[X] My Assistant

[lloowen]

My experiences of the job market in Sweden. I felt compelled to post this after reading the “But why is it so hard?” post by Ratha.

I have lived in Sweden for ten years and I've had several jobs in that time.

I can only speak for my self but, when I reflect on all the jobs I have had in Sweden I notice that they have all been very stressful, hectic, undermanned, under paid and over worked. So when I leave these jobs I naturally feel relieved to be out of that awful environment. But it also makes me sad, resentful and angry that I had to go through such experiences in the work place.

I am also beginning to notice a general trend from the employers I have had in Sweden, almost an unwritten rule if you will. That they have an attitude that I (the employee) should be very grateful that I have a job and that I should be honored to work for him/her(the employer). That full time actually means full time with as much overtime that the employer can squeeze out of you. If you fail to comply then you get given the guilt trip from the boss and from your colleagues, that you are not loyal to the team!
The boss expects you to be superman, i.e. multitasking all at the same time.

Then I see stuff on the news about more and more people than ever in Sweden are on sick leave due to stress from their working environments.

I have seen on several occasions people doing work that should normally be done by at least two people.
And then we have the unemployed! What is going on? There are people being worked to the bone and there are people who can't get a job!

I appreciate that businesses have to make a profit, but why do employers expect superhuman employees and try to pay the absolute bare minimum in wages? I suppose one should ask what is it on a political and economic level that drives employers to treat their work force in this way. Why do employers expect so much for so little from their employees?

Don't you just hate that point in the job interview when you are negotiating with the boss how much your time is worth? And the bit I really hate is when the boss says “well according to the unions the minimum hourly rate for you job is x kronor/hour, so that is what you will get” That minimum hourly rate is just a guide line to ensure that employers don't exploit their employees! So why aren't they prepared to offer more than the bare minimum?

So I'll close by saying. If you are looking in the Arbetsförmelingen's platsbanken and you see a job vacancy and it says “flexibelt” any where in the text. That means you are expected to do several different jobs that would normally require at least two people to do, usually at the same time. Also it means that you are expected to do overtime, preferably at a moments notice.
If you see the word “stresstålig” any where in the text steer well away!
And if you see both these words in the same job advert then I'll leave that one to your own imagination as to how bad it could actually be.

lloowen

[Good Dog!]

It's the "new Sweden", lloowen. The job market is shit and the experience is everything you said it is. :cry:

I don't suppose it would help any if I tell you it wasn't anything like that 20 years ago. You came 10 years too late I'm afraid.

[Dazzler]

In this day and age, many employers expect you to kill yourself for them.

The reason.. Someone else can and will do it for the same or even less pay/benefits than you will. Everyone in the job market is expendable and replaceable and the employers know it.

Its a tough thing to bare witness to, but it is reality.

[7/1]

It's the "new Sweden", lloowen. The job market is shit and the experience is everything you said it is. :cry:

I don't suppose it would help any if I tell you it wasn't anything like that 20 years ago. You came 10 years too late I'm afraid.

Waw how about me ? i came from 27 months . god how lucky i am .

[Allseeingeye]

Mine is not a very helpful reply I'm afraid - but borne out of experience at least.

This situation is because "Sven" and "Annika" are milking the state teet so much that not only is it costing a major fortune, they're never in the workplace to DO SOME WORK. When I come into work there are no Swedes in the office. When I go home from work there are no Swedes in the office. When I am in the office there are always a number of Swedes off sick or VAB.

But how can this possibly be feasible. That where you come in "lloowen" - cheap, expendable labour.

Surely after ten years you have paid enough tax dollars to take them on at their own game (and this is where it gets very non-constructive). Get YOURSELF signed off long term stressed. Get a bad back. Get pregnant (always assuming that you have the necessary).

[7/1]

My experiences of the job market in Sweden. I felt compelled to post this after reading the “But why is it so hard?” post by Ratha.

I have lived in Sweden for ten years and I've had several jobs in that time.

I can only speak for my self but, when I reflect on all the jobs I have had in Sweden I notice that they have all been very stressful, hectic, undermanned, under paid and over worked. So when I leave these jobs I naturally feel relieved to be out of that awful environment. But it also makes me sad, resentful and angry that I had to go through such experiences in the work place.

I am also beginning to notice a general trend from the employers I have had in Sweden, almost an unwritten rule if you will. That they have an attitude that I (the employee) should be very grateful that I have a job and that I should be honored to work for him/her(the employer). That full time actually means full time with as much overtime that the employer can squeeze out of you. If you fail to comply then you get given the guilt trip from the boss and from your colleagues, that you are not loyal to the team!
The boss expects you to be superman, i.e. multitasking all at the same time.

Then I see stuff on the news about more and more people than ever in Sweden are on sick leave due to stress from their working environments.

I have seen on several occasions people doing work that should normally be done by at least two people.
And then we have the unemployed! What is going on? There are people being worked to the bone and there are people who can't get a job!

I appreciate that businesses have to make a profit, but why do employers expect superhuman employees and try to pay the absolute bare minimum in wages? I suppose one should ask what is it on a political and economic level that drives employers to treat their work force in this way. Why do employers expect so much for so little from their employees?

Don't you just hate that point in the job interview when you are negotiating with the boss how much your time is worth? And the bit I really hate is when the boss says “well according to the unions the minimum hourly rate for you job is x kronor/hour, so that is what you will get” That minimum hourly rate is just a guide line to ensure that employers don't exploit their employees! So why aren't they prepared to offer more than the bare minimum?

So I'll close by saying. If you are looking in the Arbetsförmelingen's platsbanken and you see a job vacancy and it says “flexibelt” any where in the text. That means you are expected to do several different jobs that would normally require at least two people to do, usually at the same time. Also it means that you are expected to do overtime, preferably at a moments notice.
If you see the word “stresstålig” any where in the text steer well away!
And if you see both these words in the same job advert then I'll leave that one to your own imagination as to how bad it could actually be.

lloowen

I feel with you and i know how you feel but do you advice people to not work ? because if the work that is available is the hard work what shall people do , say no and be arbetlös?

[lloowen]

Reply to Mmm...marabou.

i know how you feel but do you advice people to not work ?

Absolutely not, that is not what I was suggesting! I was just commenting about my experiences in the work place.

What do you think?

[duncs]

I don't tend to agree although i do feel for you if that has been your experience. I haven't been here long but find the work and stress levels to be far less than in London. What's with all the coffee and cake breaks? I definately do longer hours than the swedes but that is because I want to succeed and am gratefull that i haven't had to learn the language in order to work. Would an english company give work to someone who didn't speak english????

Regardless, I hope the work front improves for you.

[Dinger]

I agree with many of the comments here.
Although I would add that it's not `Sven or Annika´ only, it's all those who have become assimilated totally into the work/welfare system here.
It's too easy to swing the lead, let others do the work, claim any benefit going and generally milk the system - that goes for 2nd generation immigrants as well.
Of course not all people are like this, but it's too easy for too many to do this.

I'm sure when the systems were introduced they relied on the honesty of most average people (whatever their national background) to only use the system when necessary. But as these replies indicate that eventually more and more people come to the conclusion that it's only the mugs who continue to try hard.

[Craptastical]

I don't tend to agree although i do feel for you if that has been your experience. I haven't been here long but find the work and stress levels to be far less than in London. What's with all the coffee and cake breaks? I definately do longer hours than the swedes but that is because I want to succeed and am gratefull that i haven't had to learn the language in order to work. Would an english company give work to someone who didn't speak english????

Regardless, I hope the work front improves for you.

I agree with you. I've found the stress levels much lower here in Sweden than they were working for the same company, same boss, exact same job etc. in the US. I've also started to notice the switch from "live to work" to "work to live", and I admit that it's quite refreshing :-)

[lloowen]

I suppose as a rule of thumb. The bigger the company, the better the working conditions.
The smaller the business, say under 20 employees, the worse it gets.

Duncs and Craptastical how many people work where you work?

Craptastical is your place of employment based in Sweden and the US? If so then it must be a fairly large company. It's no wonder the conditions are better.

[Craptastical]

Actually, I was with this company when it was tiny as well... I think I was somewhere around employee #30 or something like that when I joined in early 1998.

There are advantages to both big and small, and there are disadvantages too...

The advantages for small companies...

1. Fast paced work environment. If you're in a job that you like, you won't get bored and your rate of personal growth is unbelievably fast.
2. Everyone knows everyone. It makes for a very tight team, and usually cuts down on the number of times one person screws over another.
3. It's usually a meritocracy. If you're good at what you do and perform well, you will advance.
4. Usually attracts the people who are groundbreakers (at least in IT fields)

Disadvantages of small companies:

1. Pay is usually less, due to smaller budgets
2. Growing pains. Being at the company while it was going through puberty saw a lot of turnover, which always sucks (includes laying off dead weight)
3. Usually no stock options
4. Loooong work hours to try to make your team and your company successful (but I still look back on those 48 hour work days fondly)

Advantages of big companies:
1. Usually stock options! :-)
2. Usually there are more opportunities to try out different jobs in different departments
3. Offices to travel to (can also be a disadvantage)
4. Usually more opportunities for promotion etc.
5. Usually means there's an HR department. Lucky for us, they do seem to care about work/life balance

Disadvantages of big companies:
1. Very slow to move. Decisions are made by committee instead of by the team member.
2. Can't say that I know everyone anymore. Every face seems new.
3. Can't just sit down and talk with the CEO, he's always travelling

WRT how many people work for my company worldwide... somewhere around 2500, more or less.

As far as conditions go, I usually work from home (telecommute), but when I am in the office the Swedes have very different work habits, and not in a bad way. The thing that I notice the most is how damn relaxed they are. I haven't got there yet, I still pace when I'm in deep thought trying to figure out a solution to something.

[Good Dog!]

I recommend - to anyone who's perplexed by the problems and Kafka-ish working conditions in today's Sweden - to read this: http://www.arbetsfornedringen.se

[Struntprat]

at my workplace people stress because it is tough to fit in a 1 hour lunch and 2 30 min fica breaks a day and stil get your work done in.

[duncs]

The company i work for has around 140,000 people worldwide so yes, it is big! The problem is that this is the first time they have entered scandinavia and we only have 4 people in the office. It is a strange situation as it really feels like a small company and we have to do tasks as you would in a small company like change the printer ink and order staples etc! As it is a european company running as a swedish AB they do not quite understand the swedish social system and if I were to take paternity leave albeit legal, I would not have a job to come back to!! I still think the conditions are better here though...