American Discusses What It's Like To Work In Sweden 

American surprised that a society actually wants you to be happy and healthy lol

The reason you get your work permit evoked if you don’t take out enough vacation days is that Sweden doesn’t want their own work force to have an unfair disadvantage to outside work force.

Then there's also friskvårdsbidrag, but I feel like you've covered that before. Just mentioning it cuz it weaves into the work-life balance imo 👍

that think about go home at 3 in the summer and winter is bs. Lived in Sweden my intire life and have never heard about that??

I wish I lived there.

To work hard and to work efficient is not the same thing.

American living in Stockholm here. From my perspective Swedes are chillin at work. I feel like people are not working like they 'need this next paycheck' if you know what I mean. In the States it's like if you don't work, you don't eat. Swedes are worried about how they're going to spend the summer. Love it here.

I admire Sweden for their emphasis on work-life balance. I’m from Florida (USA) and the constant pressure to work longer hours, or the worry of being sick and missing work days is awful and does not benefit us as a society. The constant, fast pace lifestyle produces so much anxiety. Companies may think they are benefiting by employees working so much but unhappy employees don’t produce as much as happy ones.

Americans live to work, Swedes work to live.

I think this is the first video he calls Sweden WE and America America.

As a fellow American in Sweden, I have loved your videos. I am a nurse from Texas working towards getting my nurse license in Sweden. Great video, I actually had no sick days at all in America working for the hospital. If I got vacation days and if I was sick, it came out of my vacation days. I also found out here in Sweden that if you are 40, you get 6 weeks paid vacation. Pretty amazing.

I often see that work hours is used to measure how good you are at working, In my humble opinon I believe if you work crazy amount of hours 70-90h/week you would not be an effective work force. You need to have time off to be able to rest and enjoy yourself for then to be able to give a 100% when you are working. It would be intresting if it was possible to messure the work effectivness between someone who works 40h/week compared to someone who works 60h+/week.

I came to Sweden from working construction in New Zealand, and the difference is night and day. In NZ I work anywhere from 60-80 hours a week, 6-7 days a week. In Sweden we are only meant to work 40 hours maximum, so I work almost half as much and usually 4-5 days a week. The pace of work is much less stressful and more relaxed, which shows in the workforce. I’ve witnessed far happier workers in Sweden, people are more reliable, healthier and happier. And I would wager it’s smarter and more efficient to have 2 people do a 35 hour week, than 1 doing 70 hours a week. That keeps people fresh and gives them plenty of time to rest and do other activities, and also means there’s more jobs , which keeps unemployment lower. There’s a big focus on technology in construction here, the old term “work smarter, not harder” comes to mind, so machinery is more efficiently utilised and building processes are generally more efficient and safer. It is amazing how quickly a decent building can be constructed in this country. I’m also a workaholic, so the free time is very alien to me, but it is definitely well used by the Swedes. As you say, they have more time for cooking decent food and spending time exercising and raising their family, so their quality of life is really good.

I (German) used to live and work in the US for a decade and in the very first beginning I was also surprised of how long the Americans hung around in the office. It didn't take long to figure out, that they by far don't work more, the just take longer ....

I think Americans would work less if they made a living wage working 40-45h/week

I’m a Swede living in America. Like you are saying, Americans are work work work and stressful everywhere. And again, you have those people that only cares about work and money and they become rich but unhappy because they don’t experience the family quality life. I did that for 1 year and it almost caused my marriage. Now I work for an incredible company that offers 4 weeks vacation a year and 80 hours of sick time a year, plus holidays. This is company is built on the Swedish work life balance principle. They offers short massages at work, listen to your own headphones while working, flexible hours.

I´m very thankful for the 25 days of vacation I get! I believe that the employee, employer and society also benefit from people taking care of themselves. Also you don´t spread your sickness to everyone else at work if you make sure to stay home when you are sick. It´s also safer for people around you if you are not to tired to stay alert at work (some jobs are more sensitive for this than others of course).

MIght be worth mentioning that Sweden generally have a qualification day (You aren't paid the first day of sickness) to discourage people from staying home from hangovers or whatnot. One of the features discontinued for greater corona regulation compliance though.

It´s not that 5 week vacation is typical for Sweden. It looks like this in Europe. US is the apart one.

Well "summer hours at work" is normally balanced by more hours a day winterttime. On the whole....they still wotk 40hrs week..... Going earlier in winter probobly only happens in places with flexible hours,,,and then they work more hours on days when the weather sucks

I used to work in an office with 'summer time', that meant, 1 hour shorter work hours 3 months of the year, and 9 months with 45 minutes longer work time. So it is compensated.

First of all. When you are sick you get a deduction of you salary. First day of sickness you get 100% off and for the remaining days you will get a deduction of 20% every day. IE if you are sick 5 days you get an deduction of 1,8 days. About "klämdagar" you DONT get them for free. You will have to work for it. So instead of working 8 hours per day you work for about 8 h 10 m.(i do not know the exact ratio) (the "klämdagar" are spread among all other days.) Most workplaces have "FLEX" wich mean i can go home when i want (in certain condition depending on the workplace). Then you will have to work back those hours another day. So if i go home at 3 o'clock i get 1,5 hour "undertime" and have to work extra to cancel them. About summertime. Most places you work longer during winter. So with all those strange things you talk about, in the end, your total worktime should be 40h/week. Generall speaking.(there are some special workplaces with special rules but for the majority in sweden it is always 40h/week)

I highly recommend a book that just came out called "work won't love you back" and it touches upon this so well and all its roots. Especially for America. It also touches upon the gray areas that are even in Sweden: jobs that ppl dont respect. The arts. I will briefly illustrate it: the hours of the Wallstreet guy are cute compared to studio recording time for artists producers musicans animators engineers. There are many artists in Sweden that i know for a fact have worked themselves to burnout. This is an interesting topic.

Great video! Just want to point out that even though a lot of jobs manage to cut down on work hours there are still a lot of people in sweden who are working just as hard as people overseas. A family member of mine works as a doctor in a general practice. His work hours are supposed to be 8-17, but in real life looks more like 6-19. And maybe some hours on the weekend as well if he hasn't been able to keep up with paperwork. And nurses and healthcare workers works way harder than anyone should ask if them, especially in these times. Just because rules and regulations are in place doesn't mean that all is sunshine and rainbows. But I do agree that striving for a healthy work/life-balance is a really good thing.

In Sweden: If you get sick on your vacation you can actually pause your vacation, get paid sick leave instead and save a couple of vacation days.

About the vacation deportation - this is one of the regulations regarding foreign workers that drives you crazy. As others have stated, there are regulations in place to keep employers from exploiting foreign workers, but the enforcement of the regulations is extremely strict and rigid, to the extent that it sometimes punishes the worker instead of the employer. There have been cases where some minimum salary has been changed and the employer failed to notice at first, so the employee got paid a tiny bit too little for a month or three before the employer corrected the mistake and gave them the missing amount retroactively (we're talking a few bucks in total). Then later on, maybe years later when the worker has perhaps even changed employer or is running their own business, they are deported when that tiny mistake is discovered by some immigration authority. It's happened to people who's been living in Sweden for over a decade. So they deport people for no mistake of their own, people who are working and paying taxes. Just... crazy.

Yes, Swedes tend to leave work earlier than in other countries, but I noticed that they also often tend to start work earlier as well...

Hej, have you ever talked about the apartment hunting & cost of living as an expat? Just found your videos (and instagram) and they are such a joy to watch. Tack så mycket! (my second Swedish class is tomorrow:))

America is absolutely terrible when it comes to works IMO. It feels like Americans live to work while in Europe we work to live. Life quality and personal time is really important. I rather work less than get more pay

Be aware that this is the "ideal scenario" that you're describing about sweden. There are MANY people with chronic illnesses who get NO insurance money whatsoever, many people with serious illnesses

I Sverige har vi länge haft en bra relation mellan fackföreningar och arbetsgivare =kollektivavtal. Alla dessa klämdagar eller arbetstidsförkortning är ett resultat av goda förhandlingar mellan de två. Det är inte arbetsgivaren som är nice (i de flesta fall). Kul att följa dig!

Me: We should apply what the Nordic countries do in the US to improve our quality of life. American: If you don't like America, then leave!

Our system is built around the idea of "folkhemmet". It´s a bit hard to translate but basically, it means a society where everybody can live well no matter who you are and what you do. Everybody has a good standard of living. Can make ends meet and work (at most) one job (35-40 hours per week.) Free universal health care. Free medication. Fre higher education and so on. Historically this came about due to the fact that we had strong unions who fought hard to create this system. Together with the political party, they had close contact with (Socialdemokraterna a.k.a. Social democracy party). Similar to the people's party or the left-wing of the democratic party. The progressive movement. (In USA). Bernie Sanders and AOC are other examples of people who come from the same type of ideology. One really important part of our history goes under the name of how we learned to compromise. Whats made this possible was something called "Saltsjöbadsandan" The spirit of Saltsjöbaden" (Named after the first big deal between the union and the employers' organizations, 1938.) This was the place and the time when they (after a long period of hard fights, where they finally decided to do what has come to be known as the Swedish model.) Two years of negotiation where they decided to always find a common ground and compromise to create the best solution for both parties. No more strikes and firing. Instead one big negotiation every year + local ones from that framework and calm periods in between. Basically the system we still have today. (Remember: This was in a time when many countries had really big problems that treatment not only the workers but also the employer's safety.) Wild strikes, no safety for the workers, and social inequality as the main result. The Swedish willingness to compromise and to accept and respect the other side's option and to separate us as individuals from the opinions without hate after a discussion. All of these steems from this period. We have learned that everybody always wins in the long run if we compromise. The other side isn't our enemy it's our counterpart, striving for a common goal. (From a different point of view.) Instead of; What's the best solution for me we got; What's the best solution for all of us!

In my line of work I never get summer time, but I do get 32 days of vacation each year since I turned 50! Not every job in Sweden offers 6 hours work days in the summer time, thats more for people who work in offices or private companies I suppose. 👍

Its not really crazy. Sweden is a Democratic country. That means that the purpose are the people not the goverment. In countrys where they have kommunism like in china or in diktatorship countrys its the GOVERMENT that is the purpose and the people are just machines. People have feelings. We Are NOT MACHINES!! WE HAVE LOVE IN OUR HEARTS ☮️💕™️🌍✨

Moves to Sweden, doesn't occur to him to check the immigration requirements...

The history behind Swedish work and union system is really interesting. If your interested in a major event(in regards of the labor movement in Sweden) read or listen to people talking about the events taking place in Ådalen like svenska folkets historia podd-episode named Ådalen

Americans call it "work hard". We call it exploitation or slavery. Nobody thinks to themselves as they are dieing "should've spend more time at the office"

My experience of ”klämdagar” is that you are not given them. You are just moving hours. For instance, if you are supposed to work 8 hours a day, you will work 8.2 hours each day, so when the next klämdag happens, you already worked those hours. It's like those extra vacation money you get when you are on a vacation. Those are your own money, they were just saved for your vacation, kind of.

How efficient are you if you work 60, 70 or 80 hours a week? The quality of the product etc? A tired American is not a good working American

Hi Stefan, I agree with you 110% on this one. As an American who moved to Sweden 36 years ago I have always been super impressed with the Swedish system. You might want to explain more for Americans how it can be possible for Sweden to have such a system. Health care, education, day care services, equality, innovation, entrepreneurship, respect and so much more have created a society of people who enjoy achievement at the same time they appreciate that we all need down time to recharge our energy now and then. Swedes also appreciate that if we have time to nurture our families and private time we can perform better in our jobs. I can go on and on but will save you from that. BTW you live quite near my job. I work at Systembolaget at Sveavägen 66. It would be cool to meet you and compare notes. I am not your typical American (if that exists) because I moved from New Jersey when I was 11 to live in London in 1967. However I am still American and have said to everyone that I will change my passport to a Swedish one if Trump wins again. Near me is a pizza place called "Slice of New York" . I invite you to share lunch there on my "dollar". Beware though as I am so in love with the Swedish system that I am a very active member of the Union, both for Systembolaget and for Unionen.se See you soon , if you dare!

My absolute dream is to work for Kobalt Music in Stockholm

Stats: Average workweek: Sweden 39.0 hours. Percent working over 50 hours per week: 1.1% USA: 41.5hours 11.1% Some other: France: 38.9 7.7% Finland: 39.3 3.8% Norway: 38.0 2.9% Denmark (best) 37.2 2.3% Germany: 39.5 4.3% Switzerland: 40.5 0.4% UK 41.8 12.2% Australia 41.8 13.0% Mexico: 48.5 28.7%

As a Sweden I never noticed any dips in services in July because I am on vacation anyways like most other people haha

I agree 100% that the quality of life in Sweden surpasses that --- for 90%+ of Americans. Sure, if you're mega-wealthy from inherited money or something, maybe America has more to offer you. But for the vast majority of Americans, paying higher taxes (so we have a universal, single-payer healthcare system, universal child care, low to no-cost college or trade schools, etc.) and getting an overall much higher quality of life, and the ability to lead a healthier life, would be worth it.

Pardon me for asking but i'm curious, have You read ”Utvandrarna” av Wilhelm Moberg?

We have many workplaces where employees work very long working days just as you describe in the US. With an 80-hour work week, and where the work does not necessarily end just because you have come home or it is a weekend. Do not know any workplace where you can go home at 3 in the afternoon both summer and winter. Maybe it is a workplace in that case with a slightly freer type of job, where you can work from home or from a café, but that is not common. It will be a bit wrong, if you describe it as if it were standard in Swedish workplaces

Wow, what an interesting video, I’m very surprised. America it’s work work work. But I think it makes it competitive and also gives you freedom to get more money if you want.

I have never worked at a job that had klämdagar. Also, those that I know that have them have a slighter longer work week to compensate.

I wouldn't survive in America, working that much. I would be extremely unhappy, have no free time or energy to read, draw, write books, talk to friends, play games... I'd literally only sleep, eat and work. Not a good thing. Also, it's crazy that you have a limit on sick days! I mean, if you're sick, you're sick. Stay at home and get well, don't go to work and make others' sick, or get worse yourself. Jeez. America really needs to work on their health care.

Hi, I really really like this video!!! And I want to talk about the Chinese work- life situation. What is it like to live in China after living 4 and a half years in Spain? Work, work, work ... Noise, noise, noise ... Traffic jam, traffic jam, traffic jam ... Stress, stress…. Alone. Goodbye, Madrid. (crying on the subway to Madrid-Barajas airport) Hello, Beijing. It's very weird, right? A Chinese woman feels very lonely in her own country and suffers from depression. Well that girl is me. (It was never embarrassing to admit that I was depressed.) Who am I? Well, I am a "weird" girl, like a volcano, like a cat, like a super happy goat ... and, in fact, I don't know who I am, I always have that question, Who am I? ? Well, let's get back to the point, why did I return to China after living so many years in Spain? (... and also, it is a magnificent country, which taught me what life is, what empathy is, and what love is ...) Well, the answer is very simple, it is for work. After I graduated from my master, I had a very good opportunity to work for a larger mobile company in China. And that work was sent to Latin American countries. As I am a girl who likes to explore new things, so that opportunity for me was great. (* I mean fucking mother ...). At the time, I thought I was the luckiest and happiest person in the world. But I guessed the beginning but not the end. The result is, that gigantic company told me and other interviewees that the positions you were applying for no longer existed ... and at that time, I did not have a visa to continue working in Spain because I rejected some Madrid companies. And from that moment on, I had a very serious depression. I started to doubt myself. Who I am? Who I am? Who I am? (At that time, my best friends in the world had helped me a lot to cheer me up, thank you very much !!! my loves, really.) And so, I took the plane to my homeland ... I don't want to say that living in China is a horrible thing, but just in my case, I'm not happy living in that society (especially in Beijing) so stressed, nervous ... but for many people , they love living in China (Beijing). Now I am going to describe how my normal day is: every day I get up around 7:30, and at 8:30 I have to go to catch the bus to the office, around 9:40 I arrive at the company (here I want you comment something, well, look, normally from my house to the office, taking the bus only takes about 10 minutes to get there, but because of that bad traffic jam, every day I need an hour and ten minutes to get there, and that makes me feel very tired and nervous). This is not over, do you know what time I get off work? Normally between 8:00 pm, 8:30 pm or 9:15 pm, and on top of that I have to work every month twice on Saturday ... in China that type of work is called 996. And if unfortunately you are ill, go to the hospital to leave, the company would withhold your salary. Some colleagues work overtime, but they don't pay the fucking company a penny. And that's the status quo for Chinese companies. And Eos makes me very ashamed, because I don't see anything of human nature and social empathy. And the only thing that makes me feel better in that city is learning languages, Spanish, English and French, which makes me feel alive. Because I don't want to get into that society one millimeter. Because I don't see human nature. What I see is how everyone turns into robots and nobody resisted. Nobody from that society is going to say that, because they are afraid of losing their job or other things, so I will be the first to eat tomatoes, I will defend myself! Believe in what you want and fight to make it possible.

The July thing... It's not nearly as closed down as it used to be. It's common to take the brunt of your holidays in the summer because of the climate. It's important that people are out and about when there is actually a bit of sun; otherwise they'll be ill in the winter and work less. That's also why you are entitled to three of your weeks in the summer.

The only thing that matters is the value of goods and services you produce per hour over the year and Swedes are quite high up in that list.

It's not the hours you put in. Work smarter, not harder or more.

A study a couple of years ago found that Americans go to work for longer, but their time/work efficiency was through the floor, in other words the employees got "burned out" and just goofed off or didn't work effectively. I.e: They spent a ton of time at work but only actually working a small amount of the time.

The sickdays-system in America must be terrible in the corona situation. Do you know if the did any changes?

I live and work in Sweden and Asia. In Sweden I do 5 days per week 6-10 hours per day. In Asia I do 6 days per week 10 - 14 hours per day. And Im pretty sure the locals dont have sick days at all.

I see Stefan uploads, I clicked and liked 😎

I have lived and worked in the US and i definitely prefer the Swedish way.

I work forest 6 to 7 months a year, six days a week and currently we leave house at 7:15 in the morning and come home 20:00 in the evening. Not minimum wage but we sure wouldn't mind more for our hard work. I'm also the only swede in my company besides the owner.

Yes they usually work harder in third world countries.

Wow. That's disgusting. Who wants to get to know their neighbours?! I'm about to have a panic attack when I'm forced to say hi to my neighbours 😂

Yes the work life balance is so much better in Sweden

It sounds like we barely work at all here in Sweden haha. We do work a lot, and many people work late and have a very stressfull jobs. Though we do often have flexible hours and yes we have looong vacation. So when we have a lot to do many work like 7am to 11 pm but when we dont have a lot to do we can leave early or take what we call flex hours ( when you work overtime you write how many hours plus you have and you can use theese when you want a day of or leave early). Not everyone has this though. So when you have a lot to do we work alot but when we dont, we dont work as much...

I want to live in Sweden so bad!

I think things will change to the better in America, because "burnout" is quite a hot topic right now.

haha I drink beer with my neighbour every friday. Started to know each other last year. Tradition since. /Swede.

Heck yeah we do (American here). We live to work, while the swedes work to live :P

In some professions, the older you get the more vacation days you have. I work in preschool and since I'm 57 years old now, I have 32 days of vacation.. So a bit over 6 weeks of paid vacation and if I won't take out them all one year, I can save them to next year..

Even if you have the so called “summer times” doesn’t mean that you have less of work to do, just a smaller time to do it in

Hur många dagar semester man får varierar också när det kommer till ålder. Jag har bara 25 dagar som grund men kan växla bort semestertillägget för 5 extra dagar (och det är det värt). Tydligen har man 25 dagar om man är 39 år eller yngre. När man fyller 40 får man 31 dagar och 32 dagar när man fyller 50 år.

Americans always explain things like people are really dumb. I noticed that even on TV in America. Needless repetition & constant explaining of the minor details - seems tailored for a really unintelligent audience.

I think I am moving to Sweden 👍

I wonder how long does the man who used to work at Wall Street work now in Sweden? as a finance graduate I'm expected to work for more than 80 hours a week (which is normal in this industry) also I'm planing for taking a charter in the field which means I have to study approximately 2 hours daily. basically, I won't have a life for the next 2 years :) By the way, I like your videos.

I do not agree about all you say. When I worked in multi-national companies in Stockholm we had no fika for example. Sometimes I worked from 08-03 and had to begin working again 8 the next morning. I also worked 70-80 hours a week due to tight reporting scehedules (monthly, quarterly, helf-year, yearly) or some other reports like budgets and so on. I also had to work on national holidays like Easter. I could never have holiday 4 weeks in a row (half year reports). If you have shorter working days in the summer, you also work longer than normal during the winter. When I went home in the middle of the night many cab drivers asked me about my work. Sometimes I said I worked as a finance controller and they said: thought so, all of you go by taxi from work in the middle of the night. Other times I said: guess. Almost all of them guessed something in finance. When I went to pubs and some male asked for my phone number (before everybody had cell phones) my friend said: you can try to phone her, but she is never at home. But, when I moved back to my home town (Kiruna) we actually had fika, but still long working days during the reporting periods. Now I am self employed as an glass artist and I decide how much and when i work. I do not earn so much money but it is worth it. By the way, the last company I worked in was a Japanese subsidiary (they say they work so much). Many times I found them sleeping at their desks, I never did so.

So firstly I would like to point out that "working hard" as americans like to say is not nessesarily the same thing as working many hours and overtime. In many jobs (especially office ones) its possible to get the same amount of work done in fewer hours than normal if you get more breaks and/or are more rested from more spare time than someone working standard hours or overtime. Secondly while it certainly can be annoying that everything in sweden severly slows down in june-august because of summer vacations there is a flipside to this that it allows students who have their summer break then to more easily find summer jobs during this time. Summer jobs can both provide extra income that all students need but also valuable experiences.

I personally think people in Sweden might work less hours BUT they work intensely when they work. So at the end they can get the job done well! It's like doing stop and go when you sprint

I am Canadian - we are somewhere in between Sweden and the US. The number of paid sick days depends on your profession. We have free basic healthcare but other benefits are through your work (not every job has this) and then most prescriptions are covered when you turn 65. Parental leaves are 1 year and you collect unemployment insurance during that leave. We have to pay for daycare and post secondary education (or apply for student loans - OSAP in Ontario where I live). Our taxes are less than Sweden but higher than the US. We rely too much on cars like the US because if you don't live near a major city like Toronto, the public transportation is not very reliable. Whether you work long hours or 9-5 and get a pension plan or not depends totally on your job and whether it's government or private, whether you have a union, etc. So we have people who live like Americans, and people who live more like Europeans.You have to choose your work accordingly.

So I'm assuming all this "paid" time off is coming out of the taxes correct?

Never worked in a place where employeers give you the day off on klämdagar (or heard about it) . Typically people use their vacation days on those occasions.

I lived in Sweden from 1-5 and don't really remember it but deep inside I have this warm feeling towards the country... after watching your video... Let's all move to Sweden :-) :-) :-) I'll move back!

Americans have to work harder because sadly it's a really poor country for the average citizen.

As a Swedish company, we have a great system and approach to balancing work and family life.

As a swedish native you are wrong with so many things that you are mentioning. But good luck with your stay in sweden.

To be honest, 70-90h work weeks are not uncommon in finance in Stockholm

I do follow your posts on RU-vid Stefan, it's very spot on and insightful. I have done the reversed journey, living in Sweden for 50+ years, and 4 years ago moved to US Regarding the work environment Sweden vs US: - In Sweden we did have more vacation days, preferably taken in July when the weather is nice But, we didn't have the "personal holidays" that adds apprx a week to the yearly time off - Sick days in Sweden: your get around 80% salary when being sick, in the US you get full pay for being off for the first XX days After a few days you'd need a doctor's note, same in Sweden and US Summarizing, social benefits differs a bit When it comes to work/life balance, it's basically not a big difference In the US employees spread their time off during the year, in Europe there is a tendency to gather it to summer months

Ah Sweden the country that has sent rockets to the moon, nope that is the USA. Ah, Sweden the country that has a splendid car company, nope that got sold to the Americans and then to the Chinese. Sweden's contribution pales in contrast to what the USA has achieved. The only thing keeping Sweden afloat is that it is rich and the people living there can somehow afford to take out massive loans to sustain their lifestyle. Sweden has one of the highest private debt in the world more than the USA in fact. When you have the luxury of being able to take out loans, paid high then obviously there is no pressure. Not everyone is as fortunate or lucky and many have to work to what they want to get. The USA has produced far more millionaires who came from lower income brackets compared to Sweden. Sweden is an advertisement. Everything is fake. Their healthcare is fake as is their attitude to foreigners. I know because I lived there, right in a ghetto with amazing healthcare that made me wait an entire day for an x-ray. People are nice to you, not because they want to, they are nice to you because it is polite. And Swedes are more closed off than nuns. They don't talk straight to you, they don't tell you how they really feel and what they believe. All they think about are appearances. "Will this make me look good"? The USA is a much better place to live because the people in the USA are more welcoming and actually have differing opinions unlike the Swedes who all feel like drones worshiping their government.

Just so you know. You can have about 7 sick periods in Sweden during a year. If you have more, your employer must contact Försäkringskassan and you may need a doctor's note before you apply for sick days again.

USA seems horrific in comparison to Sweden and Europe regarding worklife. Mycket intressant video, bravo 👍🏻 🇸🇪❤️🇺🇸

Your perception of neighbours not hanging out is a stockholm thing not for swedes in general. In Rimbo or Hallstavik in Norrtälje that is a part of the stockholm region but that is not a truth there.

This work-life balance and benefits have a cost of course - slower economic growth. And indeed if you'll Google "Swedan GDP per capita" you can see that since 2007 Swedish people have become poorer on average (From 53.7K on 2007 to 51.6K on 2019). Sweden is still a rich country so the quality of life is high, but will it remain that way 20 years from now? Given the current growth trajectory I'm not so sure.

Those who work minimum wage jobs in the US are not having a good time...

Did he tell you his total compensation? I worked like that during my PhD (SWEDEN!) and paid shit, being physicist sucks and I... well, had "sex" with my experimental setup only.

Hmmmm. The fackt check is not all rigth..... 4 weekd..... allmost rigth but not quite.......................

Why July though? Why not like November or January? In a few other videos, you've mentioned Swedes like to go to Australia. November & January would be cold dark Swedish winter, but nice warm bright Ozzy summer. If your gonna take an extended time off, you might as well take advantage and get a little extra sun in.

When I go visit other countries. I always felt they have a better quality if life. Maybe it is because of this hustle culture in the US and poor work life balance.

There’s a good saying that is “don’t work hard, work smart”. That being said, and I’m sure it has been commented already, 6 hour days can be more efficient than 8 hour days at work. Studies have shown that people working 6 hours instead of 8 actually does work more in effective time. As you know, the Fika in Sweden is quite ridiculous and everyone is running for coffee every 1-2 hours, stopping my the colleagues office or station talking smack for 5-10 minutes here and there. That’s more common at a 8-hour day than the 6. I also think having the work/life-balance is also a something that benefits the employer just as much as the employee. Which is why most people in Sweden also has about 2000kr to spend on “healthcare” but meaning like getting a massage, gym membership or the tennis club fee as an example. It allows the employee to work out and stay healthy meaning less sick days which results in more gross profit for the company. That being said, unfortunately I do also believe that the younger generations are exploiting the system more so now than ever. My grandfather worked between 16-65 years of age and had a total of 6 sick days. Now 6 days is almost common to be sick at one occasion. I just think the good old work ethic that some still does have and gets from their parents are going away with the vast majority of younger people.

At the behest of the government in Stockholm, a 20-page brochure was sent to all households in Sweden in May 2018. The content of the pamphlet provides instructions to local citizens and what they can do in case of an armed conflict. To understand what Swedish policymakers are preparing for, we need to analyze the geopolitics of Sweden from EU access to expanding military organization to cyberspace security and Finland alliance. More details right here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GQT4unko248.html

Hey stefan i found out amazing thing. After silicon vally Stockholm is second at innovation and entrepreneurship. If we think what stop anyone to start their own business? Risk. For example in usa Healthcare is attached to job / employers. So if they leave job they would be empty. They would be in risk. To lose Healthcare and money too. But in Sweden it is tied directly to government so peoples have backbon to take risks. Because it is tied to government it is really strong. I heard alot like in usa they designed washing machine in way so clothes become useless after sometimes. Honestly consumerism is bad. It is circle. U go to work u think let me work more hours , hard so i can earn money then i can buy clothes, shoes and etc... And u keep buying. I heard from one youtuber who lives in Netherlands and she is dutch. And u get tax of 22 to 23% in Sweden if u r businessman. Corporate tax low. Just like usa

I have a French girlfriend, that is gonna get a master in international marketing after next summer (2021)... What do you think its the chances of her finding a job in Stockholm and what are some advices on finding some thank you for your time buddy!! ^^ or anybody who reads this and advice is apprecieated