It's interesting to see the difference in engagement between this post and the quora post on "negatives of living in Sweden". The Quora post is from anonymous, non-fact checked people and yet it's...
It's interesting to see the difference in engagement between this post and the quora post on "negatives of living in Sweden". The Quora post is from anonymous, non-fact checked people and yet it's being engaged with as if it's the truth. Sometimes I think people just like to hear that something they don't have is shit.
My experience of Sweden from travel and discussions with Swedish friends mirrors this article. The work culture of Sweden, and most of Europe, is completely different the the US. Workers have greater protections. Personal life and leave are of much greater importance (40days vs 10days; often companies in Europe will shut down for the month of August). And there is greater "community support" (1.5 years of maternity/paternity leave, better assistance/housing programs, access to healthcare). While I agree it's better to be wealthy in the US, for your average everyday person it's much easier to be a Swede. I'd love to adopt some of their policies domestically.
On the other hand, how many cutting edge/paradigm shifting technologies are developed in Sweden compared to the US? Seems like a lot less even accounting for population size (feel free to fact...
Personal life and leave are of much greater importance
On the other hand, how many cutting edge/paradigm shifting technologies are developed in Sweden compared to the US? Seems like a lot less even accounting for population size (feel free to fact check this, just going on vibes here).
You present an interesting ethical conundrum here: are these 'technological paradigm shifts' worth it at the expense of many people's quality of life? From a more pragmatic angle, Sweden has...
You present an interesting ethical conundrum here: are these 'technological paradigm shifts' worth it at the expense of many people's quality of life?
From a more pragmatic angle, Sweden has approximately 1/20th the land area and 1/30th the population of the US, so there's a lot more going on in this equation than differing work cultures.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." It's a sacrifice we're willing to make. Plus you have to factor in how much they're improving QOL in the rest of...
You present an interesting ethical conundrum here: are these 'technological paradigm shifts' worth it at the expense of many people's quality of life?
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
It's a sacrifice we're willing to make. Plus you have to factor in how much they're improving QOL in the rest of the world. See: Polio vaccine, Pfizer vaccine, SpaceX rockets, ChatGPT, and countless more. Plus all the charity/foreign aid we give away through the wealth we create (US is the most generous country by far)
Forgive me if I have misinterpreted, but it seems we're taking for granted on this line of thinking that, in the absence of the US, none of these innovations could ever be realised via the Swedish...
Forgive me if I have misinterpreted, but it seems we're taking for granted on this line of thinking that, in the absence of the US, none of these innovations could ever be realised via the Swedish approach. Essentially, we're saying that sacrifice is absolutely necessary for progress.
However, a significant majority of recent psychological research and business studies have concluded that happier workers are more productive in their output. Perhaps, then, we may actually have two paths towards the same goal. There's no denying that the US approach has yielded fabulous results thus far, but it still begs the question: in terms of work/life balance, could a healthier, empowered and more secure US workforce stand to achieve even greater Innovations?
And the German startup BioNTech invented mRNA vaccines, prototyped the Covid vaccine and started trials to show efficacy. Once everything worked, they needed someone to do the later phases of...
And the German startup BioNTech invented mRNA vaccines, prototyped the Covid vaccine and started trials to show efficacy.
Once everything worked, they needed someone to do the later phases of medial trails, regulatory approval and to take over large scale manufacturing after that. Only then Pfizer became involved.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Doesn't this lose its significance if it's not optional, and is only done because it's the only way he can...
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Doesn't this lose its significance if it's not optional, and is only done because it's the only way he can afford rent? It seems like a pretty poor answer to that particular question, not even taking into account the accuracy of your vibes.
There's more inventions on this list here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_inventions_(after_1991)#Post%E2%80%93Cold_War_and_the_mid-to-late_1990s_(1992%E2%80%931999) They...
US has about 33x the inhabitants so I'm not sure what you're trying to measure here. It feels a bit like pointless one-uppance attempt. The really interesting question here is, what if America...
US has about 33x the inhabitants so I'm not sure what you're trying to measure here. It feels a bit like pointless one-uppance attempt. The really interesting question here is, what if America gave it's workers more rights would their output be that significantly less? Or maybe more even?
That is precisely what I'm asking here. What I'm saying is that "healthy work cultures" such as Sweden seem significantly less innovative (again, just based on vibes) than the United States, even...
That is precisely what I'm asking here. What I'm saying is that "healthy work cultures" such as Sweden seem significantly less innovative (again, just based on vibes) than the United States, even accounting for population. So is our "unhealthy" culture driving more innovation? I feel this is probably true.
Not advocating for the quality of the measure, but as an example the Global Innovation Index (wikipedia link) puts both Sweden and the US in the top 3 of all countries in the world.
Not advocating for the quality of the measure, but as an example the Global Innovation Index (wikipedia link) puts both Sweden and the US in the top 3 of all countries in the world.
If that's a list of what you consider western Europe, it diverges a lot from common classifications. See for instance the UN, CIA, and EuroVoc classifications on the wikipedia page for Western...
If that's a list of what you consider western Europe, it diverges a lot from common classifications.
Greece and Italy are southern Europe in all three. Spain and Portugal are southern Europe in two, and southwest Europe in one. Only the UK is western Europe in two, and northern Europe in one.
But work culture has improved in the US at the same time that innovation has improved. The US was far less innovative when children were working in coal mines, for example. When we look at other...
But work culture has improved in the US at the same time that innovation has improved. The US was far less innovative when children were working in coal mines, for example. When we look at other countries, we see many examples of countries with a very poor work culture and also very low output of innovations, such as Mexico and Colombia.
However, there are two really huge things that stand in the US's favor: It has the very best tertiary education in the world (which attracts many of the brightest minds from abroad) and, at least in some fields, it pays the highest wages in the world (which also attracts many of the brightest minds from abroad). Basically, there is a huge amount of brain drain going on, and it seems very plausible to me that improvements to work culture would further increase the rate of brain drain.
I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish with this? Is it that healthy work life balance is bad? What you are doing is comparing a country with more than 30x the people and resources to...
I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish with this? Is it that healthy work life balance is bad? What you are doing is comparing a country with more than 30x the people and resources to a smaller country and then asking why the smaller country doesn't do as much.
The US is, right now, THE country that attracts the most talent worldwide. Of course it's going to be cutting edge in the last few years. But that's not because of the work-life balance, it's because of the resources available.
Totally, it's one thing that we do incredibly well! But I think the part that is overlooked is how much our government turbo charges that development. My company receives about half of its year...
On the other hand, how many cutting edge/paradigm shifting technologies are developed in Sweden compared to the US
Totally, it's one thing that we do incredibly well! But I think the part that is overlooked is how much our government turbo charges that development. My company receives about half of its year revenue from government R&D grants. They let us do many more high risk/high reward experiments. I would put personal life and technology in different buckets, I think the development of new tech still flows into the wants not needs. I do feel like the Swedish government is good about subsidizing adoption of new tech (ie. EVs) and there are emerging European groups that are catalyzing development of things like climate tech (for this check out all the work coming out of the Netherlands.).
Sweden by no means is doing everything right, but I think it's much more comfortable to be a lower or middle class person there.
Man, that's refreshing. As an American on the job market now, I wonder how many remote positions Swedish companies are trying to fill? Everything I see seems to be American companies, though that...
Man, that's refreshing. As an American on the job market now, I wonder how many remote positions Swedish companies are trying to fill? Everything I see seems to be American companies, though that could be because I'm looking on Linkedin and Indeed.
I'm pretty sure that you have to come here to get serious work from a serious employer. The article didn't mention two things that somewhat trend to shock people in the states: There is no minimum...
I'm pretty sure that you have to come here to get serious work from a serious employer.
The article didn't mention two things that somewhat trend to shock people in the states:
There is no minimum wage in Sweden. Labor law mentions nothing about salary levels in that sense. The short version is that the Swedish system is based on that every market area knows best about what's possible to set as a minimum. This means that the employer representatives and employee representatives (the Unions) negotiate the details for a collective agreement ("kollektivavtal") the will stand for the coming three years. Everything from minimum wage, overtime compensation (some agreements have hourly pay for overtime and others have removed the hourly pay for and additional extra week of vacation each year) and other things. Important to remember that these things are minimum levels. An employer can always give you better terms. They seldom do, but they are allowed.
When sacking people the employer need to negotiate with the Union first. The main rule is "first in, last out". If you get sacked it's normally on 3 months notice. Why is this bad thing according to the Americans I've been working with?
It goes both ways. 😁
If you quit, you will have to keep working there for 3 more months if your employer requires you to.
Because being a longstanding employee doesn't necessarily make you a good one. We've all had useless longstanding coworkers that have been unable to adapt to a changing industry or product. Having...
The main rule is "first in, last out". If you get sacked it's normally on 3 months notice. Why is this bad thing according to the Americans I've been working with?
Because being a longstanding employee doesn't necessarily make you a good one. We've all had useless longstanding coworkers that have been unable to adapt to a changing industry or product. Having to fire 20 other people before you can get rid of the dead weight seems like a bad way to run things.
Maybe it's more nuanced than that, but all I have to go on is your comment.
Thats basically it, and in practice it's not that big a problem, maybe even a boon. It's also about workers rights, safety and all that. The company where they work are more motivated in making...
Thats basically it, and in practice it's not that big a problem, maybe even a boon. It's also about workers rights, safety and all that. The company where they work are more motivated in making them productive. And finally, from societys perspective those people doesn't disappear if they are fired. Society still have to take care of them in some way.
The video game design industry here in Sweden is booming, and many studios have started offering remote positions. You usually don't get the Swedish benefits unless you move here, though.
The video game design industry here in Sweden is booming, and many studios have started offering remote positions. You usually don't get the Swedish benefits unless you move here, though.
It's interesting to see the difference in engagement between this post and the quora post on "negatives of living in Sweden". The Quora post is from anonymous, non-fact checked people and yet it's being engaged with as if it's the truth. Sometimes I think people just like to hear that something they don't have is shit.
My experience of Sweden from travel and discussions with Swedish friends mirrors this article. The work culture of Sweden, and most of Europe, is completely different the the US. Workers have greater protections. Personal life and leave are of much greater importance (40days vs 10days; often companies in Europe will shut down for the month of August). And there is greater "community support" (1.5 years of maternity/paternity leave, better assistance/housing programs, access to healthcare). While I agree it's better to be wealthy in the US, for your average everyday person it's much easier to be a Swede. I'd love to adopt some of their policies domestically.
On the other hand, how many cutting edge/paradigm shifting technologies are developed in Sweden compared to the US? Seems like a lot less even accounting for population size (feel free to fact check this, just going on vibes here).
You present an interesting ethical conundrum here: are these 'technological paradigm shifts' worth it at the expense of many people's quality of life?
From a more pragmatic angle, Sweden has approximately 1/20th the land area and 1/30th the population of the US, so there's a lot more going on in this equation than differing work cultures.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
It's a sacrifice we're willing to make. Plus you have to factor in how much they're improving QOL in the rest of the world. See: Polio vaccine, Pfizer vaccine, SpaceX rockets, ChatGPT, and countless more. Plus all the charity/foreign aid we give away through the wealth we create (US is the most generous country by far)
Forgive me if I have misinterpreted, but it seems we're taking for granted on this line of thinking that, in the absence of the US, none of these innovations could ever be realised via the Swedish approach. Essentially, we're saying that sacrifice is absolutely necessary for progress.
However, a significant majority of recent psychological research and business studies have concluded that happier workers are more productive in their output. Perhaps, then, we may actually have two paths towards the same goal. There's no denying that the US approach has yielded fabulous results thus far, but it still begs the question: in terms of work/life balance, could a healthier, empowered and more secure US workforce stand to achieve even greater Innovations?
Or, if happier workers are more productive, could we have made even more progress via the Swedish approach?
You mean the one where all the R&D was done by a German company in Germany? By people with 30-40 days of vacation?
Pfizer is an American company...
And the German startup BioNTech invented mRNA vaccines, prototyped the Covid vaccine and started trials to show efficacy.
Once everything worked, they needed someone to do the later phases of medial trails, regulatory approval and to take over large scale manufacturing after that. Only then Pfizer became involved.
That's why I hate journalists, for these simplifications. It's Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, not Pfizer vaccine.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Doesn't this lose its significance if it's not optional, and is only done because it's the only way he can afford rent? It seems like a pretty poor answer to that particular question, not even taking into account the accuracy of your vibes.
The answer is just a quick search away for you. It seems like a pointless comment.
https://nordicperspective.com/facts/swedish-inventions
There's more inventions on this list here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_inventions_(after_1991)#Post%E2%80%93Cold_War_and_the_mid-to-late_1990s_(1992%E2%80%931999)
They seem a lot more significant too IMO.
US has about 33x the inhabitants so I'm not sure what you're trying to measure here. It feels a bit like pointless one-uppance attempt. The really interesting question here is, what if America gave it's workers more rights would their output be that significantly less? Or maybe more even?
That is precisely what I'm asking here. What I'm saying is that "healthy work cultures" such as Sweden seem significantly less innovative (again, just based on vibes) than the United States, even accounting for population. So is our "unhealthy" culture driving more innovation? I feel this is probably true.
Not advocating for the quality of the measure, but as an example the Global Innovation Index (wikipedia link) puts both Sweden and the US in the top 3 of all countries in the world.
I stand corrected. Looks like Sweden bucks the "unproductive Western Europe" trend by quite a lot. Interesting...
Is that a trend?
What do you consider western Europe?
Spain, UK, Greece, Italy, Portugal. Probably missing something idk
If that's a list of what you consider western Europe, it diverges a lot from common classifications.
See for instance the UN, CIA, and EuroVoc classifications on the wikipedia page for Western Europe, under the heading "Modern divisions".
Greece and Italy are southern Europe in all three. Spain and Portugal are southern Europe in two, and southwest Europe in one. Only the UK is western Europe in two, and northern Europe in one.
But work culture has improved in the US at the same time that innovation has improved. The US was far less innovative when children were working in coal mines, for example. When we look at other countries, we see many examples of countries with a very poor work culture and also very low output of innovations, such as Mexico and Colombia.
However, there are two really huge things that stand in the US's favor: It has the very best tertiary education in the world (which attracts many of the brightest minds from abroad) and, at least in some fields, it pays the highest wages in the world (which also attracts many of the brightest minds from abroad). Basically, there is a huge amount of brain drain going on, and it seems very plausible to me that improvements to work culture would further increase the rate of brain drain.
I don't understand what you're trying to accomplish with this? Is it that healthy work life balance is bad? What you are doing is comparing a country with more than 30x the people and resources to a smaller country and then asking why the smaller country doesn't do as much.
The US is, right now, THE country that attracts the most talent worldwide. Of course it's going to be cutting edge in the last few years. But that's not because of the work-life balance, it's because of the resources available.
Totally, it's one thing that we do incredibly well! But I think the part that is overlooked is how much our government turbo charges that development. My company receives about half of its year revenue from government R&D grants. They let us do many more high risk/high reward experiments. I would put personal life and technology in different buckets, I think the development of new tech still flows into the wants not needs. I do feel like the Swedish government is good about subsidizing adoption of new tech (ie. EVs) and there are emerging European groups that are catalyzing development of things like climate tech (for this check out all the work coming out of the Netherlands.).
Sweden by no means is doing everything right, but I think it's much more comfortable to be a lower or middle class person there.
Man, that's refreshing. As an American on the job market now, I wonder how many remote positions Swedish companies are trying to fill? Everything I see seems to be American companies, though that could be because I'm looking on Linkedin and Indeed.
I'm pretty sure that you have to come here to get serious work from a serious employer.
The article didn't mention two things that somewhat trend to shock people in the states:
There is no minimum wage in Sweden. Labor law mentions nothing about salary levels in that sense. The short version is that the Swedish system is based on that every market area knows best about what's possible to set as a minimum. This means that the employer representatives and employee representatives (the Unions) negotiate the details for a collective agreement ("kollektivavtal") the will stand for the coming three years. Everything from minimum wage, overtime compensation (some agreements have hourly pay for overtime and others have removed the hourly pay for and additional extra week of vacation each year) and other things. Important to remember that these things are minimum levels. An employer can always give you better terms. They seldom do, but they are allowed.
When sacking people the employer need to negotiate with the Union first. The main rule is "first in, last out". If you get sacked it's normally on 3 months notice. Why is this bad thing according to the Americans I've been working with?
It goes both ways. 😁
If you quit, you will have to keep working there for 3 more months if your employer requires you to.
Because being a longstanding employee doesn't necessarily make you a good one. We've all had useless longstanding coworkers that have been unable to adapt to a changing industry or product. Having to fire 20 other people before you can get rid of the dead weight seems like a bad way to run things.
Maybe it's more nuanced than that, but all I have to go on is your comment.
Thats basically it, and in practice it's not that big a problem, maybe even a boon. It's also about workers rights, safety and all that. The company where they work are more motivated in making them productive. And finally, from societys perspective those people doesn't disappear if they are fired. Society still have to take care of them in some way.
The video game design industry here in Sweden is booming, and many studios have started offering remote positions. You usually don't get the Swedish benefits unless you move here, though.
Good timing, we're very seriously considering moving to Sweden (from the Netherlands) and it's nice to read stuff like this!