Verun Mehta, who has been living in Germany for 10 years, got his MBA in business consult at Offenburg University of Applied Science. He is now working as a leader of the job opportunities department  for an IT company in the DACH region of India. He has had an article to share his thoughts on outstanding points of Germany.

Verun's points of view

1. Germany is a democratic country.
2. Environment is always top priority:
Political parties do not have any disagreement about warnings of climate changes and global warming. Everyone accepts this truth.
About 30 % of total energy is produced from renewable energy, such as wind and solar. This figure is still increasing.
Eight out of 17 nuclear reactors have been shut down permanently after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. At the time, the government of Angela Merkel declared that all nuclear power plants would be closed in 2022.
Plastic bottles must be returned after use, and wastes must be correctly classified into type of waste before being put in the trash.
3. Germany has the highest current account surplus in the world, which means incomes from exports outweigh  that of imports.
4. People do not carry guns everywhere. The proportion of people carrying guns is 1 out of 3 million.
5. People are aware of other cultures, but they are very friendly when you understand them more. The writer said that he had never met any racists when he stayed there.
6. People support raising higher taxes, which enables the country to provide more health care services with high quality for people and to keep traffic infrustration in a good condition. Therefore, the health care system here is effective, people can see the doctors without worrying about huge bills because they have already paid for the insurance according to their revenues.

People support raising taxes

7. Refugees are supported if they are really in trouble and ready to integrate.
8. Free education from primary school to university. So, an ordinary German has a good education, or even a university student is not in debt after attending university and obtains a degree.
9. Full-time working hours are from 35 hours to 40 hours per week.
10. All full-time employees have 20 to 30 days of paid leave every year. Sick leave can be unlimited if people have the doctor’s prescription and confirmation.
11. Inflation is under control. So if the salary increase is not much, people can buy things at reasonable prices.
12. Maternity leave (12 months) for mother and 2 months for father is officially recognized. There is a total of 14 months of paid leave for working parents. However, those 14 months must be used in a reasonable way. For example, they can be divided into 7 months for each parent.
13. There is no speed limit on the highway due to the good traffic infrastructure. Drives are trained with long theoretical and practice lessons until their driving skills reach a certain level. So, there is no accident on the road.

No speed limit sign

14. The well-off have to pay higher taxes than people having low or middle incomes.
15. Unemployed people receive unemployment benefits (including heating and renting cost) until they get a job.
16. The government offers a pension plan to retirees and veterans.
17. Teaching good values for children is essential, so adults never cross the road at the wrong light when they are with children. This is also applied to people standing next to children at the traffic light. 
18. Food:

• Needless to say, German beer is the best in the world.
• Pastries are great.
• Daily food in the canteen is often Italian and French dishes, people have to do a survey before finding a German food court.

Disadvantages in Germany

1. German is the main language in the workplace.
This is not a disadvantage for people working for a local company. However, it can limit the efficacy of communication of local people. Skills of German experts can help the world, but lack of English will limit the international cooperation ability. 
Highly-qualified experts and people looking forward to immigrating to Germany need to consider learning German or immigrating to other countries for work. Except for some recently-established companies, other companies have German-speaking conditions. This may limit your career promotions if you are not good at German.
To live well in Germany, people should know German. If people don’t know Germany, they may have difficulties in their lives. 
Because Germany is opening up to attract more talented people, the language situation may change. Offices in Düsseldorf have used English as the official language, and English is the second language at school. However, it takes time to change.

German is still the main language in Germany

2. Laws are set by institutions and organizations, so they are very strict. Those rules can ignore people’s difficulties and become insensible.
3. Local railways, public transport, and ticketing systems are differently managed by each city. There is no standard for the operation of them.

Tags: Germany, German culture, work in German, Germany’s language, disadvantages when living in Germany, Deutschland, German food, German culture.