Work Practices And Ethic In Ba

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Hi expatters!

I was hoping to get a gauge on the work practices and general ethic of Argentines via your experiences and comments.

I work on contract in several companies, however do not really work enough with people to be considered part of their team (which is something I miss in the workplace). I understand that there is probably a stereotype that Argentines are not as hard working as many western professionals. Is this fair or unfair?

In my experience, some common practices that I have observed are:
- People start work much later here. 9:30 am starts are not uncommon.
- It is not uncommon for people to fail to turn up to a meeting without notice.
- People are really quite nice and friendly in the workplace - Not very confrontational. For example, if they failed to show for a meeting, they would be very apologetic.

Of course these are stereotypes - there are some people I have worked with that have a far higher levels of professionalism than others. Very diligent and astute.

How have others adapted to professional life here and, inversely, do you think an Argentine would fit in easily into a workplace in USA / UK / Canada / Australia etc.

Just interested in people's views.

Ta.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

My experience is that many Argentines are very professional, but they often do better in an overseas environment where the challenges are greater (but they don't have to face the same frustrations that they often do in Argentine society). I consider them highly adaptable even though, of course, there is great individual variation.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Individually very capable, issues I have had stem from lack of leadership and in the context of multinationals a culture of suspicion, self enforced isolationism and slightly dodgy reporting practices. This is in part caused by lack of investment in technology (a lot of Argentine branchs run older systems than their counterparts as since 2000ish not many companies would be confident in investing in technology upgrades in this business environment.

There are a lot of good startups and younger companies producing good technology, but the in multinationals the Argentine branchs are not as current and there exists a little bit of siege mentality.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

The labor laws here are very protectionist of employees. You practically can't fire anyone (even for cause) without paying out a large severance. To me, this creates a system of entitlement where there is little incentive for above-average performance. At the same time, I've worked with Argentines who are stellar, and have little patience for the usual BS here. Those managers practically refuse to work for an Argentine company or boss. They prefer the work ethic and processes of American / European companies.

 

[Montauk_Project]

9:30 start time? I would say 1030 or 11am start time, but people work much later as well, and this depends on industry and rank. Most factory workers start at 7am, but managers start later.
I would also say this has little to do with work ethic, but just everything here starts later and ends later.
In my experience a lot of professionals want to do a good job, and if they are prevented from doing so, will get frustrated or even quit. There is more emphasis on doing a good job then on meeting deadlines.
I also work in an industry in which most people are freelancers, so the problem of not being able to fire people is not that big.

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Have some sympathy with the start time, on the D line your options are to get in 30 mins early or 30 mins late if you live anywhere past Scalabrini Ortiz...it's chaos at peak hours in the morning. I get on at Olleros but more often walk up to juramento to try and get a spot futher from the doors. If you are closer in you are looking at 20 minutes of being extremely up close and personal with a fellow passenger and probably the door of the train or getting in 30 mins late.

Don't know how the other lines are and anecdotally have seen some fairly crammed looking buses at peak hours to. No harm to move your hours around a little if you can and forego the pleasure of getting to know someones armpit more intimately that you would like.

 

[fifs2]

I have found team work most challenging in the 30+age group, especially if they've worked in Argentine companies. They espouse "knowledge is power" and hang onto it like grim death as opposed to espousing team success and advancement through capability not knowledge. Have to stress I've been blown away by the sheer genius and commitment of many of our employees. The bad eggs arise every now and again to try and bring us all down but it's power for the course these days...the entitled, workshy b**tds they are they go and make someone's life miserable eventually .....

 

[Gorilla Monsoon]

In my experience, I have found that Argentines work just about hard enough to get their salaries at the end of each month. There is no extra effort put in, work is done "by the numbers" so to speak. They do not understand the concept that if everybody does a great job, they will receive benefits (maybe because more than often, they don't).

 

[Crema Americana]

I don't know if lazy is the word (because there's a lot of hard workers), I'd say there's a lot of unconcern, procrastination, and a general feeling that flying by the seat of your pants is the way to go. Piss poor planning top to bottom, disorganization, and not much motivation to raise efficiency.

The worst (and unfortunately common) are those who steal, lie, or otherwise cheat. I have seen so much redundancy because people don't trust.

Bosses are prone to micromanage everything (because of lack of trust or poor procedures.) They're also not ashamed to ignore job descriptions. At least one owner I know feels that if she's paying you, she can use your time and skills however she wants, as long as you're on the clock.

There's some professional people, but as a whole I don't consider Argentina very professional. Just this weekend my sister in law's house was flooded because the construction guys took off her roof and decided not to put a tarp up. It rained, of course, and they were nowhere to be found.

Part of that may be because I'm out in provincial so my views on the work here is mostly 100% chapuza.