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Are Poles workaholics?


OP Alien  24 | 5815
27 Jan 2024   #31
Poles are hard workers when they can see benefits from their hard work.

And that's exactly how it should be. Good pay is better than the best doctor when it comes to avoidance sick leave.
Torq  8 | 955
27 Jan 2024   #32
Are Poles workaholics?

Well, I am. Guilty as charged.

Oh, well - a man needs to have his faults. Nobody's perfect. :)
OP Alien  24 | 5815
27 Jan 2024   #33
Well, I am

Me too, I have never (except for Corona) taken sick leave, and my co-workers do it all the time. ☹
jon357  73 | 23208
27 Jan 2024   #34
Are Poles Workoholiks or not?

Workaholic is a negative word; work life balance is vital.

If you mean being hard working, some are and some aren't. In general, I'd say less so than in the U.K. and more so than in France. One negative thing I've noticed is people working in companies (korpo drones) are sometimes afraid to say no to unreasonable requests.

A positive thing is that paid time off work in Poland is generally good and public sector staff get a good deal.

see benefits from their hard work.

There used to be an interesting article online (gone now) about the different work ethics in the three zabory; that distinction persists until today.
OP Alien  24 | 5815
27 Jan 2024   #35
about the different work ethics in the three zabory

I guess that they work most efficiently in the former German partition (Poznań, Silesia).
jon357  73 | 23208
27 Jan 2024   #36
That's what the article said.

It was also fairly positive about people from the Austrian partition but didn't think much of the work ethic in the east; he talked about people's aims there being very short term and quite mercenary.
Miloslaw  21 | 5068
27 Jan 2024   #37
If you mean being hard working, some are and some aren't. In general, I'd say less so than in the U.K. and more so than in France

A very accurate assessment.

In my experience Polish workers were on average pretty good, but they did include some lazy and "Bolshy" ones.
Romanians in the main, were very good. But Slowaks were the best!

The French are lazy and "Bolshy".

Americans tend to spend too much time eating and leaving the rubbish from their food and cups everywhere!!!!

That is my take on this subject!
jon357  73 | 23208
28 Jan 2024   #38
too much time eating and leaving the rubbish from their food and cups everywhere!

And Canadians double that!

Aussies only seem to work well when they've an opportunity to grandstand and tell everyone how wonderful they are.

Germans are fine with routine tasks however if there's anything out of the box that they perceive as chaos they tend to fall apart a bit.

About Poles, I see a huge difference between Poles in Poland and Poles who've moved abroad. I've found that many adapt very well to new culture language but are more hidebound at home.
OP Alien  24 | 5815
28 Jan 2024   #39
Aussies only seem to work well

Does Australia export anything to Europe at all? (Europe outside GB)
jon357  73 | 23208
28 Jan 2024   #40
Australia export anything to Europe

Lots. Wool, lamb, uranium, other minerals etc.
OP Alien  24 | 5815
28 Jan 2024   #41
@jon357
Well, I also know Men at Work, the hit Down Under, Australia's performances at ESC and the Crocodile Dundee movies, Something else? 🤔
jon357  73 | 23208
28 Jan 2024   #42
Something else?

Soap operas.

In Poland, people often watch South American ones. In Britain we get Aussie ones which are just as bad but the culture is closer and they don't need translating.

Plus they've got a lot of coal, opals and I think gold and diamonds.

And a lot of very very good wine. Good enough to make the French jealous.
mafketis  38 | 11058
28 Jan 2024   #43
In Poland, people often watch South American ones

Turkish soap operas have been more popular than latin american telenovelas in Poland for some time now. the historical one based on Roxelana (the Magnificent Century) was the first but modern ones are very popular now.

I've watched a number of non-telenovela Turkish series and they're.... interesting. Recently saw Yaratilan (Creature) a retelling of the Frankenstein story (set in the Ottoman era with Turkish icy mountains replacing the arctic) that got off to a rocky start but was pretty good toward the ending. Ben Gri (I'm gray) a high tech surveillance thriller ended in a genuine surprise that I didn't see coming and Arayis (the Search) was a nice take on the inner working of cults as a skeptic who wants to extricate her friend from a cult ends up becoming a member.

Aussie ones

Was Neighbors the first? most famous? I had no idea that they made others..... was there any need to?

I've mentioned I recently enjoyed Fisk (comedy) and Bay of Fires (black comedy/drama) though the best two characters on the latter were played by New Zealanders.....
jon357  73 | 23208
28 Jan 2024   #44
Turkish soap operas have been more popular than latin american telenovelas in Poland for some time now

I'm a bit out of date re. soaps there. I remember the grim ones from Venezuela or Peru.

Turkish TV is a big thing nowadays. There's also Egyptian soaps (like U.K. ones where everyone is poor) and Moroccan ones (like U.S. ones where everyone is rich). Neither type would go down well in Europe.

Was Neighbors the first? most famous?

It was the first to go big and the first to be modern and racy. Before that there was "Where the heart is" and "The Sullivans" which were on years ago and were a bit dull.

The other big one is Home and Away. That one's Sydney whereas Neighbours is Melbourne. Usually soaps there need both markets to be financially viable though when the Aussies pulled Neighbours last year a minor TV station in the U.K. watched mainly by boomers and older bankrolled it and it restarted.
Paulina  16 | 4338
28 Jan 2024   #45
Does Australia export anything to Europe at all?

I don't know about Europe, but they seem to excel at exporting hot actors and actresses to Hollywood lol :)

I've watched a number of non-telenovela Turkish series and they're.... interesting.

The only non-telenovela Turkish series that I've watched were mini-series "Börü" ("Wolf") - the title on Polish Netflix is "Wilk". It's well made, a good watch and yeah... interesting, because it shows events before and at the beginning of the coup attempt in Turkey from a perspective of special-operations police unit.
jon357  73 | 23208
28 Jan 2024   #46
hot actors and actresses

A sporty and suntanned country.

Some of them are crazy though.

If you're interested in seeing the real Australia. There's a docusoap called Sylvania Waters from the 90s with some truly scary people in.
pawian  221 | 25486
28 Jan 2024   #47
Are Poles workaholics?

Older generation like me still are. Younger ones, like millenials aka generation Z aren`t. They don`t want to work hard in order to gain financial security and possess things like houses, apartments, cars, big accounts. They just want to live.

This is a worldwide trend coz we are a global village and Poland is not an exception.

Here is an excellent article which describes the changing attitude to work in Poland:
onet.pl/styl-zycia/onetkobieta/dwudziestolatki-na-rynku-pracy-dla-nich-praca-nie-jest-najwazniejsza/cc37cxx,2b83378a

ONET WOMAN NEWS

20-year-olds go to work. "On Thursday I can start at noon because I have breakfast with my friends in the morning"
After a few weeks, they come to the conclusion that 8-hour working time is too much, that handing in material on the same day is beyond them, and direct contact with their superior and colleagues in the office "exceeds their personal limits" . I can't understand it all, I have a different attitude towards work. I was taught that once you have it, you should respect it. For them it's a bit like this: not this one, this is another one - says Agata about 20-year-olds on the labor market.

Anna Frydrychewicz

Iwona works in a Warsaw corporation. She is 42 years old and participates in recruitment processes in her company.

-I remember the last two recruitment interviews for the marketing department. There was a boy who had just finished his studies and was starting another one, but only on weekends, and a girl who had just finished maternity leave, he says. - This was the stage where we presented each other's expectations in a slightly more specific way and talked about remuneration. The rate the boy quoted was reasonable and not excessive . However, he set a few conditions: for example, on Thursdays he can start work at 12:00, because he has a certain habit that he will not give up. That day, he eats breakfast with his friends, and this is a sacred thing for him, a condition of his emotional balance and a ritual that keeps him in harmony with the world. He also announced that if the company has a dress code, he is against it, because "even at school it doesn't apply anymore." It was a shock for my older friends. The younger ones said they even understood it.

And here a generational gap immediately appears: for forty-year-olds it is unthinkable to set such requirements when applying for a job. - sums up Iwona. - We are accustomed to the fact that we have to earn a job and not expect too much, lest we be perceived as demanding. The youngest generation believes that the employer should take care of them.

Iwona says that such comments during a job interview no longer surprise her, that from her point of view, there are much more "outrageous" ones, especially for staid millennials who are used to working hard without asking for a raise. Typically, however, the claims of twenty-year-olds appear only when they are employed, and not during the recruitment process.

- We once had a colleague in the sales department who never physically showed up at work. He only wanted to work remotely because he claimed that "it was much healthier for him mentally." He maintained that the presence of people stressed him out, prevented him from being effective, and that it made him feel depressed. He didn't even turn on his camera on teams because he didn't like people looking at him.

Iwona points out that such behavior "passed" only for a certain time. There were mandatory integration meetings, there were trips, you had to show up to the client and talk to him in a way other than by e-mail.

- Well, one day P. simply sent a message that he thanked me and didn't work from tomorrow. He also did not understand that there was a notice period for terminating the contract. After negotiations and requests, he stayed until the end of the month. When he left, we breathed a sigh of relief.

- Those who were hired 10 years ago have stayed with us permanently - says Agata, who is the head of one of the editorial offices. - But the twenty-somethings who came to us last year dropped out after a few months. The turnover among young people is huge and I emphasize once again that they are leaving, not being fired. After a few weeks, they come to the conclusion that 8-hour working time is too much, that handing in material on the same day is beyond them, and direct contact with their superior and colleagues in the office "exceeds their personal limits" . I can't understand it all, I have a different attitude towards work. I was taught that once you have it, you should respect it. For them it's a bit like this: not this job, there will be another one.


tbc
pawian  221 | 25486
28 Jan 2024   #48
- We used to have three interns on our team. June came, we prepared schedules for the entire team and arranged holidays. And suddenly, halfway through the month, all three sent an email. They wrote that it was great, but they had to rest and go on vacation because it was summer. I went crazy.

Ewa is 48 years old, works in a large company and has people of different ages in her team, including people in their twenties.

- I look at these colleagues with kindness, but I know that this is a "completely different story." They have completely different priorities than work and they say it directly. If they happen to oversleep before going to the office at 9 a.m., "nothing happened, their body probably needed it." I get stressed when I'm stuck in a traffic jam and I know I'll be at the office at 9.05 However, a conversation during which someone evaluates their work is stressful for them. What I mean is a polite, calm conversation with the manager who shows the employee's strengths and weaknesses, suggests what can be done better, and finally asks: how do you feel? What can I improve in our communication? I have heard more than once from young people that such contact and meeting embarrasses them...

- One quarter of the problems in large companies concern communication in teams, says Róża Szafranek, an HR expert with many years of psychological and managerial experience. - And these are the so-called communication problems.. Because on the one hand, there are millennials, brought up in a culture of "die hard work". They follow the rule that if you want to achieve something, you work 14 hours a day. This generation has built companies this way, lives this way, has this way of thinking. And many millennials today go "nowhere". What does it mean? Senior managers or people with extensive experience in corporations are burnt out and tired, and if they can afford it, they take a break from work for several months.

"Suddenly, people who worked very hard and were taught this work ethos are disappearing from the labor market," the expert continues. - It then turns out that you have to manage employees who have a different approach. But the managers are also exhausted, so they have a short fuse with the 20-year-olds they hired. The circle closes.

- In 2024, we will have a communication crisis on the labor market, predicts Róża Szafranek. - People will throw papers from day to day, there will be staff shortages. I warn managers that they will have to assume 15-20 percent. additional funds in the budget for training and employing additional project managers, because today, compared to managing a group of 40-year-olds, managing the same number of 20-year-olds requires twice as much time and effort. This is because young people really need interaction and the division of tasks. Millennials were given a task and they took over it with full responsibility, it was a very basic competence, important for the employer. And today people don't have that. Young people say: give me ten small tasks, because if I have the whole area, I won't be able to handle it.

- 20-year-olds also have no responsibility, and many things are too stressful for them - explains Róża Szafranek. - These are situations that are completely normal for 40-year-olds. But it's not like they can freely say to each other: not this job, another one. Today there is little money on the market and the number of jobs is falling. Still, it doesn't scare twenty-year-olds. They say "I'm OK with that, I don't have to have money because I don't have to have it." "I can work in a cafe in Portugal, earn $200 and live with seven people." For millennials, this is unthinkable. For them, having things in the sense of buying an apartment or saving something on the side is important for a sense of security.

- 20-year-olds prefer to live in harmony with themselves, they don't have to have this status, they don't have to have money. They are able to say: now I'm going to the office, I'll transfer the papers. If they hear: with this approach you won't develop so quickly. But for them, development is not the only measure of success.

Róża Szafranek also adds that classification and specificity are important for 20-year-olds at work.

- They say: okay, so I have five things written in the job description, and today two new things appeared at work. So what's really going on with me? When it comes to overtime, they are also able to say: I won't come after 6 p.m. because I found out about it too late, I have other plans. Or: if I come, how will I perceive it? I don't see it as demanding, that they want more. I think their boundaries are very firm. I think we are not used to this.

The expert adds that generational conflicts between millennials and 20-year-olds at work mainly concern the latter's lack of independence.

- We expect young people to take on new tasks as quickly and as willingly as the boomer generation or the millennial generation. Millennials said, just throw it all at me and I'll figure it out. But today young people will say: I'm sorry, but I think I need to get a set of tasks from you along with a deadline. "What should I do? What will I be rewarded for?" Young people are unlikely to notice that something is missing in the office and they will not report it, for example, to HR. They have no such responsibility for shared property. And millennials get mad at them for this and say: well, you don't feel like you're part of this company at all. But on the other hand, young people are very socially and ecologically sensitive. For example, if someone says "hello gentlemen, it's good to see you", the younger generation will be the first to speak up and say: there are also ladies in the room.

"Maybe they're right," Agata wonders aloud. - Maybe we have made this whip against ourselves in the form of the belief that we have to always give a million percent at work and fulfill all the boss's whims, because if we don't, someone will fire us. Maybe this is how you should live, take care of yourself first, then everything else? There's only one thing that bothers me about these twenty-year-old friends. When I have a cold, I take vitamins, strengthen my body, work from home for a day, and then return to the office. And they take a sick leave for any cold. They come to the office, sniffle, and you already know who won't be there the next day...

mafketis  38 | 11058
29 Jan 2024   #49
Sylvania Waters from the 90s with some truly scary people

thanks for that, the whole thing's on youtube.... watched a few minutes and my first idea is that while Brits are controlled (maybe a bit too tightly) by the superego Australians keep the Id a _lot_ closer to the surface...
jon357  73 | 23208
29 Jan 2024   #50
Noeline does fit a stereotype, doesn't she. I'd not like to work for her but she's probably good company if there's booze and suburban oneupmanship going on. Must be well in her 80s now.

I was just reading what happened to them all since. Several of them went right down the pan and others didn't .

Brits are controlled (maybe a bit too tightly) by the superego Australians keep the Id a _lot_ closer to the surface...

When Freud built the superego, he anchored it in the sky over southern England to give them all complexes. As for Aussies, their ancestors were transported there for punishment because their ids were out of control. Maybe there's some heredity, biological or more probably cultural that made all the bogans, larrikins and bludgers.

Northern English like to think we're a little different, though the stereotype in Harry Enfield's Yorkshireman is somewhat exaggerated.
mafketis  38 | 11058
29 Jan 2024   #51
Northern English like to think we're a little different

Like this?

youtube.com/watch?v=PT0ay9u1gg4
jon357  73 | 23208
29 Jan 2024   #52
Hehehe.

Thing is, it's actually a bit like that sometimes.
OP Alien  24 | 5815
29 Jan 2024   #53
bit like that

Hello👋
jon357  73 | 23208
29 Jan 2024   #55
Ey up duck
johnny reb  48 | 7838
30 Jan 2024   #56
Does Australia export anything to Europe at all?

I know that they export nuclear reactors to Poland which may surprise you.
OP Alien  24 | 5815
30 Jan 2024   #57
export nuclear reactors to Poland which may surprise you.

Well, I'm surprised indeed because Poland doesn't have any nuclear power plants.
johnny reb  48 | 7838
30 Jan 2024   #58
Thats what I thought too when I was reading about it.
Google it for yourself.
jon357  73 | 23208
30 Jan 2024   #59
Are you thinking about the ones used for scientific experiments (there are one or two) or are you thinking about the private ones that will be assembled and come on line in about a decade?


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