4 UNEXPECTED Culture Shocks Working in Sweden!

Hi There, Robi Tange here, and welcome back to my little Sweden corner.
Here comes another video in my series of Working in Sweden.

Moving to Sweden was an incredible experience, but working here came with its fair share of culture shocks! In this video, I share the biggest surprises I encountered in the Swedish work culture compared to my life in Tanzania.

Whether you’re considering working in Sweden as an expat, already living here, or just curious about life in Sweden, this video gives you an inside look at the realities of expat life in Sweden. I share my personal experience adapting to these cultural differences, how the Swedish work mentality has changed my perspective, and why I’m now embracing a balanced life between work and family.

Join me on this journey of culture shocks, personal growth, and the fascinating world of Swedish work culture. If you’re thinking of moving to Sweden, these are some insights you won’t want to miss!

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
00:56 Vacation
02:49 Parental Leave in Sweden
04:43 Work vs Life
05:46 Perception

Watch next:

#swedeninformativevlog #cultureshock #sweden

[KamiKaZantA]

Today I learned how to pronounce Tanzania

[eldsprutandedrake]

The long summer holidays have the added benefit of offering young people and students a chance at temporary job for a few weeks every years as well, when companies that are open during summer are low on manpower. Both to earn money and to start building up a CV and get some experience. I think it's a rather crucial but often overlooked thing. Although it happens, it's not that common for people studying in Sweden to work part time at the same time, so the summer jobs are rather important.

[magsbayou]

I have lived in Sweden for 16 years and I agree with your list but I still learn things that shock me. I am from the US.

[andreashenning]

The YouTube algorithm is strange, I don’t know why I got this in my feed, but I’m glad it did!
I’m a Swede but I’ve heard the same things you say from many colleagues coming from outside Sweden so your experience seems common.
I work in engineering and we have almost 20 nationalities in a workforce of about 120 so I’m starting to understand what seems unique about Sweden. Thanks for sharing!

[medeology]

I've seen some videos about Sweden from an American or British point of view, but your Tanzanian perspective is super interesting, thank you!

[elmis]

How nice to hear a immigrant who is adapting and embracing the "Swedish way" ❤.

I know there is a lot of you, but what we mostly hear in media is people whining about how racist swedes are (which we are not), and how unfair they are treated.

I've heard people living here for 15+ years whining about they can't get a job, yet they can't speak swedish and have no education. What do they expect?

People like you are very much welcome here

[dagb]

July and Sweden. Yes. If you are a swede you would prefer vacation in the summer with long, warm and cozy days. After that comes darkness and winter.🥶 Greetings from a swede 🇸🇪

[helenanilsson]

Regarding work vs life: how close you are with colleagues depends a lot on the what kind of internal culture the company has, and how much colleagues work together vs how often you're just a lot of people doing solitary tasks. I think many of us would benefit from forming stronger bonds at our workplaces, because too many adults today can't manage to maintain their social lives outside of relatives and whoever they're closest to at work. I've had jobs where at least the core work group has had more of an extended family dynamic and everyone in that core group was very involved, but I've also had jobs where every employee is an isolated island just focusing on getting their own tasks done.

[daniellassander]

Its nice hearing about my country from people who moved here, their perspective on things, for me its all "just normal". I get to work at 8, we have coffee and eat something at 9 where we talk about work, organize ourselves a little bit.

I dont know how things looks in other countries, i have visited some but just seen the sights so to speak.

[tompasAnKkX]

I have worked as a teacher and during the summer holidays you have eight weeks off. Around Christmas, you have two weeks off. In February one week during the sports holiday and at Easter one week off. There will be a total of 12 weeks of leave over the course of a year. And best of all you are fully paid during those 12 weeks when you are not working.

[olleassistans]

I love the relaxation in your voice, i would love to listen to stories told by you :)

[soulis]

Many peoples that want to climb at work also take the work home here in Sweden too.

[lawyerLoke]

This year I had 7 weeks vacation in the summer, it was awesome :) I was sick during a lot of that time tho which wasn’t ideal but it was still good to have such a long time off from work. Don’t know how I’m gonna go back to just 4 weeks of summer vacation now haha

[albkad-hvh]

Just to clarify a little about vacation, it is true that the minimum amount of days are 25 since that is established by law, but there is not actually a limit. Most of Swedish labor law is governed by unions and collective agreements. So while it is pretty common to see the vacation days between 25-30 days it is at the end of the day up to the negotiations between the unions and corporate. These agreements usually also only set up a minimum for the industry so each company can choose more if they would like. One example of more than 30 days is if your employed by the city of Malmö Stad. There you will have 31 days at 40 years old and 32 days by 50.

[MikaelLansfalken]

I visited your lovely country of Tanzania in January 2024. Amazing place. I would return for sure!

[theRealRindberg]

25 days is the legal minimum days per year and you have a legal right to take 3 consecutive weeks of paid leave during the mouth of July and August

[AndersHjelmare]

I am Swedish and have worked here for 40+ years. Your list is true and accurate, although 40 years ago benefits were slightly less generous. Please also note almost free health care and high income taxes.

[Zedja]

Vacation time can be more than 30 days, depending how much overtime you've worked. So if you do a lot of overtime, you can earn more time off. Also, teachers can get even more time off since schools are closed between the different terms.

[andersmalmgren]

30 days is not the upper limit. All up to the company and your ability to deal with the bosses :D

[sandratembe]

Hi Robi Mozambican here🇲🇿. Nice video and good content ...but I expect more infor on it that based on where you come from....
In formal sector in moz is normal 4 weeks vacation in one row... normally in december/january.
Im curious which sector you worked in tanzania too.
Your voice ...super calm. Im louder person 😂😂so listen to you is really good.