No Vacation Nation

In 1995 my wife and I went to Europe... we blew both weeks off I got back then with the railroad on that trip. My wife's HS friend who had just finished her law degree, but hadn't taken the equivalent of the Bar Exam. Steph couldn't believe I was making as much as I did... but only got 2 weeks off. She was a law intern, right out of college... and had 6 weeks off a year.

No matter how much seniority you have at my company you never get 6 weeks off! Hilarious.

Another difference I see between the U.S. and other countries is that in many countries, they live close enough to their 'families' that when vacation comes along, they actually head somewhere to do something. Then in the U.S., since our country is so large, I see lots of people like myself who are a full days drive or more from their parents and extended families, so when they finally get some time off, they feel compelled to take the grandkids back to see grandparents!
 
Last edited:
If an employee can be gone 6 weeks a year how important can their job possibly be? The only way I see 6 weeks as reasonable is if you are wealthy and can pay someone to do your job while you are gone.
 
I know quite a few....

professionals of one sort or another who take off 4-6 weeks at least some years. It all depends on the nature of the business. Some organizations can deal with it and others can't.
 
Maybe, but I wouldn't....

want to have to make that argument to the middlestadt companies in Germany. They are kind of a model of enlightened self sufficiency. Who knows about all of Europe? It's a big place with a lot of different approaches to things.
 
hello,

here in France , it depends of the job you do. You can have 5 weeks (minimum) to 3 months of vacation (for the teachers). I will have 12 weeks off this year . We take time to live , life is short :) . Are we lazy? i don't think so, we have good productivity in our job
 
Good question...

How important is a job? Do you ( not the you you but the we you) live to work or work to live?

For some, a job is a means to other enjoyment, many "service" jobs are like this. Before you become saddled with family and other financial burdens, you could easily work part of the year and travel part of the year for instance.

Ideally, you work doing something you enjoy or you'd do anyway, like for me it's design/build and other "projects" so in some ways I'm not always working when I'm "earning a living" (what an odd phrase).

I think more people are replaceable than we think.
 
I think everyone is replaceable to some extent. However, as a business owner, I have been astonished how many people are what I would consider unemployable. Even in a bad economy finding decent employees is unbelievably difficult. There are plenty of small businesses that simply give up close down because of it. Honestly many of the people I've interviewed weren't even worth minimum wage.
 
What is a "middlestadt company"?

Mittelstadt was original spelling of my name.
Grandpa Gustav changed spelling to Mittelstead.
More American sounding I guess.
Ancestors traced back to 1600's in Germany.

Looking back on 40 years of employment,
fondest memories are of taking a few 6-12 month sabaticals
between jobs...long time ago.
 
My problem with taking time off is that usually all I can think of to do is work.:mallet:
 
Last edited:
Mittelstadt might be the better spelling....

in any case these companies are 'middle sized', usually privately owned, often family owned concerns that are highly specialized in some area of manufacture. It is common for them to have developed market share of some item that makes them a virtual monopoly. The one example that I can recall (I think)is one company that builds like 90% of the caster wheels used on hospital beds worldwide. That's all they do and they have cornered a market with manufacturers of the beds. It's that kind of thing; usually some component or some machine that makes other machines. Anyway they operate along almost guild lines with aprenticeships and the workers become very valuable. As a result the companies have great incentive to keep their workers on even in a downturn. At the beginning of the economic meltdown Germany got hit bad but it's employment rate stayed pretty good partially because these companies reduced hours worked but kept people employed. The government provided some wage toppping up direct to the companies too.
 
Ain't that the truth, Mike.........!

usta said "it means 'middle sized' "!!!

How about that now?? :eek:

cheers mate, Ian - NZ
 
Ian, do you think this course....

in 'KIWI' would be valuable.





Teach Yourself Kiwi, A Free Introductory lesson...

Ever wanted to speak like a New Zealander? In our on-going mission to bring our clients training programs that are both cutting edge and invaluable to any serious contender, we are pleased to offer you a free preview of our latest program in the Global Executive series 'Teach Yourself Kiwi'.
Please ensure that when trialling the program you invite a colleague or friend to listen your new found linguistic ability. We think you'll find that they are so impressed that you'll soon be back contacting us eager to purchase the full version of this amazing program!
So without further ado, here is your free trial...


[For bist efict, rid these out aloud!!!]
Milburn - capital of Victoria
Peck - to fill a suitcase
Pissed aside - chemical which kills insects
Pigs - for hanging out washing with
Pump - to act as agent for prostitute
Pug - large animal with a curly tail
Nin tin dough - computer game
Munner stroney - soup
Min - male of the species
Mess Kara - eye makeup
McKennock - person who fixes cars
Mere - Mayor
Leather - foam produced from soap
Lift - departed
Kiri Pecker - famous Australian businessman
Kittle crusps - potato chips
Ken's - Cairns
Jumbo - pet name for someone called Jim
Jungle Bills - Christmas carol
Inner me - enemy
Guess - vapour
Fush - marine creatures
Fitter cheney - type of pasta
Ever cardeau - avocado
Fear hear - blonde
Ear - mix of nitrogen and oxygen
Ear roebucks - exercise at the gym
Duffy cult - not easy
Amejen - visualise
Day old chuck - very young poultry
Bug hut - popular recording
Bun button - been bitten by insect
Beard - a place to sleep
Chully Bun - Esky
Sucks Peck - Half a dozen beers
Ear New Zulland - an extinct airline
Beers - large savage animals found in U.S. forests
Veerjun - mythical New Zealand maiden
One Doze - well known computer program
Brudge - structure spanning a stream
Sex - one less than sivven
Tin - one more than nine
Iggs Ecktly - Precisely
Earplane - large flying machine
Beggage Chucken - place to leave your suitcase at the earport
Sivven Sucks Sivven - large Boeing aircraft
Sivven Four Sivven - larger Boeing aircraft
Cuds - children
Pits - domestic animals
Cuttin - baby cat
 
Even in a bad economy finding decent employees is unbelievably difficult. There are plenty of small businesses that simply give up close down because of it. Honestly many of the people I've interviewed weren't even worth minimum wage.
Click to expand...
Wow! I have never hired a person, although I've interviewed a few. What positions were you trying to fill when you found applicants that weren't worth minimum wage?
 
Matthew said:
I think everyone is replaceable to some extent. However, as a business owner, I have been astonished how many people are what I would consider unemployable. Even in a bad economy finding decent employees is unbelievably difficult. There are plenty of small businesses that simply give up close down because of it. Honestly many of the people I've interviewed weren't even worth minimum wage.
Click to expand...

I can believe this... years ago when I got out of the Navy my wife went to work for a small check collection agency run by a husband and wife... a week or two after she got hired she found all the resumes/applications they had received from their small 'Office help' ad run in a local paper.

My wife brought them home and we read thru them laughing our pants off. Sad to say but either people have no clue how to sell themselves, or there are a lot of really dumb ones out there!

One gal had a PhD in ENGLISH, yet turned in her application/resume... whatever you want to call it, on a page of torn out spiral notebook paper! Seriously! It was like she mailed in her rough draft! And out of the rest, the number of hand written, mistake filled applications and resumes were amazing. Out of the 160 or so that were in the folder they had saved, there were probably only 8 that anyone would have called in to interview. And out of those 8 or so I'm guessing they really only called in 3 or 4 because there were only a few that sounded like someone you'd want messing with files and funds of your business.

Overall the pool of applicants for their 'office help' position was truly a indictment of our society and school system in general.
 
Of course some people only send out resumes to fulfill their obligations for unemployment insurance money. They may not be seriously looking for a job. There were a couple of people that I wanted to hire but the money they were getting on unemployment plus the under the table income they were getting from odd jobs made getting a job unappealing to them. They would have made more money with a job but they would have had to work 40 hours a week. They were enjoying the 99 week paid vacation too much to work and didn't need the extra money.
 
Ahhhhh, such a sweet accent.........!

usta in Portland said:
...in 'KIWI' would be valuable.
Click to expand...

Gee, mate, if only ALL the world would speak with such PURE clarity and preciseness, we wouldn't need any other 'international' languages!! :bla:
I hope our ol' mate Ozzie Brian (bmK) tunes into this post - I just KNOW he will agree with me!! :nod:

cheers, Ian - NZ
 
I'm not sure there are any good stats...

on how many people scam the unemployment insurance system, and being less suspicious than I should I have always thought the talk was overblown. But, about 2 years ago I was finishing up a house and needed to get the finish carpenters back in to do a bunch of high end interior trim. These guys were really good and had been doing other work on the project for over a year. The work I wanted them to do was all inside, all light weight and all in good quality hardwood. Easy work to the extent that stuff can be called easy.
When I called the contractor they had been working for to get them back he told me that all three had been layed off during a lull and they were on unemployment. I said Great! when can you get them here? He said, as soon as their payments run out, they won't work before then. He was right too. I called all of them directly and they said no. This was a three man crew of very skilled fellas and they pulled this stunt. Ruined my faith in the working class for a while. I know it's just one incident, but still:sigh:
 
usta in Portland said:
on how many people scam the unemployment insurance system, and being less suspicious than I should I have always thought the talk was overblown. But, about 2 years ago I was finishing up a house and needed to get the finish carpenters back in to do a bunch of high end interior trim. These guys were really good and had been doing other work on the project for over a year. The work I wanted them to do was all inside, all light weight and all in good quality hardwood. Easy work to the extent that stuff can be called easy.
When I called the contractor they had been working for to get them back he told me that all three had been layed off during a lull and they were on unemployment. I said Great! when can you get them here? He said, as soon as their payments run out, they won't work before then. He was right too. I called all of them directly and they said no. This was a three man crew of very skilled fellas and they pulled this stunt. Ruined my faith in the working class for a while. I know it's just one incident, but still:sigh:
Click to expand...

I have a friend in the DC area who is a contractor and he has basically gotten down to where he pretty much only employs illegals... regrettably. And the reason is because they are the only ones who show up day in and day out. Since they can't go legally get aid, or they are afraid to risk sticking their necks out, they come to work everyday... legal resident guys lay off if they find they can go get some government check for something somewhere, etc. And I know my friend, he's not paying the lowest rates around, he's constantly got work, makes a damn good living, and is constantly trying to keep good workers. Hell, each morning with him starts with the whole crew going to get a 'whatever you want' breakfast at a place like Denny's, and he picks up the tab. He really goes out of his way to pamper his guys. Keeping good employee that show up every day is his hardest job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top