I moved from the US to Sweden after struggling with burnout. Now I have 6 weeks of paid vacation per year and rarely work overtime.
The unemployment rate in Sweden is 7.5%, according to April 2023 data.After graduation, it was difficult to find a job — it took me two years. I have both a bachelor's and a master's degree from the US and a second master's degree from Sweden. I'm also a native English speaker, which is attractive to a lot of companies here. It's incredibly tough to get into the Swedish job network. It's about who you know, and culture fit is really important to the companies here.
Personally, I was looking for work within human resources, but I didn't know Swedish labor laws or the Swedish language, so that eliminated a lot of jobs that I could go for. Also, a lot of companies here are good with their recruitment pipelines with the university students. They occasionally hire students two years in advance.My salary here as an American can feel very low, but I feel wealthy in Sweden. You don't need to make a lot of money to live a good life.
Eating and drinking out can be a little expensive because there's a value-added tax. When I eat out here, I'll pay similar prices to what I did in LA, but of course, my salary isn't as high.Meyer goes into the office one to three times a week."I love work from home," she told Insider.In the office, it's quiet around 4:30 p.m. every single day. I never get meeting invites after three o'clock on Fridays because people are getting their weekends started.
There's just a real sense of trust that everyone will do the work that the company assigns them. And if you need to do that early in the morning or late at night because you have a family commitment, that's great, that's on you. It's not a micromanaging and performative culture where you have to sit at your desk even though you're not doing anything. If I'm done with my work and it's 3:30 p.m., then I'm going to leave, and nobody worries about it.
Because I made such drastic changes in my life and moved across the world to improve my work-life balance, I'm very protective over it. I've actually had multiple Swedish colleagues tell me that they aspire to be more like me when it comes to setting boundaries. My motivation is just so high because I gave up being near my family, higher salaries, the friendliness of Americans, and the amazing nature in the US to move here.
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