Hey @FlightFight ,
I can not speak to the exact difference, but I think my background is very closely aligned:
I've been self-employed / contractor , for about 10 years in Canada (whose business climate, as far as bureaucracy is very similar to that of the US, albeit slightly higher taxed).
Almost 2 years ago I moved back to my native Netherlands - which I believe has a business climate similar to that of Germany (although you guys probably have taken the bureaucracy a bit more to the extreme).
Here I continued doing simlar work (I'm in software development).
Being entrepreneurial minded, moving back to Europe from North-America (let's generalize it like that), has definitely been a bit of a shock - in the negative sense.
In North-America it is a lot easier, and I would say more encouraged, to be self-employed. Not to say you can't do the same in Europe, but it's almost like it's frowned upon. "People should just get a full-time job, with a company, get their pension, take their holidays, and not try to stick out above the rest."
In Canada, I was used to having various development contracts with small startups - most of it just word of mouth. Then do some work for them, send an invoice, get paid (or not ) as simple as that. Here in Netherlands you almost have to go through an agency, deal with job interviews, formal processes. And all just for temporary contracts.
I've also noticed that here in the Netherlands, full-time employees in the company you'd work at as contractor, sometimes don't treat you with the same respect, and make you feel like you're just trying to 'leach', whereas you usually provide value that is otherwise hard to find.
I can go on about this, there are many other small differences... and if feels like 'death' by a thousand cuts.
This forum at least keeps giving me a healthy and positive outlook at what's possible. (I still have my Canadian corporation, so I still have the means to excel across the pond).
I can not speak to the exact difference, but I think my background is very closely aligned:
I've been self-employed / contractor , for about 10 years in Canada (whose business climate, as far as bureaucracy is very similar to that of the US, albeit slightly higher taxed).
Almost 2 years ago I moved back to my native Netherlands - which I believe has a business climate similar to that of Germany (although you guys probably have taken the bureaucracy a bit more to the extreme).
Here I continued doing simlar work (I'm in software development).
Being entrepreneurial minded, moving back to Europe from North-America (let's generalize it like that), has definitely been a bit of a shock - in the negative sense.
In North-America it is a lot easier, and I would say more encouraged, to be self-employed. Not to say you can't do the same in Europe, but it's almost like it's frowned upon. "People should just get a full-time job, with a company, get their pension, take their holidays, and not try to stick out above the rest."
In Canada, I was used to having various development contracts with small startups - most of it just word of mouth. Then do some work for them, send an invoice, get paid (or not ) as simple as that. Here in Netherlands you almost have to go through an agency, deal with job interviews, formal processes. And all just for temporary contracts.
I've also noticed that here in the Netherlands, full-time employees in the company you'd work at as contractor, sometimes don't treat you with the same respect, and make you feel like you're just trying to 'leach', whereas you usually provide value that is otherwise hard to find.
I can go on about this, there are many other small differences... and if feels like 'death' by a thousand cuts.
This forum at least keeps giving me a healthy and positive outlook at what's possible. (I still have my Canadian corporation, so I still have the means to excel across the pond).
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum:
Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited: