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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Kristin GilesMy thoughts and experiences while interning in Arezzo, Italy Archives
April 2018
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