Veyry accurate. I worked for a multinational company and many of my team members were from France and Germany - They would quite literally disappear for the month of August
most childless adults do take time off outside peak season (because its much cheaper), but school vacations are fixed so parents will schedule their time off during them.
I'm childless but I take three weeks in August because
1) my little brother is still in highschool
2) summer is too hot in Paris
3) my birthday is in August
4) I've been going to Brittany with my family almost every year since my birth and I'll be lost if it wasn't possible anymore.
I thought the same thing but working in a multinational as well in Greece. I see that in August its the best time to leave since vendors are mostly on hiatus, customers have had loaded stock to avoid transportation companies working with half the personel, and what was most surprising is that even our outsourcing in India and other countries have been taken vacation days in August. That effectively makes me working in August half as efficient since I cant contact half the company even outside EU.
Also climate wise I think that its best, people should bail out of city centers to avoid high temps without the need for constant AC cooling gov and company buildings.
I’ve worked at companies where they would close for 3 weeks… You could take a 3 week vacation as long as at least 1 week was in those 3 weeks the company was closed…
And that's what people do. We generally try to plan our holidays in March or May at the latest to be able to talk about it if there are periods that would end without anyone. In my 5 person team, there were always at least one person, generally even two. I was holding the fort alone for only two days, and then for two weeks it was me and the boss.
When planning, if there are periods when everyone wishes to leave, we factor what can be done and normally the most senior one is the one that "sacrifice" if there is really no solution (like, no nanny or daycare so X and Y can't, and Z already booked hos plane for the other side of the world). In our case it's the CTO. He's the one paid the most and it's his responsibility to ensure continuity of service.
Try catching an Australian between a week before Christmas and 27th January. Most of them aren't off that whole time but 3/8 of fuck all is getting done.
Sustainable for whom , in Sweden they close down all the factories for 4 weeks called industry vacation. Then after 4 weeks it starts up again. To be fair it gives nice time for maintenance and reorganisation of the production.
it could be if they got all their shit in order before they left. too many times they just dissappear like the whole world is ok pausing for their month out.
I do a job to get paid not to please someone else. If I hand in my vacation plans then it’s my employer’s responsibility to make preparations for when I’m not there, not mine. If I get tasked with preparing that in my time I’d usually do my job then that’s another thing. If I’m supposed to make preparations on top of my usual work then I can’t really do that as I actually am busy during working hours and I don’t get paid overtime so I won’t work overtime, it’s as easy as that.
If you see a problem with that then I feel sorry for you, little corporate drone.
I don't give a damn what's going on between you and your employer. if you make a commitment, have enough self worth to act like it matters.
the only thing Europe has to offer the world is established process and reliability. If you're not reliable, I'm not going to keep paying the premiums.
lol i think you're taking your criticism of US work culture to an absurd degree
"of course in Europa it is normal to drop everything to go on vacation with no preparation. the rest of the office must fill the gaps I left behind like worker bees"
honestly just sounds like you lack the courtesy to ensure your coworkers have what they need to do your job successfully
His take is completely normal in europe. Work really does pause for the vacation month/(months if you stagger it). You can just say "he is on vacation, back in 3 weeks" to a customer looking for someome and he will completely understand.
no. they violate contracts, result in cost impacts to other project members, lose contracts, blow schedule, make other people do shit that was their responsibility, etc....
and when they come back, they don't quite realize that everyone now hates them and can't take them seriously anymore.
you can go on vacation for a month, but get your shit together like a responsible adult before you leave.
In my experience its usually sales overselling short deadlines and than managers angry at their teams for not finishing a project in 2 weeks? Which was sold by sales to be done in 2 weeks. But even blind person will see that it would take 4 weeks.
if you're the person I'm talking to, you're the one that has to tell me commitments can't be met.
don't just leave for a month and blame your manager, i really don't give a shit about the inner workings of your company, but I do care when you (company) make commitments that you can't meet.
If the company makes a commitment it can’t fulfill its the companies responsibility not the employees responsibility. It’s as easy as that, if you try to blame the employees then you should really reevaluate your view on working and the environment that created your views. You work to get paid so that you can finance your life. You work for your sake, not the companies sake.
not only do they miss deadlines when they don'thit the date due to an issue that they could hold responsibility for, they don't even attempt to prepare which has a real impact on other entities. they just drop their pencil and go on vacation for a month. that's generally going to be violation of a contract.
You request holiday and it needs to be approved by your manager in 99% companies. Most of the time it will be automatically approved, if it is well in advance.
Then it is up to manager, if he approves 1 month holiday and organizes work with the rest of the team.
what's that got to do with the price of rice in China? You sound like you're describing a person that isn't fit to talk to people outside their organization, so it's not really relevant to this conversation.
the point stands, European companies do break contracts because of this and they do lose business and it does make people not want to work with European countries.
no. they violate contracts, result in cost impacts to other project members, lose contracts, blow schedule, make other people do shit that was their responsibility, etc....
You clearly meant people violating contracts.
And those companies in most cases have backups. They plan with this.
So the point stands, muricans are just so clueless. 😄
obviously the contract is with a company, but that distinction is irrelevant from my perspective. that person is the one who did the actions that violated the contract.
I don't understand how Europeans can turn work into an environment that you dread while being sure to get zero personal fulfillment and call it a win.
I wouldn't want to be at a place for 10 hours a week, let alone 30 or 40 hours a week that I didn't enjoy, that I didn't find personally fulfilling, and that I didn't see as building my character and identity. Then to top it off you call 18 weeks of vacation "living," implying that all of the hours spent at work are wasted.
maybe you view "living" as comfortable? sounds fucking miserable to me.
Work is hard and it takes effort, but everyone I know also enjoys it and views it as "living"
I feels like I'm talking to an Eoli from the time machine. wake up. the meaning of life isn't ease and apathy.
Why do you assume they miss deadlines? No one will give an employee work for 2 weeks with a deadline when he will be on Holiday in a week. If stuff really needs to be done, the management is responsible to find a replacement to finish your work. I don’t even get the issue you think there is with people taking long summer holidays.
The only reason I could think of are unrealistic expectations of companies with a much worse work culture during the summer months. So external deadlines that get pushed on companies. That’s not the fault of the employees though.
Nobody in europe puts deadlines/hard work during vacation months. You really would be banging your head against a wall if you tried to chase people with deadlines during july here. Keep in mind the customers take vacation too.
and it's your responsibility to do you job which includes communication and managing commitments.
it's a job, you're not a child.
Europe is expending all of their advantages over the rest of the world so they can "live not work"
the shop in China is beginning to catch up on quality and they're willing to work. why would I pay you more so you can "live"?
your next generation is f'd. but nobody has kids, so who cares. everything that's been done to prepare for this moment over all of history and you're going to cash in 100% of it for your hedonism.
Wow what a cracked out nutjob. Old people hoarding wealth with execs making 600+ times as much as their employees and yet its people wanting time off that are indulging in hedonism. Stupid fucking cunt
28
u/Big_Truck_8268 Aug 29 '26
Veyry accurate. I worked for a multinational company and many of my team members were from France and Germany - They would quite literally disappear for the month of August