jonboy

agree_to_disagree
"The ‘work culture’ here is Spain is already a complete joke!"

This is your experience and you seem to compare it to the UK. I remember being a 15year old in a UK engineering company. I was told to slow down by the other workers as I was depriving them of their overtime each evening and on Saturdays and the foreman could see their point! So it is a bit of a European thing, I think?

Barriej

Snap. When I started my apprenticeship in 1978, I started as a polisher in Hatton Garden, After the first couple of weeks I was hanging about the benches waiting for the others to finish the Jewellery. The boss told me to make the tea and to slow down. Two years later I was making the jewellery and one year after that i had my own workshop (and I still make stuff now 40 odd years later)

When I left and started building packaging machines (long story) we used to do an hour O/T before starting and 2 in the evening, home half day Fridays and O/T Saturday morning. I stopped the apprentices moaning about coming in on Saturdays.
And once i moved over to service, then it was free for all. 84 hour weeks, making sure you travelled on Sundays (even better when going to the States as you got extra hours in).

I dont think it will ever work, before we moved out last year, I spent some time in the Cacoalat factory in Barcelona. They run 24/7 there. How could they and any other food manufacturer afford to drop the hours and still pay the same rate?
They work 12 hour shifts, 4 on 4 off (so there are already 4 shifts) reducing the hours would either mean 8 hour 4 by 4, which would then add another 4 shifts. And all with no extra production. I like the chocolate milk but wouldn't pay €5.00 a bottle.

Never going to work anywhere let alone Spain. And the level of automation will take another 50 years at least to get anyone into that position (Ive worked on machines that are 30 years old and still going strong)

jonboy

The British work ethic, I I spent a day in Ford's of Dagenham in the very early 1980's. The place was divided up by nationality each group against the other, boredom ruled the roost. The production line was sabotaged regularly purely out of spite. So please agree_to_disagree, do not point your finger at the people of Spain.

missile

The British work ethic, really
When my employer had a high pressure gas storage vessel manufactured by ...... a UK company. The welder deliberately placed welding rods into the joint. Fortunately this "fault" was detected by non destructive testing. His intention was to cause delay production to force management to make an improved pay offer.

Had this gone undetected then the vessel may have failed in service with potential for loss of life.

PS ; The welder was not disciplined for his action. Thereafter, my employer sourced future work with non UK suppliers.

Rosemary

All of the people that I know work very long hours and work hard. It may well be that others have a different experience of the Spanish but I personally respect their determination to do well. Having had a plumber, an electrician and two builders working in my house I have a good range of experience of their ethics so I am not basing my knowledge on one section of the community. Any statement that says that all Spanish people are hard working or all lazy would be stupid. Every nationality has good and bad workers so we can all quote a variety of instances of shoddy or good attitude to their work.

Rosemary

Lynn R

Well said, Rosemary. My experience of employing Spanish tradesmen to work in my house has been similar to yours and I am always struck by the fact that they respond quickly to requests for quotes, turn up when they say they will, and work hard (with minimal breaks, and they don't accept offers of cups of tea, just an occasional glass of water). Above all they are overwhelmingly keen that you should be happy with the work when it is done and happy to return to fix any small faults should they crop up. I've had delivery drivers carry heavy items of furniture a long way up the street to my house or up to my apartment on the 3rd floor when the lift was out of order, without a word of complaint.

agree_to_disagree

Lynn, you offer a Spaniard a cup of tea???????

¡por Dios!

Lynn R

I ask them if they'd like a drink. The cup of tea was really referring to the good old British tradesmen who will not only accept cups of tea (with about 6 sugars usually) but even ask for them if they are not offered, "Are you putting the kettle on, love?". I've never been called anything but Señora by a Spanish tradesman, they are very respectful.

The last time I contacted a British tradesman here about a job (should have known better after previous experience) it was because we wanted to buy an aircon unit and have it fitted (so a transaction involving several hundred euros, not fitting a new tap washer). He said he would ring back that evening when he had his diary to hand. Never heard back from him and certainly wasn't going to bother chasing him up. So we bought one from an electrical retailer in town and he said their (Spanish) installer would ring me the next morning. Which he did, and turned up to do the job the following day, as promised.

agree_to_disagree

My experience of tradesmen is good. No messing, just get on with the job!

Chipmonk

Personally unless you have actually worked in a Spanish office based environment I dont see how you can have an opinion. I have and I do have to agree with the comment about looking as though you have done alot of hours as opposed to actually completing tasks. Spanish always like to leave some indication that they worked late as that is basically what the managers think shows a productive worker. It's crazy. I dont think the Spanish are lazy but due to the way they timetable their days they basically have to spread the work out over approximately a 12 hour day. This means bouts of work and bouts of chatting, plus coffees, meals etc. The idea though is to definitely make sure you start on time and finish later than the rest
!!

Stingychips

English builders and engineering I would say is definitely levels above Spanish. Even hair dressers are now way near British standards. And the electrics are nearly always a sham in the houses I have lived in at least. The laid back lifestyle is what appeals to me rather than the hard graft long hours of the UK. So committing to a 4 day week will be even more slower. How about stop taking political shots at the British made vaccine and stop slowing an already slow vaccine program for political gains. It’s obvious the Astra Zeneca row is all political. We all need to get back to normal as quick as we can or the economies of Europe will be how they were post ww2.

bfg69bug

as its actually illegal to work more than 9 hours you would assume that the 'extra' 3 hours are unpaid, so they would have to have breaks to not be working over time.

Chipmonk

Yes. But I meant they spread their working day over 12 hours.

bfg69bug

for me? Fantastic. Less hours and the same wage.

We work 40 hours a week, 8 hour shifts, so thats 160h a month.

Under the new rules it would be 32h a week or 128h a month. It would still be 8 hour shifts, but one less, which suits me fine, as that would be another 'day off' to do more at home / with my family / to do other things

When we go back to 'full time' (we are 0800-1800 due to covid, but we are normally 0430-midnight), it will be ok as well - 8 hour shifts, 4 shifts a week instead of 5.

agree_to_disagree

Going from a 5 day week to a 4 day week for the same wage is total nonsense.

Simply doesn't work in my head!

Employers will think the same!