if you can't afford a luxury item. And as far as working hours and free time are concerned, I work around 12 to 13 hours a day as a truckdriver and then have plenty of time left, everyone at the company is addressed as YOU, including the top at the office... we don't crawl for someone else, and if you don't like it, you won't be fired, but they will listen to your objection. At least, that's how it works at where I work (and many other companies)
greetings to Charlie
Ooh, David got fired recently (cost cutting).He did a video on what it's like to get fired in the Netherlands.
And don't get confused between the words "working hard" and "working a lot". In the Netherlands the goal is to either relax (which includes taking a minute to chat with your co-worker) or to make every minute count. Work smarter then any competitor, so you don't have to work more. Take more time on how to do your work smartly and less on brute forcing your self through the pile of work. But the amount of work we push through can still be a lot, just in less time. Cutting clients that take too much of our time is a good thing. It's not about total revenue, it's about profitability.
Just saying in the Netherlands "working hard" and "working a lot" are two very different things.
In the Netherlands some amount of the taxes also goes to other countries that the Netherlands is helping. Plus taxes that people pay in the Netherlands go to army, school, goverment, hospitals and so on. To fire someone the company/ boss needs a good reason. That could be company is going bankrupt or when you did something that wasn't allright for the company.
I am going to be totally honest here, in Europe we really do value time off - and it would be virtually unthinkable for most people to work under the strain of the American working culture (40+ hours a week, no paid vacation) even with the option of having American salaries. The latter being somewhat skewed du to the extreme costs involved when it comes to the US healthcare system.
I've often encountered Americans online who like to flash their wages and salaries, talking about how much money they've got .. and they more often than not seem to be in disbelief when we're not impressed.. we REALLY are not. Name dropping does'nt work here... you guys seem stressed out and I shudder to think what that kind of mentality does to a society.
Everything is overpriced. The purchasing power that comes with the high salary is a lot less than it appears when you look at cost of living. People who flail their salaries online are coping. Even accounting for the Facebook / Social Media attention craze, that is a sign of narcissism.
Our society in the West is in free fall in every regard.
i have this saying; there is nothing more valuable then time off. so it doesn't matter if the boss pays me double when i do overtime, i value my time more with my friends and pets.
correction on what is going to ukrane they are shipping old stock to ukrane and they are listing the price of the replacement as the cost of what they are shipping its incredibly dishonest and i see it as lying to the public
even better: If they wouldn't give it to Ukraine, they'd have to pay to have it scrapped!
Don't look back, look forward. Who are you, what do you stand for, what are your ambitions, for now and for the future. Inform yourself widely and well.
Look at all the pros and cons. Above all, try to learn from people who have already taken identical big steps in their lives before taking such a big step yourself.
Try to get in touch with fellow expats.
There is certainly a lot of work for restaurant employees, but catering and catering are two, so please don't forget that!
At the moment, there is a lot of demand here for practical people with extensive experience in a technical background.
Wish you all the best!
The US-Dollar don't go to Ukraine. Its more the opposite, most of the money that should benefit Ukraine makes modern weapons for the US-Army, which gives the already paid old ones to Ukraine. So the money is ultimately for investing in modern weapons, stimulating the economy, benefiting a lot of States producing this, partly in brandnew factories. And... the old stuff like patriots, bradley etc. performs in the war so well that everyone want US-weapons. Conclusion: US benefits as a whole from giving Ukraine old stuff, that otherwise rotten in military warehouses.
good point ... actually the old stuff wouldn't be rotting in warehouses, they often reached or are close to the "use before date". next would be expensive dismantling. two birds killed with one stone: millions in aid for ukraine, new investment in the military industry which makes wall street happy. those that get a job too of course .....
16:40 Heyyy.... I live in Poland. That's next to Germany on east side. Even though we're not the richest country in Europe with population of 38M we took 3M Ukraine refugees and gave Ukraine half of military equipment we had. In total USA of course donated more but in percentage of GDP it's like nothing compared to what we gave. So stop braging about tax dollars being donated to Ukraine. Those people are in need and if Putin breaks Ukraine then guess who will be next.
Just to realize you something:
Poland GDP is around $717 Billion (0.717 Trillion)
USA GDP is around 26.7 Trillion (26 700 Billion)
How many Ukrainian refugees you got in USA when war started? Because as said we got 3M. Note that your country is 330M of people while mine is 38M.
So if you don't want to piss Europeans then never say anything like this again. And remember - this is not just some local conflict you don't care about because you're on the opposite side of the ocean. If Ukraine falls that means World War 3 with USA involved even bigger than during WW2. And this time this won't be Europe only but also USA, China and everything between. This will be trully WORLD WAR with everybody involved.
Well yes, of course people don't want to go above and beyond when their boss has not once considered going even a crumb above or a pinch beyond paying you the absolute minimum they can get away with. If I am hired to pick up green phones, I will ignore an orange phone ringing, doesn't matter I am already there, doesn't matter there is overlap with other skills I already have, I won't do it. Feels kind of rude to ask someone to do something they weren't contracted for. Got no respect for laziness, but if you get the tasks done, good enough. And if you do want an employee to be more diverse, it needs to be negotiated up front.
The money in the US doesnt really go to the war in ukraine. It goes to the super rich. In eg tax cuts… in most european countries taxrates raises the more money you make so it evens out much more. That americans doesnt focus more frustration toward the super rich is sad cus THATS where all your money is! Thats where your extra workhours go, into the pockets of the business owners that does nothing more than owning your company.
Honestly, Things change the last years also in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands it was customary to reach a decision together. All kinds of organizations from left to right were heard and had a major voice in Dutch politics. Unfortunately, nowadays people expect something to be done "for me" and the "for us" feeling disappears. Counting all your blessings and then knowing how to appreciate them disappears. So, unfortunately we also see in the Netherlands that ultra-right ideas are gaining more and more influence on our society.
"Ultra-right ideas"?
Wanting to live in safety and walk outside without being robbed and being able to buy food and a house are not ultra-right ideas.
The indigenous people of Europe can't even start their own families, because we have to pay so many taxes to support refugee families and their children.
Is that the "equality" the left can't stop talking about?
Equality is a lie. This is real life, not a Disney movie.
"Ultra-right ideas"?
Wanting to live in safety being able to buy food and a house are not ultra-right ideas.
The indigenous people of Europe can't even start their own families, because we have to pay so many taxes to support refugee families and their children.
Is that the "equality" the left can't stop talking about?
In addition the Netherlands is also a lot safer and better for raising kids. Teaching how to be independent and responsible at a young age. Parents also don't have hover around their kids anytime they want to play outside.
A little note around the "doe maar gewoon dan doe je gek genoeg" saying it can also have the context of "just being yourself is good enough to be accepted" "and if they don't accept you it's their loss" this does wonders for your self esteem and mental health and not getting lost in the rat race.
There ARE cut-throat work environments with obscene pay checks in the NL, you just have to find/want them!
It's great that you want to work in the Netherlands... but also learn our language!! instead of us always having to speak English
8:15 "Working above and beyond" is just plain stupid. Do you get paid more than the people who refuse to do that? Are your chances of promotion better? Are you safe from being fired when the shit hits the fan?
Most certainly not. Your wage does not increase, promotions are based on nepotism and not on achievements and don't even think a minute that you won't get fired if the boss has a bad day in the office.
20:15 A temporary contract doesn't have to be extended for 3 times before someone can get a permanent contract. I have known lots of people who either got a permanent contract from the bat or after their first temporary contract ended. It just depends on how good and valuable you are at your job. A permanent contract sounds ominous like "I'm working here forever." but it just means that your employer can't fire you without serious repercussions, while you still have the option to switch from employer as you see fit.
Yes, you get paid more, yes, you get promoted, yes you are safe from being fired if you work above and beyond, and you ALSO get to LEAVE and get hired by a different company. And no, your boss when they have a bad hair day does not go around firing anyone. What a load of crap. The workmans compensation they have to pay, paperwork, lawsuits under EEC etc they have to worry about... You truly must be a shit worker to worry about this stuff. I've never seen anyone fired who did not DESERVE to be fired.
@@w8stral Sure, buddy, and every evening when you go home the CEO's secretary kisses you goodbye....
@@williamgeardener2509 Ah, poor baby boo boo have a bad low end job experience which you pretended was da Shite... Its called reality bud, sorry you are lazy and yes, people are not equal, many are worth more than others by their actions.
The money spend on war in Ukraine is spend in the US itself to produce new weapons. Sending old stuff and replace current stock with new stuff. What is spend is very little compared to the total Defense budget of the US.
If you think the Dutch are already relaxed... they are considered closest to US culture as far as corporate stuff goes.
Did you know that as a Americain you can move to the Netherlands with a DAFT visa.
"Not a lot of people want to do that" regarding going above and beyond. I think Gen Z might be the most Dutch generation in many ways. Don't do stuff you're not paid to do. There's even a MAXIMUM number of hours you are allowed to work, including ALL jobs.
My Dutch company pays for my cell phone too. I never answer it. It's mostly an emergency hotspot, honestly.
Regarding teachers - American teachers end up paying for supplies out of pocket. That's not a thing here. Schools buy supplies. In fact, parents don't buy supplies in elementary school (basisschool). Paper, pens, etc... all in.
Check out David's video about his recent layoff. ua-cam.com/video/bZ3d_jpZslE/v-deo.html
US has local and state taxes in stores
Imagine the cost of yhe premium health insurance in the US and just realise this is included in the taxes you pay! Cost of living is lower.
Vacation days in europe given them with pay!!!!
Life is short do you want to work your arse of getting rich? = go work in the States. Life is short do you want more leisure time and just want to earn enough for your needs so you can persue your hobbies and vacantions = go work in the Netherlands. Neither side is superior and both sides offer a way to spent your life but are different. We Dutch get a few years extra life expectancy not because our hospitals are better they are not. On the other hand even the poorest part of our population can afford surgery. Hence people with earnings less then $1800/month can get grands from the government to help them pay for it. They actually give you money so you can afford the already very cheap Health insurance which cover more costs then expensive ones in the States. Taking that stress away from everybody is worth a lot... Same goes for rent if your not making enough than government gives you money so you can , that's why we hardly have homeless people and from those that are a lot of them are addicts who would use grands given to them to get of the streets just towards their addiction(s).
Don't come to the Netherlands Just change how things work in the US
You, Charlie and your family should come over to the Netherlands.
Language is no problem, finding a job is no problem. A house or apartment is bad. But companies over here will help.
Children's health care is free to the age of 18.
No gun violence unless you are a criminal. But hey, criminals are all over the world.
As a woman, you can go freely everywhere around. Check out other expats with their channels.
Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱 ( Truly the Land of the free)
I don't think we have to worry about criminals. They all came to America last week. lol. but for real, we will be there as soon as we can. :) I've been checking out a lot of expats channels. I's super excited
Hello, it is difficult to move to the Netherlands as an American but I am sure a lot of people on your channel are willing to help you. You have a working mind set. That is welcomed in The Netherlands but you will not be worked like a dog In The Netherlands but you do have tedious or demanding jobs here too like working in restaurants but that yields good money.
In the US, all those "Big" bubblecompanies should be proud that people want to work for them. And that should be the same for all companies there.
Be happy that people want to work for you, otherwise you didn't exist.
And your healthcosts? Why pay doctors and other medical personel so much money? Because they studied on a famous University?
In Australia you can make 100,000 a year as a laborer
Well, most American jobs pay 50% more and the difficult jobs pay double or more. It's the difference that allows them to go out for breakfast every morning or build that swimming pool next to their house. You have to appreciate that a lot of people thrive in the US system. If there is ONE statistic you should remember then it is this : people who invent something new overwhelmingly move to the USA, they have the rest of the world beat all by themselves 5 to 1. No, I did not make that up. And that says something very profound. If you are special (you are probably not) then the USA is the place for you.
That's the difference between European and American people. We are less materialistic. Enjoying life is more important to us
We get a lot further with half the salery you get in the US because of different factors.
a 7 in the Netherlands is equal to a 10 in America, our education system is so much better, and the level of thinking is much higher, America is not called the dumbest country in the world for nothing
That depends. A good (expensive) university is comparable or even better than in the Netherlands, from what I understand (never compared it myself).
educational system i agree.
here you get the about the same level of education on every school, while in america some schools are just buildings to detain youth for several hours a day instead of having them on the streets. no educational value.
but after that you go full on "fascist" with stating "the level of thinking is higher" ...nahh it isn't!!
just look at our "maga"-esque political surge .
idiocies are global in this age. we got the same level of dumbness !
i know a lot of insanely dumb/stupid dutch people.
i mean, speaking of genetical designated dumbness!
that is easily found in many of those highly religious closed off villages like Urk, Bunschoten Spakenburg, katwijk of Volendam.
half their population is cross-eyed and just able to function!!
dumbest country?
well did we put dutch people on the moon? nope we didn't.
was it dumb of them to fly in planes with foodstuff to fed your (great)grandparents after ww2 and the Starving Winter?
there is stupid stuff in society, but it doesn't mean all the people are.
Dude. Calling America the dumbest country in the world is just rude and narrow minded. Their educational system is subpar, but Americans aren't dumber by default. Just under- or misinformed. And I'm Dutch, not an American.
@@TheExplorder oké dan speek je Nederlands, ik zeg niet dat ze dat zijn,
maar de rest van de wereld wel, het onderwijs daar is er opgericht om alleen kennis op te doen over de verenigde staten
over de rest van de wereld leren ze niets, dat maakt ze niet slimmer zeg maar.
@gerrylanter8109 nope i like freedom, am staying right here
Just look up how much of the tax dollars go to Ukraine it's really a very small percentile.
All though some of your politicians want you to believe almost all of the tax dollars are going abroad.
The dutch gouvernement also gives a lot to the ukrainn. And we also take in a lot refugees. I don't mind I think it is a good thing, we are a rich country. But there are defenetly things that go wrong in were our taxes go to ore how mutch taxes you pay. And ,yes, a lot of our good bennifits get paid out of the taxes. By the way, if you ever get the chanse to move to the Netherlands you would have no trouble in getting a job whit your experiance in working in restaurants. We have a enormous shortisch in personel. So learn dutch!❤
We take refugees, but if you compare to other countries in Europe then it's not a lot really. Main problem is the lack of housing.
One of things is for example that old people are now staying longer in their houses, instead of getting a room in a care center, which was the usual procedure. My parents lived until they were 90+ in the old house recently, which was large enough for a family of 4 at least.
@@giselavaleazar8768If we don't have enough housing, we shouldn't be taking in more people. We are a very small country with a very high population. People shouldn't have to give up their homes because the government keeps letting refugees in. That is a ridiculous statement.
@@katenl8976
Please read more carefully.
I didn't state that we need to increase or decrease any number. I evaluated a statistic. I described the main practical problem that we have with (legal) immigration.
NL is not a large country that's a fact, but it's not true that we don't have any space for new housing for anyone, Dutch people, expats or refugees.
To be clear: I didn't say anything about what we should do or not do.
From the narrative it looks as if the Dutch are a lazy people but most people are skilled workers and proud of there trade and my experience is that many of them will do that extra step for delivering a good product, but they know their rights and you have to respect them. The so called benefits are products of hard negotiations between workers(unions) and employers or government.
People who do the work have better ideas as to how the work could be done better for everybody!
If everyone is happy the work place is happier to work in
And is more productive and makes more money!
My condolences for your brother... I hope one day US citizens will get the same workers-rights as we do in the Netherlands. At the same time, it seems a lot of US-citizens dont want it, even those who could benefit greatly from it. I haven't been to the USA, but from what I know via the internet it seems most Americans prefer big corporation over big government. And you will need some government interference in order to keep corporations in check, and prevent corporations from cannibalizing the citizenry. Still, the European way is not for everyone. People who are highly entrepreneurial, the US is probably great for them. For me, I am deeply grateful to be Dutch and live in the Netherlands. You sound like you'd be happier here. Maybe consider moving?
what a brave comment i think your family want to live in the Nethelands you ara welcome \\\\\\Alex 78 years old living my enteyre life in Muntendam
Ha! Sweden was at the far left of the Egalitarian chart, along with Denmark and Netherlands. Yeah, we don't care about that either.
your comment at 24 min 05 seconds of this video says a lot about the difference between an american and a dutch or belgian. You would benefit from being sick every time you go on holiday to take advantage of the system. There are plenty of profiteers here. Just stay where you are.
But in the Netherlands most of the time your taxes and pension is already paid then ...
As an American you always worked 40+ hours? That is not much considering that I as a Dutch always worked 70+ hours for the government, but only got paid for 40 hours.
If you mean talking or lobbying is working than it is possible otherwise it's BS. If you work 6 days a week it's 12 hours a day.1hour break a day 1 hour to go and get home. 14 hours a day.than you have to eat at home and shower get groceries etc. Sports? Family and friends?
@@paulbulk7044 No, I mean working in an Dutch Governmental Office as a file content information specialist / policy official for higher management and political officials. From 07:00 untill 21:00 or 22:00 hours sometimes without real breaks, fetching dinner at the internal restaurant and eating while working. Go home, sleep immediately and get up at 06:30 hours, have a quick shower and go to the office straight away. (15 minutes walking ). When needed (political urgencies) even in weekends. That was done by other single people as well. That is /was the mentality of municipal officials in Amsterdam. Groceries once a week. Friends,family no. Sports what´s that? But what means BS?
@@peterstringa3350You made the choice to keep working there.
In Germany a lot of people that go to college can t find a job so they have to do a working class job .....and they are not happy ....
What you say about Gen Z goes for a lot of young people goes for Germny too.....
Work Life Balance is bad in Germany in the Working class 50- 60 are normal
There a life to work Attitude ....
life for children is let them go without fear and develope them self living here
Forgot about pension
If you like it be prepared to give up citizenship or youll still be paying US taxes!
Europe is still great to live.
You criticise Gen Z for not doing anything they are not paid for. Wonder how the US ended where it is.
Also we may pay higher taxes, but we have things like healthcare, maternity, and paternity leave etc.
We are efficient and value our life, going the extra mile because you have to results in marginal gain in results, and will cause burnouts nullifying all the gain you did with the extra bs mile.
Often i do see my peers and me doing the extra mile, not because we have to, because we want to and makes us happy not the company per say.
Dutch is a great country😊
not in belguim,where more and more people have 2jobs
Uhmm our taxes also go to the war in ukraine... everything is payed from the taxes.. it is just do you use it correctly
Your money doesn't go to the war in ukraine. It goes to your own defense industry so the US can make more money. What goes to ukraine is the old stuff you are replacing with new stuff. Who's money does go to ukraine then? Europe's money. Look it up, don't be ignorant.
Gen Z wants EVERYTHING they can take but do NOTHING extra for it at all, my generation Gen
X was taught to do your best at work always.
It's insane the difference between generation to generation. I've always been taught to work hard. Hard work pays off but they just don't get it. Robots will be here before we know it...
@@americangirlreacts@americangirlreacts exactly my thought,they want everything but are not prepaired to work for it. The give me,give me,give me more generation.
Do you want to live in Marokko? Go live in Amsterdam.
Yes!! Come to europe!! 🤗
Gen Z means, the end of the alfabet. The end. of???? sanity, the human population??? i hope my great grandkids wil still have a world where they can live a normal life, but i doubt it
So, YOU can't handle motivating Gen Z collegues and it is their fault? hmmm
If you do nothing but work you have nothing to talk about but work. Sad.
SO SUPERFICIAL LIKE HELL !!!!!!
You started saying "America". America is not even a country, not a even a continent. Happy you say USA a bit later unfortunately not consistantly, even the US is not a correct word. Salary is not compatable. in NL you have pretty much have free education for your kides and everybody has FULL health insurance.
I suggest voting democrat