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As usual, the working culture in Norway is most likely heavily overstated to contrast with the (counter productive) Anglo-Saxon way of doing things. I cannot s
by bowlofpetunias 13y ago
As usual, the working culture in Norway is most likely heavily overstated to contrast with the (counter productive) Anglo-Saxon way of doing things.
I cannot speak for Norway, but since my country, The Netherlands, is known for working even less hours, I seriously doubt the situation in Norway is very different.
Although those hours may be normal for the ordinary office and factory worker (and thank god for that), there is absolutely nothing abnormal about entrepreneurs, self-employed and people at start-ups working different and/or longer hours. (And even then most of them actually don't.)
We are neither lazy nor anti-entrepreneur. We just have decent labour laws to protect those for whom a job is just a job, which is 90% of the population.
But nothing is stopping the other 10%. Please note that this article suggestively heads a paragraph with 'Golden handcuffs' (including the quotation marks), but fails to reproduce any such quote, or any evidence of any kind of limitation.
It's just the typical desperate attempt to suggest that there must be something wrong that needs to change about prosperous countries where people work considerably less on average, and are happier and healthier.
- andyjohnson0 13y ago"We are neither lazy nor anti-entrepreneur." I didn't get the impression that the article was arguing that. I read it as: Tech results in the number of entrepreneurs in Norway reaching a tipping-point where a community forms and it becomes possible to create places like Mesh. Contrast with existing labour laws and practices. Will Norway find a way to accommodate both and keep a life-friendly balance? (British, living in the UK)
- elektronaut 13y agoI am Norwegian, and your criticism is spot on. I don't recognize the working hours angle in this piece at all. The labour laws have exceptions for the self employed, entrepreneurs and employees in important posititions, and are in no way a hindrance if you want to work insane hours. I did that, for years, mostly to my own detriment. As a side note, my office is right above one of the spaces mentioned, and the lights are usually out by the time I leave. That said, I'm excited to see all these places appearing.
- purringmeow 13y agoI could never work the hours some people here are putting. I mean, cmon - 12+ hours a day? Not that there should be laws stopping people from working that much, but I would hate for Europe to become like the US in that regard - almost no employee protection and long hours(50-60h weeks) becoming a standard. And that's coming from someone who's libertarian in many aspects :)
- hipsters_unite 13y agoAbsolutely. Work a day job and freelance etc., on the side, but I'm free to drop the extra work if it gets too much and just live off a decent day job. Here in the UK it's tending more and more toward the US model, and I'm not a fan at all... luckily work for a small company that respects their employees :)
- raverbashing 13y ago"It's just the typical desperate attempt to suggest that there must be something wrong that needs to change about prosperous countries where people work considerably less on average, and are happier and healthier." The real issue is, if their product can be competitive (cheaper, or maybe more expensive and better, and have a captive market), there's no problem with that whatsoever. And Norway or other countries are welcome to have the tax structure they want, as long as it doesn't impact (too much) the competitiveness of their exported products. I certainly am in favour of a more healthy and happy work environment and good luck for them for pushing that.
- LekkoscPiwa 13y agoAnd if someone (God Forbid!) is so crazy that they want to work 60 hours week when employed at a startup because they want it to succeed? Because they want their share of the equity to grow? Illegal? Forbidden? Costly like hell? Nice…