I have been working in the Netherlands for almost 4 years now! At first, I worked for my US company working remotely on a European team. Now, I work for a large international company in Amsterdam. My coworkers are from all over the world which is one of my favorite parts of my job. In our broader department of 80 people we represent over 24+ countries- how cool! In this post, I want to share some differences I have noticed over the years that would be interesting for Americans about work life abroad! This post was getting a wee bit long so I split it into 2 parts. See part 2 here.
- Collectivistic vs Individualistic work culture. The US is the most individualistic culture in the world. There is high value placed on achievement, standing out, and being unique. In contrast, the Netherlands is more collectivistic with a higher value on group loyalty. For example, a common phrase in Dutch is “doe normaal” or “be normal”. This is seen in a work setting of you don’t necessarily want to stand out from the pack and it is a lot more team based. For example, often, instead of putting my name on a project at work I will put my team name instead. Overall, there is more emphasis on our role as a team in the broader company, our team strengths, etc. vs individual.
- Direct language- literally. One thing that is funny to me that would surprise Americans (or at least my mom) is how often people swear at the office. I probably hear f*** at least once a day. In the US (or at least Minnesota) you never would really swear as it would be seen as unprofessional. My hypothesis is that because English swear words have less meaning to my coworkers where English is their second language and my office is quite casual.
- Strong employee rights. The amount of rights that employees have would shock Americans. Basically, once you have a permanent contract, there is no ‘at will’ firing. For example, my company is going through a restructuring that was announced at the beginning of November. They have to negotiate with the unions, the Dutch Works Council (like a company union) etc. before taking any real action. This greatly extends the process and decisions won’t be communicated until around April/May for my level. This is absolutely shocking compared to the US where they can lay off entire departments for no real reason with basically no notice. Also, there are many laws around restructuring/layoffs like employee performance isn’t a consideration factor, it follows principles of last in first out, and they are consistent across age groups to avoid age discrimination. Overall, I am not thrilled to be going through a big layoff/restructure, but I feel a lot better about it here in the Netherlands vs in the US with my employee rights!
- Friday Happy Hour. In the Netherlands it is quite common to have Friday Happy Hours with your coworkers! Although popular in the US, I personally feel this is even more popular here. So popular that they even have a special word for it! “Vrijmebo” is a combination of vrijedag (Friday) middag (afternoon) borrel (snacks & drinks). It is always fun to chat with coworkers after hours!
- Part-Time work culture. There is a general connotation in the States that Europeans don’t work as hard or that they take really long vacations. This can be true, see point down below. But, what I didn’t know before moving was how common it is to work less than 40 hours. For example, many of my coworkers with kids work 32 hours a week. Then, one partner takes off work on Wednesday and the other on Friday to be with the kids. All of this is negotiated into their work contract on the agreed upon hours. In a corporate job setting this would be very very unusual in the US to work less than 40+ hours a week.
- Vacation culture. Vacation or “holiday” is not seen as something that you earn, but something everyone deserves. By Dutch law you receive 20 days paid vacation (or holiday) days a year. This applies to everyone from the cafe barista, the corporate employee and in between. Then, typically, for more competitive companies they will offer additional days. For example, I get 29 vacation days a year. Plus, people use their vacation days and often in larger increments. For example, if you take a week off it isn’t seen as much time. It is more common to take 2-3 weeks off in July/August to match the school summer holidays. Same at Christmas with people off for around 2 weeks.
- Lunch time culture. In the Netherlands, or at least at my company, there is a culture of everyone going to lunch together. We are so lucky to have tasty lunches cooked in-house every day with lots of options to choose from. I really appreciate this time to chat with my coworkers about their weekends, hobbies, and upcoming travels. In contrast, in the States, it is very common to eat quickly at your desk or go out and pick something up for lunch. They also have a great breakfast and 3 coffee bars in the office. After lunch we often go and have a team coffee before getting back to work. Coffees are only 50 cents for fancy barista coffee. So yummy 🙂 See some pictures of our typical lunches, breakfasts, and snacks!
That is the first half of my thoughts about work differences for Americans vs the Netherlands. If you are curious to learn more, I highly recommend the Culture Map written by Erin Meyer. It is all about different cultures in the workplace and it where I learned a bit better how to label some of the differences I saw in the office.
Let me know what questions you have!
❤ Mel
Smiles from Miles Away 