Alright, so a friend of mine posted this article on Facebook a while ago (Link Below), and I figured I’d write about it because it’s pretty relevant. The article was written by a woman working in the design field who moved with her family to Switzerland for a while, and then returned to the US. There she experienced huge differences in Work/Life balance between the two countries.

I don’t want to give away too much of the article cause it’s a pretty good read, but one of the things that stuck out to me is that in Switzerland, Part-time jobs retain EVERY benefit of Full-time jobs including vacation time and pension plans. The way the system there works,  full-time work is considered 100% but you’re free to choose how much of a percentage you want to work. You could work 60%….50%…20% without being made to feel guilty.

“During my Swiss career, I was employed by various companies from 25 percent to 100 percent. When I worked 60 percent, for example, I worked three days a week. A job that is 50 percent could mean the employee works five mornings a week or, as I once did, two and a half days a week. The freedom to choose the amount of work that was right for me at varying points of my life was wonderful and kept me engaged and happy.”

Overall, what makes this article amazing to me is the fact that she’s working in Ad Agencies over there. Professors have told me that to work as a Designer here in America, you don’t go home until the jobs finished. I’ve been told and heard the stories of people sleeping underneath their desks, pulling all nighters just to meet the clients deadlines. So to think there’s place on earth where you , as a designer can work and have amazing freedom and energy..well… damn. I don’t know about ya’ll , but I know where I’m moving to.

“Living in Switzerland ruined me for America and its lousy work culture” by Chantal Panozzo