Germans & Their Efficiency At Work | Germany In A Nutshell

Just this week Germany passed new laws to try and attract skilled/educated workers from outside the country, and make it easier for them to find jobs and remain there. However, the language is still an issue. English will only get you so far. If you decide to stay you'll need to learn Deutsch.

I've been living and working in Germany for 10 years. German efficiency is a myth, and the lack of it is especially notorious in public and government sectors. Spice it up with German resistance to change and inflexibility. Also, there is plenty of overtime (incl. unpaid) in private companies, and it's not limited to international companies like amazon, etc. I have friends who do regular overtime in a very well known German manufacturing company. Upd: What I mean is that it's not all roses for working class here. It's better than in some parts of the world, but not ideal.

German worker: "I've been doing this for 20 years that way and if it doesn't work for you anymore it's your problem not mine."

I once worked with someone who was German. He told me many times that in Germany I would be liked and do very well, bcs of my work ethic. Probably the best complement I've ever gotten from a German 🤷

I have been working in Germany for the past 5 years, and I agree with most of the comments here. Germans are definitely not efficient but they pride themselves on being "precise". However, in my understanding, this often translates to following the rules rigidly and creating additional rules whenever a new problem arises

Where is Rachel? Is she safe?!? Is she alright!?!?!

One little error: The minimum amount of holiday is only 20 days per year, if you work 5 days a week (which is normal for a full-time job). If you like work only 3 days a week, of course the minimum holiday is 12 days. To avoid confusion already at the beginning, better says "4 weeks".

No not at all. I worked as a foreigner in an all German Arbeitsplatz for 7 yrs and I was the most efficient one and thats why I got sponsored for a work visa in the first place. I was faster and more rational than the Germans, because Germans were super rigid about their procedures. I would find ways to skip from Shritt 1 to Shritt 5 and they were always stuck at the Order line like some kid with ocd. They hated and feared change and I had to always try so hard to convince them to try things in a different way. They were just not practical. They were simply robotic and linear thinking and yes even in a ""creative field""" they were more engineer brained than creative. They couldnt renovate, reinvent, recreate but did really well following orders.

Very well presented and condensed report on German work life. One thing I am interested in is the effect of other county's reduced work day per week experiments, whether it'll be something we Germans will be looking into. Overall I am very happy to be working here.

I work in two German companies as working student and both make Feierabend at 16. Working till 18 it's a big no no. Sometimes they start working at 6.00 - 7.00 in the morning, so they can make a Feierabend at 14-15

From what I have seen in Germany there is hardly any balance between private life and work. Germans are so much keen on optimization that they cut employees whenever they can and put tons of workloads on them. No wonder rehabs are full with young people with burn out syndrome. The same with working mothers. Women are very often denied of any flexibility as their family life is „their own problem“ driving them into taking a sabbatical. Having worked in Finland for four years I can say that working employees are given much beneficial conditions, eg a working mother has a right to work 60% till her child reaches third grade at school. I am not saying about digitalization of working processes in Finland. Switching to English was also not a problem in Finland - I was the only employee who didn’t speak Finnish and the whole office of 30 people have switched to English in team-meetings and internal correspondence overnight. In Germany even educated people would not bother talking English to you in private conversation. Proclaimed inclusiveness and integration is also a myth. I have an acknowledged disability and struggle to find a job now for year. I have applied to work at three state institutions which by law have to employ a certain number of disabled. I was even denied a wardrobe job in a theatre, and I am not in a wheelchair. With private companies you are afraid to mention that you are handicapped. Immigrant, disabled, female - obviously enough reasons to fail in Germany.

When I was working in the UK, on Fridays, I would finish lunch with my colleagues around 1pm and then I would go to the local pub around 3pm and have a few pints of beer and then go straight home around 3-4pm, so I had a very flexible Friday afternoon, and my bosses didn't say anything about it. In contrast, in Korea, you can't leave the office until your boss leaves the office, so if it's 7pm on a Friday evening and your boss hasn't left the office, then of course you can't leave the office, which is really ridiculous.

People in other European countries, Italy for example, don’t have the luxury of talking about work life balance, simply because they cannot afford it. I had the chance to work as an engineer and live in both countries. Germany has the best working conditions. With the same job in Italy I was having a hard time to reach the end of the month. I invite young workers to not work less, but to do the job they love. So that they can contribute to the society and not only think where to go on holidays the next weekend. This world needs motivated people with new ideas.

How beautifully organized! Every phrase and how you present each is done to a T. Even the way you look at the camera is done so well, every moment, every frame so well composed. What a fine, very brief introduction to deutsche Arbeiten! Thank you!

As a brazilian living in Germany I really like the German Philosophy but I do miss are the brazilian money bonus: sales comissions, extra payed holidays, extra Christmas money, etc. Of course woking conditions are in many ways terrible in Brazil and I gess one can't only have benefits.

I have many skilled friends who work there, they face discrimination every single day and left Germany because of that and they learn German before go there.

Great content! Danke

I am surprised that no one said, "Gesundheit". 6:11

Working in Japan, Germany seems to have some similarities (adversity to change & paperwork), but it's definitely a much tougher grind in Japan ~ where unpaid overtime (service zangyo - サービス残業) is expected in many companies - especially in light of the communal culture pressure (i.e. everybody's doing it, so I have to do it too).

Ein Video über deutsche Arbeitskultur und dann nur die Bürohanseln berücksichtigen? Echt jetzt? Was ist mit Industrie und Handwerk? Oder dem Handel? Ein bisschen mehr Weitblick das nächste Mal. Vielen Dank! 😮