Do we really need these many Holidays ?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mine this post is not to offend anyone's feelings,it is just one of the another whining and ranting session from me.
My one hand is paining, one ear is charred and is fuming(smoke is also coming out). It happened so that last week we scheduled one call for today at 2pm Finnish time, little did I know that today was holiday. When this Monday I got the information that today our office would be closed, there was hardly anything I could do. The call can't be rescheduled after it was confirmed by everyone else. Now I don't have a landline phone at my home, I have a cell phone and so no speaker phone. There is no way I can enter my office during holidays and weekends. All the two hours I had to stick my phone with one hand to my left ear and the other hand at computer. This was not an entertainment call so I had to listen and react and so whole duration the phone was glued to ear. After 15 mins the phone become hot but nothig could be done? I was much relieved when the call was over but my ear and hand is still paining 2 hours after the call.
I don't find any reason to have so many holidays, I don't know when do we work?In my office the first thing I was told that you can't stay at work after 8pm cause after that if anyone is left behind an alarm will go off and security will be alerted and they will come. They only can then open the door to let me out but only after the security formalities has been done. I never stayed beyone 8 pm though sometime I really wished to complete my work and then go home.
There are always so many holidays, people leave work at 4pm sharp and they take so many vacations. Well most of the time it isn't a problem but when things are going global, you are dealing with people across nations, across different time zones so you need to be a bit considerate.
Finland has a population of 5.2 million, far less than the city where I used to live previously, so it is obvious that the market of Finnish goods and services has to extend beyond the country. You can't depend on your own country, as the market is so small, that you won't probably break even, let alone profit. So when you are doing business inter-country and possibly inter-continent, you need to be flexible and bend your rules a bit. The world is not going to sit and stop working just cause you are having holiday.
The business scenario has changed considerably in the last decade or so, the competition is much more intense now. The firm for whom I am doing project has 96% of their customers outside of Finland,I think it is the same with other big business houses of Finland, Nokia and Kone to name a few. Nokia is already facing stiff competition across the world and Kone also sells more elevators outside Finland then in Finland.
I don't wish to say that today should not be a holiday but atleast it could have been made an optional one.The problem of thursday being holiday is that everyone will take friday as leave to have a perfect 4 days extended weekend to go to their summer cottage and enjoy the sauna. I am sure that tommorrow I am going to be the only person working.
Ok I end the rant now. Once again no offence intended but it was no holds barred.
Mine this post is not to offend anyone's feelings,it is just one of the another whining and ranting session from me.
My one hand is paining, one ear is charred and is fuming(smoke is also coming out). It happened so that last week we scheduled one call for today at 2pm Finnish time, little did I know that today was holiday. When this Monday I got the information that today our office would be closed, there was hardly anything I could do. The call can't be rescheduled after it was confirmed by everyone else. Now I don't have a landline phone at my home, I have a cell phone and so no speaker phone. There is no way I can enter my office during holidays and weekends. All the two hours I had to stick my phone with one hand to my left ear and the other hand at computer. This was not an entertainment call so I had to listen and react and so whole duration the phone was glued to ear. After 15 mins the phone become hot but nothig could be done? I was much relieved when the call was over but my ear and hand is still paining 2 hours after the call.
I don't find any reason to have so many holidays, I don't know when do we work?In my office the first thing I was told that you can't stay at work after 8pm cause after that if anyone is left behind an alarm will go off and security will be alerted and they will come. They only can then open the door to let me out but only after the security formalities has been done. I never stayed beyone 8 pm though sometime I really wished to complete my work and then go home.
There are always so many holidays, people leave work at 4pm sharp and they take so many vacations. Well most of the time it isn't a problem but when things are going global, you are dealing with people across nations, across different time zones so you need to be a bit considerate.
Finland has a population of 5.2 million, far less than the city where I used to live previously, so it is obvious that the market of Finnish goods and services has to extend beyond the country. You can't depend on your own country, as the market is so small, that you won't probably break even, let alone profit. So when you are doing business inter-country and possibly inter-continent, you need to be flexible and bend your rules a bit. The world is not going to sit and stop working just cause you are having holiday.
The business scenario has changed considerably in the last decade or so, the competition is much more intense now. The firm for whom I am doing project has 96% of their customers outside of Finland,I think it is the same with other big business houses of Finland, Nokia and Kone to name a few. Nokia is already facing stiff competition across the world and Kone also sells more elevators outside Finland then in Finland.
I don't wish to say that today should not be a holiday but atleast it could have been made an optional one.The problem of thursday being holiday is that everyone will take friday as leave to have a perfect 4 days extended weekend to go to their summer cottage and enjoy the sauna. I am sure that tommorrow I am going to be the only person working.
Ok I end the rant now. Once again no offence intended but it was no holds barred.
posted by greensatya @ 6:51 PM
6 Comments:
At 10:55 PM,
Rowena said…
I am so with you. It's not like we're in a Catholic country where I expect that all these holy days are observed. This is a practical Lutheran country. You can't buy bread and only the petrol stations are open. Everyone is in hibernation. I was intending to blog a similar thing. Is this country religious or not. It's people do pay taxes to the Church. So maybe the church could sell bread!!!
It's Cinqo de Mayo and I bet the streets are alive in Mexico...
At 10:42 PM,
greensatya said…
thanks both for supporting me on this one. I am not able to post today due to that consistent splitting headache.
At 7:13 PM,
Anand said…
hey satya, finally visited your blog. regdr your last post on holidays and work timings, its true for any developed country. noone works like back home. ppl here in Us are out by 4 pm daily, friday by lunch time. Work is not everything for them. that is because making aliving is such a hard thing in India, it takes most of time to make a living, not true here. here they just work to earn, and spend thier time on what they enjoy most!!
At 8:51 PM,
greensatya said…
You are true Anand, hope you are having nice time there in Minnesota :).
At 6:24 PM,
Anonymous said…
I'm with Rowena what comes to everything being closed when you need them. That sucks. But you can't seriously think a holiday as such is a bad thing - most people don't live to work, they work to live! Rarely do people wish they had spent more time at the office during their lives..
At 12:45 AM,
Anonymous said…
Interesting post. I think the developed countries show a certain feeling of oversaturation, while the develping countries have the urge to improve their situation. One day when the economic situation in India has reached the same status as for example the USA or Finland you will also see a change in the work ethic. It would be nice if everybody in the world had the chance to find a balance between work and his spare time, because you grow as a person through things that are "useless", a waste of precious work time. Sometimes being a nerd is great for getting good grades, but he sucks in his romantic and social life, because he never practiced it. And no, I don't defend excessive partying.
--k
Post a Comment
<< Home