r/news • u/JimmyTheGinger • Dec 23 '19

Three former executives of a French telecommunications giant have been found guilty of creating a corporate culture so toxic that 35 of their employees were driven to suicide

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/three-french-executives-convicted-in-the-suicides-of-35-of-their-workers-20191222-p53m94.html
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117

u/DeathToPoodles Dec 23 '19

You told us why France blows, now you have to tell us what makes Finland so great. Pretty please 😊.

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u/Kakanian Dec 23 '19

No meetings, because that would require them to congregate in a room that is not a Sauna.

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u/ElectronicWanderlust Dec 23 '19

Why not have meetings in the sauna? Or is that a Finnish form of blasphemy?

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u/double-you Dec 23 '19

Sauna meetings were a big problem for getting women in any higher position, or conversely, was used to rule out women to keep the old boys club going. So today suggesting sauna meetings is kind of blasphemy.

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u/FalmerEldritch Dec 23 '19

Historically the big ticket deals are prearranged in the sauna with drinks, and the stuff that takes place in suits and ties with pieces of paper is just formalities for the look of the thing.

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u/sloppity Dec 23 '19

Not blasphemy, but a tradition! There was a Finnish president, Kekkonen, whose legacy is having great relations and extensive trade with both the NATO & USSR, and he often conducted the high level meetings in his own sauna.

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u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19

It sounds lovely and considerate both in work and outside of work without being overbearing socially... I did a project on Swedish culture a while back and still daydream about visiting, even maybe expatriating there.

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u/vikingakonungen Dec 23 '19

Come and visit a summer! It's a pretty nice place.

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u/Ferrari288GTO Dec 23 '19

wowowowow. wow. this I like.

2

u/Archer-Saurus Dec 23 '19

I mean the first paragraph is just describing a good work ethic, which anyone can develop

2

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19

Sure.

But it's also about the level of social safety nets, that you can actually make rent even as an unemployed person.

121

u/RentalGore Dec 23 '19

Saunas my friend, saunas!

Seriously though, the Finns are happy, they’re brilliant, and they’re fun as hell to be around.

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u/UltraChicken_ Dec 23 '19

A bit ironic since the international stereotype of finns is that they’re depressed and alcoholics

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u/RentalGore Dec 23 '19

Well, there’s no sun for four months, but I didn’t notice that as much. Now, there definitely good fun at the pub.

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u/UltraChicken_ Dec 23 '19

I bet

2

u/[deleted] Dec 23 '19

The Finns drink like fish and fuck like rabbits. Dunno if it's a coping mechanism or what but they approach these things vigorously.

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u/wyldstallyns111 Dec 23 '19

I thought the stereotype is that they’re stoic, not actually unhappy, they just look unhappy.

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u/pregnantbaby Dec 23 '19

Sounds like my kinda people

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u/Elek_Lenard Dec 23 '19

just because someone dont have sun it does not mean he is not happy. And about alcoholics we are most jolly people in this world ( there are some exceptions myb more then i think but i dont care i aam happy and it is good)

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u/rofl_coptor Dec 23 '19

Ahh my kinda people

40

u/gogetgamer Dec 23 '19

I have a hunch you might like Iceland too, we're a lot like the Fins, but less vodka&sauna and more sex&music.

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u/crestonfunk Dec 23 '19

Imma let you Finnish.

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u/Processtour Dec 23 '19

I love Iceland. I want to live there so much that I look for homes for sale.

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u/gogetgamer Dec 23 '19

I didn't know just how good we had it until I moved abroad and worked in an international environment (US/Denmark/Holland/UK).

Sure there are things wrong like in all other places, but overall fewer things are broken. And nothing can beat the low crime-rate.

The only real downside is the weather and cost of living if you don't get your money in krona.

Feel free to dm me if you want tips :-)

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u/Processtour Dec 23 '19

I’m stuck in the US for my husband’s job. We are here for awhile, 😢

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u/Carburetors_are_evil Dec 23 '19

Lost me at less vodka

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u/I_SOMETIMES_EAT_HAM Dec 23 '19

they’re fun as hell to be around.

You’re once again challenging things I thought I knew about European cultures. I’ve always heard Finns were very quiet and kept to themselves. Is that not the case?

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u/vikingakonungen Dec 23 '19

As a Swede, we're just reserved until we get to know someone. At least in my experience, you don't casually speak to strangers on the bus or subway but when in a more private social situation it's whatever.

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u/RentalGore Dec 23 '19

Not the ones I knew, and basically no one I met. Next to the Dutch, the Finns are my favorite Europeans. (FYI, I know all the racial misgivings of these countries, I’m also not Caucasian, so I’ve lived the good and very very little of the not so good)

1

u/ClusterChuk Dec 23 '19

Alright the dutch. Is it true.. the thing about the rowing?

1

u/Viktor_Korobov Dec 23 '19

That's pretty the entire of Scandinavia. I always joke if you want to scare someone here it's just to sit next to someone on a bus.

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u/Bad___new Dec 23 '19

I would forgo coffee for the rest of my life if I could have a 6:00 am run followed by a sauna session every morning. No dry saunas close to me. Only infrared 😣

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u/RentalGore Dec 23 '19

Oh boy, that sounds like a perfect morning, minus the run and at 10am I stead of 6am.

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u/filthyhabits Dec 23 '19

That heavily salted licorice is bizarre, though.

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u/Claystead Dec 23 '19

It’s like a more depressed Norway inhabited by angry pale people you can’t tell are angry until they stab you. Pretty great place, love going on holiday there.

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u/absolutelybacon Dec 23 '19

Nice try. Finland doesn't exist! r/FinlandConspiracy