The name of the game is green - Grant Sommers

I observed several differences in the operations of a European workplace as opposed to an American workplace. Granted, the American workplaces I have experience in are in hour-by-hour jobs, focused on a very particular task, with a clear hierarchy. Nonetheless, there are some worthy differences between the European and American workplaces…the main one being the main motivator…money

In the United States, no doubt there is an emphasis placed on profit, creating a product or service that the public will receive positively and pour money into. Even in my job as a server at an assisted living, the amount of money that the resident pay to stay there is 100% a factor in the standards they expect from us employees and the type of service they expect us to provide. With that, I believe, comes a pattern of emphasizing long hours, an intense working environment, and hard work, because through those are where most of the payoff ($) is to the average person. Whereas in Europe, the workplace environment tends to be more relaxed, as I experienced, and the focus is more quality over quantity. This is not to say that in Europe money isn’t an important motivator, but rather to point out that the anxious, rushed, individual-oriented, efficiency/profit-oriented environment that is very present in the United States, is less present in the more relaxed, social environment in Europe.

In Parliament, I noticed that MEPs and their assistants were really working towards to EU goals of cooperation, inclusion, and integration. Of course, there was some talk about what would satisfy the local (in my case, Maltese) electorate in order to secure a re-election bid (abortion, for example, was something to be unequivocally opposed in Maltese politics). However, overall, I observed refreshing bipartisan talks, meetings, and correspondences that would be a rare sight, indeed, in the Untied States. For example, the technical meetings that my MEP’s assistant chaired, regarding legislation under the scope of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, were attended by members of various European political parties, left and right, and there was minimal if any arguments, bitter or sly comments, or gridlock. At most perhaps there would be a passing humorous comment.

Overall, in Europe as compared to the United States, there is less of a divide between work life and personal life, with Europeans receiving on average double the number of vacation days than Americans. It seems that in Europe, they perceive vacation days, leisure time, socialization, etc. as necessities which in turn help workplace productivity and individual mental/emotional/physical health, as opposed to in the United States where things such as vacation time are seen as luxuries to be earned and saved.