https://x.com/The_TUC/status/2008145671535116525
6 replies (most recent on top)
Americans like to comment in the high tax rates in Europe but they aren’t comparing dollar to dollar. Look at what you get for the money. If you add up your federal, state and local taxes plus the money you have to put away for college, healthcare and retirement we are paying way more than European tax levels.
Have a safe trip.
Enjoy your 65% tax rates , rapidly diminishing standard of living and incoming sharia law. But hey you'll get to be a slack ### at work so go for it! Nobody is getting rich in Europe for a reason.
I'm British and relocated to the US several years ago. Hustle culture is often the way of US corporations. My old company had meeting after meeting, emails at odd hours with texts which overwhelmed some staff and led to horrific turnover of staff. Now I'm at a different firm where the owner is French/Swiss and is far more civilized.
My American manager tried to write me up for "lack of commitment" because I leave at 5:00 PM sharp. I work in the Netherlands.
I work for the Dutch branch of a large US tech company. We recently got a new middle-manager based in New York. He seemed like a nice guy at first, but it turns out he is totally obsessed with "hustle culture."
Last week, we had a 1-on-1 meeting where he told me he was "concerned" about my dedication to the team. He listed his grievances quite clearly. He didn't like that my Slack status goes offline at 5:01 PM every single day. He was annoyed that I didn't reply to an email he sent on Saturday morning until Monday at 9:00 AM. And he was especially frustrated that I refused to join a "team bonding" Zoom call that was scheduled for 7 PM my time, which is 1 PM his time.
He gave me the usual speech about how "in this company, we go the extra mile" and that if I want to grow, I need to be more available.
I had to give him a bit of a reality check. I looked him in the eye over Zoom and told him that in the Netherlands, if you can't finish your work by 5 PM, it doesn't mean you are dedicated. It means you are inefficient or understaffed. I told him I am neither.
I also reminded him that contacting me outside of working hours for non-emergencies is actually frowned upon here, and that my contract is for 40 hours, not "40 hours plus nights and weekends."
He tried to threaten me with a Performance Improvement Plan. I immediately forwarded the email to our local Dutch HR representative. She literally laughed when she read it and told me to ignore him. She said she would have a "chat" with him about local labor laws.
Since then, he hasn't sent a single email after 5 PM. I honestly feel bad for you guys in the US. The fact that you have to apologize for having a life outside of work is insane to us.