From the german side:
Our trade-unions are heading to some serious trouble, basically because of the problems you mentioned the American ones had: pushing up wages, whatever the cost. But mainly, they fight very hard to protect people from being fired... up to a point where companies can't dare hiring today, becaus they don't know if they can afford this one more worker after finishing the project they are working on right now.
In some areas, wages CANNOT be lowered, but in some they can, and still trade unions refuse to show at least some felxibility.
And I'd rather work for 2 different companies within one year than not work at all.
Of course, we have problems from gouvernment side, too: if you get 1000€, the company actually PAYS around 2000€, and while this money goes into health-care and such, too, it is on the whole more than is healthy for economy.
So, just to put in another country
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