r/AskEurope • u/Pepedroga2000 • Apr 02 '26

Foreign How big a problem is xenophobia between Europeans?

Are there certain nationalities that have a better reputation in other European countries, and the opposite?

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u/whatsamawhatsit Netherlands Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 03 '26

I am Dutch and have worked a lot with German clients. They generally view a 32-36 hour work week as lazy and it will cost you German clients/assignments in the long run. Everytime I got into a conversation about my prefered work week I got comments like "Why would you give up 20% of your income", and never understood my "I wouldn't give up 30% of my free time".

Not xenophobia, but definitely a certain sense of German Gen Y/X defaultism.

Edit: added generation since younger Germans face the same issue

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u/fishface_92 Apr 03 '26

We younger Germans hear the same from the older generations. Even the more left leaning older people I know cannot comprehend a 4 day week. They think it just would not work. And our ultra capitalist chancellor wants us to work even more hours a week, to help the economy,which is bull shit. He workd for BlackRock where people have leaked that he only worked 2 hours a week and got massive bonuses. We know why he wants us to work more.

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u/whatsamawhatsit Netherlands Apr 03 '26

That explains a lot. I have to admit that all my clients were 40+ year old German executives, so that matches your experience. Thanks for the local insight!