Italy is a country filled with culture, and good food with typically everything centered around the family. In terms of the work culture, there is still a rather high unemployment rate among Italy’s youth. Many young workers tend to get temporary contracts; the steadier, long-term jobs get taken by the veteran workers in Italy. This causes problems for the young Italians seeking labor in Italy. Many young Italians will often choose to get a higher education to put off finding work. In class we learned that a lot of young Italians seek work elsewhere. They tend to go to Northern Europe, like Germany, or abroad to the United States, in search of more job opportunities.
Having worked now in both countries, I can spot several differences between the United States and Italian work cultures. A typical work day in Italy, through my experience, starts around 9 am and can last up until 8 pm. There are several breaks taken, many of which are at least five minutes or longer. Workers and employees have a close relationship, as most businesses are still family run, it just seems more apparent due to the close knit family background. At my internship, I can tell that my boss cares about his employees; they often seem to talk in casual conversation, of course with most of the conversation work-related. In America, a typical work day involves arriving at work promptly at 8 am and ending around 5 or 6 pm. Small talk is not uncommon, but many businesses stick to business related conversations. All of my previous bosses took an interest in myself and my fellow coworkers, but at times it could come across as just something to talk about or a way to gain more information and gossip about each other at work. Since I am not fluent in Italian, I obviously cannot hear or understand what my coworkers say to one another, I can guess that some talk might be gossip but it does not seem to be part of the culture as it does in the States. Both Italians and Americans have maternity leave. One thing that I found interesting was some Italian companies offer paternity leave. I have never really heard of such a thing in the States, unless you are super wealthy and can afford to have both parents take time off. In Italy, the father of course does not get as much time off as the mother, but hey at least it is some form of a break. Both countries take lunch breaks, and many have a car or friend to pick them up from work. From what I can gather at my internship, at home-work is first, not exactly possible for many of the employees working downstairs in the factory, due to not having access to all the machines. This is why many employees tend to stay later at work to finish creating and packaging products ready for shipments. Secondly, once you leave the building it appears as if family life maintains a higher importance than work. I know that Italians value their work, but something I have come to appreciate and really like is how family oriented many Italians here in Arezzo seem to be.
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Pop culture is a set of practices, beliefs and objects that are dominant in a society at a given point of time. It encompasses the feelings and activities produced as a result of interaction with these dominant objects. Often, heavily influenced by mass media and a collection of ideas that permeates the everyday life of a society.
Yesterday, I learned that many Italians still watch American movies. Back during World War II, Italy was the fourth largest film industry, while the United States was the tenth largest film industry. Now I feel like the United States is one of the leading countries producing movies. I think America is “known” for its movie industry and Hollywood-centered culture. Some of the highest grossing Italian movies are: La Vita e Bella, Ultimo tango a Parigi, and Il Positano. I have never heard of these movies, since I cannot speak Italian, but I know that they must be of great quality. Some of the United States’ highest grossing movies have been: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avatar. I found it interesting how many Italians watch American television shows. Some genres that are popular are: cartoons, comedies, drama, talk show, reality show and award shows. I personally do not watch that many cartoons nowadays, but I learned that Italians love The Simpsons as well as South Park, Family Guy and the Muppets. As for comedies, Italians enjoy watching Happy Days, Friends, the Cosby Show and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. These genres really surprised me because the majority of these shows originally came out during the 90s. Some popular American television shows that I enjoy watching are: The Office, Gossip Girl, New Girl and Gilmore Girls. I am not sure how popular these shows are here in Italy, but I did discover that Netflix does not provide The Office. As for music, I believe it truly is universal. I have noticed so many young Italians walking the streets of Arezzo with headphones in their ears, just like me. However, what we listen to is slightly different. Popular American artists in Italy consist of Drake, Sean Paul and Sia. Drake is definitely popular in America, as well as Sia. I honestly do not know that many Sean Paul songs, besides Temperature and No Lie, so I cannot really speak to his popularity here in Italy. Broadly speaking, I think Americans enjoy a wider range of music, like Alterntive, Rock, Techno and Country. I personally listen to Alternative, Pop, Hip-Hop and a little bit of Country. It is really cool sharing our love for movies, television shows and music with people across the world. I think that many people coming to Europe have a pre-conceived idea that Europeans are extremely different than Americans, but in reality, many of us “young” people enjoy hanging out with friends, shopping, playing sports and listening to music. I do not think that my friends and I are that different compared to Italians. Different yes, but definitely sharing common interests with one another. Interning here in Italy has been such an interesting opportunity that I have enjoyed. Like I mentioned in my previous reflection, I think visiting Italy is one thing but actually working in Italy is a whole different subject. I have been fortunate enough to have learned so much about Italian business, figuring out transportation to my internship and dealing with not only Italians but English and Americans. Since I am halfway through my internship, I cannot wait to see what else I will learn over the next few weeks.
Since I started interning with Orchidea Preziosi I have become accustomed to several things. First, and probably most notably, maneuvering the buses. Prior to interning here in Italy, I really had no knowledge of public transportation back home. I did know that buses run on specific schedules and stop at specified places. When I found out I would be busing to my internship, I was initially a little nervous. Not only would I be taking public transportation alone, I barely knew Italian and came to Italy with minimal phone data in case I got lost. Luckily, I conquered my nerves and show up about ten minutes prior to when my bus leaves. I triple check the departure time, so I can build in enough time for me to walk to my bus stop. Coming back at night, I know to stand super close to the road and attempt to make eye contact with the bus driver, hopefully with the sun being up later they will be able to see me better! Speaking as someone who has been fortunate enough to work in America and now works in Italy, I have definitely noticed differences between the two countries. In America, timeliness is a must. It is often frowned upon to be late and/or not show up to work. Here in Italy, it seems as if the sense of time can be overlooked. People here seem a lot more relaxed about showing up on time. This has been very helpful and greatly appreciated when the bus I take runs late, my boss is very understanding and for that I am thankful. My coworkers are all very nice, one of them even offers to drive me home since one of my returning buses stops running at an earlier time. It is obvious, when I do talk to my coworkers that they care about their jobs and care about each other. I am not sure if this is evident all across companies in Italy, but I have a feeling it is a common theme with businesses in Arezzo. The last thing I have noticed and have gotten used to are the work hours. I remember asking my boss on one of my first days at Orchidea Preziosi, “how long do you all work?’. He replied and said something along the lines of, “oh maybe seven or eight at night”. I remember being kind of shocked since a typical American work day is around eight to five. But I had to use my context clues since it is a manufacturing site that distributes its own products; shipments must be demanding at many times. Building in ten hours a week has proved difficult, especially when it is preferred for me to come in around the afternoon, and when half your clients are six to seven hours behind you. However, I am continually working and coming up with things for me to do and help out at my internship. There is only one major thing that I would find appealing in a competitor’s field, that my internship does not necessarily have, but do. I would really enjoy advertising/marketing tasks, whether it be sending out emails or creating online advertisements. The main task I have is to promote Precious Component, Orchidea Preziosi’s e-commerce company, to clients in America and the United Kingdom. I was initially very excited. Once I found out that I would be Skyping clients, I was nervous at first, but have mastered it down. However, this is the only task I do. Finding various tasks for me to do has been a process. Until about a month ago, my boss could not understand why I wanted to switch things up. Telemarketing can only be done for so long. I think it has partly to do with my personality, but because I prefer to have more hands-on activities and interaction with my boss and coworkers. Unless I have a question or lead in small talk, I do not really communicate that much with the people I work with. This is something that I struggle with and want to continue to improve. It is partly because of the language barrier, but also because we all are busy calling different clients. Throughout the next few weeks I am going to work and continue to try to help out with several different tasks. Since I work in primarily a factory setting, with only about one big room upstairs, and four desks, I have no prior knowledge to how a “proper” factory should work. Upstairs, there are four desks; I work at the one in the corner. My main task is to call United States and United Kingdom jewelry companies and promote Orchidea Preiozi’s e-commerce company: Precious Compenet. I would say that I have a very routine job, my time spent at my internship is not that diverse. Only twice I have done “practical” work as my boss says. By practical I mean sorting little charm letters and the backs of some jewelry pieces. Personally, I enjoy sorting things since I am an organized person. I want to help out and I think one of the biggest challenges is that my boss is often either very busy with orders or wants me to come in and immediately Skype clients. Orchidea Preziosi’s website is very professional and aesthetic, and their Precious Component website mimics that. I have suggested assisting with creating and sending out mass emails to clients who have responded positively to my phone calls. Moving forward I am going to continue to suggest various tasks for me to complete and help out with. Visiting Italy is one thing. But working in Italy is a whole other topic. Today in my internship class we discussed several similarities and differences between the workplace in America and the workplace in Italy, specifically speaking Arezzo.
There are a few problems that many business people in Italy face. The first is due to a lack of professional paths available. This starts with college courses; many colleges in Italy lean towards the theoretical side versus a practical application. When students graduate they do not have as much experience in the work place. This brings up another challenge: growth in the work place. Italian attitude in the work place often focuses on individualism rather than solidarity. Instead of finding common interests between individuals, and essentially creating mutual support from within a group, Italians are more oriented individually. Another cause of lack of growth in the work place is due to nepotism and cunning behavior. These often take place instead of meritocracy, where the government or authority select members based on good merit. Lastly, there tends to be a lack of proactivity and lack of a teamwork-like environment. In my own experience, I have noticed a few differences in the work place by the employees at Orhidea Preziosi. One of the most noticeable things I have found unique is that if you are sick and employed in Italy, you still get paid! From my understanding, this means that through depending on your employee contract, and depending on the days that you take an absence due to injury or sickness, your employer still pays you. When I first started at Orchidea Preziosi, my other boss was out of office due to surgery on his knee. He had been gone for a while, so I just assumed he would catch up on his work at home. I had no clue until I came to class that many Italians get compensated for their injuries and sick days after a certain period. Luckily, he is back at work and feeling better! I can say that my fellow employees and bosses often work together. Today when I went to work, I noticed that Francesco and Torro were tag-teaming a small project. One of them would say a description and the other would reply with an amount and write it down. Downstairs in the factory area many of the employees have to work together. There are so many details that go into making just one small jewelry lock, that it takes a team. I am not sure whether this was an instinctive choice to work together or just an obvious fact. The work needs to be done, so many employees know they need to collaborate. The work culture in Italy is definitely different compared to the United States. A lot of Italian businesses perceive that political and business sectors are the most affected by corrupt practices and that government attempts to combat this corruption are not that effective. At my internship there is no evidence of nepotism, even though it is still a family business. My boss and his wife are very warm and friendly, it has been fun helping them in their business! |
Kristin GilesMy thoughts and experiences while interning in Arezzo, Italy Archives
April 2018
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