Bonjour tout le monde,
il est intéressant de voir que la où aux Etats Unis le travail est vu comme quelque chose permettant un certain épanouissement, en France le principale aspect lié au travail est l’argent, le salaire.
Cependant on peut voir des deux cotés que le travail demande a chacun un investissement important !

Bonjour,
On peut voir deux grosses tendances se dégager chez les Etats-Uniens: d’un côté, certains trouvent que le travail nécessite de l’engagement, mais permettent de faire quelque-chose que l’on aime, avec une satisfaction à l’arrivée. D’autres trouvent cela obligatoire, ennuyeux et inintéressant. Personnellement, étant donné que c’est une chose qui est nécessaire pour pouvoir mener une vie “classique”, je pense qu’il faut essayer d’y prendre du plaisir dans la mesure du possible, ce qui est parfois compliqué malheureusement.

Bonjour,
En lisant les différents mots et thèmes associés au monde du travail, on remarque que le travail est rarement voulu mais souvent subi et accepté comme étant une obligation sociétale nous permettant de vivre et nous développer.
Jadis le travail était considéré comme de la torture et il fallait s’en détacher, c’est pourquoi les nobles et personnes puissantes ne travaillaient pas.
Aujourd’hui le travail est mieux considéré car essentiel au développement de notre société, et de l’homme également.

Money is an important means to achieve higher living standard, which I believe is true of any country. According to the frequency of words in the list, it seems like in France the main aspect related to work is money. I’m interested in learning why.

I agree with Xueying that the word “money” (and synonyms such as “salary”) is rather frequent on both lists, but it seems ubiquitous on the French side. I also find it interesting that rights and pensions are not present on the American list. I wonder how the job market works in France and whether young people have good access to it– that might explain why Americans seem less worried about those matters.

I almost agree with Guillaume’s idea that we should try to get pleasure from work, but I personally think that often (not sometimes, as he puts it), it’s unfortunately not only complicated but also impossible, due to many factors.

It goes without saying that hearing what others think of work and how they would like to change the concept of it is quite different from what one feels and experiences when trying the work itself with all its difficulties and benefits. After all it’s work and, more than pleasure, it’s a responsibility, a discipline, an obligation, stress, difficulty etc. that at the end gets rewarded with pride, money, and good life.

Hello FlavienM,
How do the citizens of France balance their work and personal life when the opportunity to make more money with less free time presents itself? In America, it is very common to see people working overtime.

Hi,

Like many of you, I noticed that words related to money or salary appear in almost all your responses on the French side while only appearing a few times on MIT’s side. I’m wondering if this reflects a difference in how the topic of money is viewed in the two countries. In the United States, I think that most people would still consider their salary to be an important part of their job, but there seems to be an unspoken social norm that one does not discuss one’s salary (or other personal money matters) in public. In France, is it relatively common to discuss topics such as these in public, even with people who are not your close family or friends?

Bonjour,
Pour répondre à Solrac, je dirai que les français vont beaucoup travailler s’il le faut, mais qu’à partir d’un certain seuil au niveau de leur salaire, et sans un véritable besoin d’argent, la majorité privilégiera la qualité de vie au travail et préférera profiter de son temps libre

I agree with Guillaume F that work is usually something we have to do, but we must find some enjoyment in the work we are doing. As seen in the responses, however, work is closely tied to money. Depending on how much money or influence people have, they won’t have a lot of impact on the type of work they’re doing unless they have a lot of money and connections. I believe that work can be difficult, stimulating, and enjoyable; that all these aspects can interest in one profession. Work can also be a hobby we have- something we have to work really hard at to be better. In any case, we should strive to do work that is meaningful and enjoyable, but unfortunately our current society doesn’t value our enjoyment of work as much. What does everyone else think the goal of work should be? How can we change our perception and the connotations of work?

I think adanquigny’s point seems to be well-supported by the word associations chosen by ENSEIRB students. In the US, I think we have a bit of a romanticized view of work. We see it as something you should love and be passionate about. It is a major, if not the main, source of meaning in many American’s lives – especially at a place like MIT. For those of you who have been to the US or interacted with American’s, does this seem correct to you? Do you think we overvalue work?

Responding to Paige’s question: I think everyone wants to do something fun and interesting and something they are passionate about for work. But, it’s hard for passions to manifest into monetary sums that can help us to further our careers or interests. But it’s amazing when we work a job that we can find ourselves in. Did you ever have a job that you enjoyed, but would never do again?

As has been mentioned, the ENSEIRB side certainly has a much heavier focus on money, whereas the MIT side there is a lot more about enjoying your job/career. It appears that work is more of a means to an end in France as opposed to a lifestyle type thing as in the U. S.- is that accurate, or is there different reasoning?

Similar to what Ian and Solrac mentioned, I think we may focus more on finding a job that we’re passionate about because work takes up so much of our time/life. I remember watching a YouTube video where two Americans in France were discussing the difference in conversations about work between the two countries. They mentioned that in France, people don’t talk as much about their careers and allow that to play as much of a role in their identity. I’m wondering if this is accurate based on the experiences of the ENSEIRB students.

Like many others, I noticed that from ENSEIRB’s side work is viewed as an obligation in order to obtain money and a good salary. There aren’t many words such as passion or interest. Does this mean that many people in France are not interested or passionate about their work? If so, what do you think contributes to this view of work as only a way to make money?

Like many others, I noticed that from ENSEIRB’s side work is viewed as an obligation in order to obtain money and a good salary. There aren’t many words such as passion or interest. Does this mean that many people in France are not interested or passionate about their work? If so, what do you think contributes to this view of work as only a way to make money?

As I read through the list of words, I was wondering the same things: why is work a great part of the personal identity in the US, and so, an aspect of your life that must be cherished in order to be happy? Most of the responses of the ENSEIRB students seem to associate work only with obligation, a dreaded and necessary task. I wanted to ask if in France when choosing a career, people give great consideration to their salary prospects.

I understand that from what I expressed before, it may seem like I am generalizing. Of course, in the US, salary is also taking into account when choosing a career. However, in the environments I have been exposed to, I have seen a tendency to put happiness first, seeing as their jobs will take a big part of their lives. Is this how working is perceived in France?

Bonjour,
Moi aussi je suis presque d’accord avec fjonap, mais je me demande quels sont les facteurs qui nous empêchent de trouver du plaisir au travail? Personnellement, je pense qu’avec la diversité de métiers possibles, on peut très souvent trouver un domaine qui nous plaise. Même si je n’avais pas pu faire l’ENSEIRB, je suis presque certain que j’aurais pu trouver un métier où j’aurais pu m’épanouir dans l’artisanat par exemple. Je pense aussi que nous nous imposons parfois des barrières, par peur de jugement par les autres par exemple.

Pour répondre à Paige, en France on met beaucoup l’accent sur le fait de faire des études supérieures longues, et en même temps il y a un manque d’artisans comme des plombiers, électriciens etc… J’ai l’impression qu’on considère souvent que vu qu’ils n’ont pas fait d’études, ils ont fait ça par obligation et qu’ils ne peuvent pas y prendre de plaisir. Il serait donc nécessaire de revaloriser ces filières à mon avis. Comment sont perçus les artisans chez vous aux US?

Guillaume, I think that some of the problems come from how we define what counts as being educated. In a sense, if you have a degree, society sees you as educated. And to be honest, I have never thought about someone finding joy in being a plumber or electrician, just because it was never my dream to be one. However, I know that to become such a skilled worker, you have to go through both classroom training and apprenticeships. They’re skilled jobs and just having a general understanding of things isn’t enough.

Comme Guillaume, je pense qu’en France les métiers manuels sont dénigrés depuis pas mal d’années. Mais de mon point de vue, c’est de moins en moins le cas. Pour les générations précédentes, le travaille ne servait qu’à obtenir un salaire et donc les professions manuelles ont été délaissés pour des métiers moins contraignants et permettant d’avoir de meilleurs salaires. De plus, comme le dis Amena, je pense qu’on associe trop souvent à tort, le travail manuel à un manque d’éducation. Mais pour la nouvelle génération, le plaisir au travail est devenu aussi voire plus important que le salaire. C’est pourquoi selon moi, les métiers manuels sont de moins en moins mal vu, et ont tendance à être associé à des métiers de passionnés.

In answer to the question posed by Guillaume, my opinion is that:
Job satisfaction is a key factor in moving society forward. However, having a good job that you have chosen willingly is, in my opinion, not enough, because there are many factors that affect your satisfaction. Some of them include: a good environment, good associates, a fair pay for the work and dedication, promotion to a better position, as a form of appreciation and motivation etc.
Ideally, when all of these factors are feasible, they should and can positively impact work, there is still one factor that, in my opinion, always has a negative impact and is inevitable - stress. This factor is, more or less, present in every situation and becomes more and more apparent in hindering satisfaction.
The pressure to achieve the results required by superiors; the timely completion of the assigned work; the responsibility for the quality required; the systematic control, possible misunderstandings; all of these elements affect the increase in stress.
In such a situation, the only hope that makes us patient and gives us satisfaction from work, within all these limitations, is the pay and the days off, away from it.

Hi Guillaume, to answer your question, people in the US do tend to make assumptions about people with careers as electricians and plumbers. Usually, people assume they do not have higher education degrees, so they’re required to work in this field. I agree that this is wrong. We shouldn’t be judging people’s degrees of education based on the profession they’ve chosen. Instead, we should be focusing on who they are as humans and how they’re contributing positively to society. Everyone has something to offer the world, and our profession should not dictate how we are perceived. We should try to make the world better a little bit each day regardless of background.

Like in France, technical jobs are in high demand in the US since more people are able to attend college. How is the French government addressing this issue?

Bonjour!

Je suis d’accord avec amena, pour faire ce genre de métier il faut aussi apprendre beaucoup de choses et pour avoir un bon niveau il faut de l’expérience. J’apprécie le point de vue de Paige, et en voyant les choses comme ça je pense que chaque intervention d’un artisan est différente, et qu’on peut se sentir utile, donc prendre du plaisir au travail, même si c’est un métier contraignant.

Fjonap, je suis en partie d’accord avec toi concernant le stress, mais j’y vois aussi un moyen de se dépasser si l’on arrive à le transformer en stress positif, chose qui n’est pas facile à contrôler c’est certain.

Sabri, en France il y a des politiques pour encourager les gens à monter des micro-entreprises, c’est à dire des entreprises avec peu de salariés ou ce qu’on appelait avant auto-entrepreneur, comme par exemple en exonérant certains impôts. Mais cela reste compliqué à gérer, car il y a toujours des choses annexes à faire en plus du travail lui-même.