My name is Diana and I am currently working as an intern in Australia here at Quay Appointments. I have spent my whole life in Mexico, and when I travelled over to Australia, I came to find that it is a whole new world for me. There is an obvious difference between Mexico and Australia – the language, the culture, the people, and the food (in my view, Mexican is better of course!) One major difference that I have experienced during my time working with Quay Appointments, is the working environment and the organizational culture. Mexico is an unbeatable country in so many aspects, however Australia has a better organizational environment. Here are the reasons why:

Working Hours / Work-Life Balance

In Australia the balance between personal life and work life is incredible. If your finishing hour is 5PM, you leave at that time. In Mexico, leaving the work place on your finishing hour is often translated as sign of a laziness or a ‘bad employee.’ It is not unusual that Mexican people work up until 9PM every day, with a large percentage of them working under $5 AUS dollars for the entire day.

Wages

In Mexico, the minimum wage is $80 pesos per day which translates to around $5 Australian dollars. 42% of Mexican workers are under this pay rate or less.

The Australian minimal wage $18.29 per hour, which is $146.32 pesos per day in Mexico. Think about how lucky you are to even receive the minimum wage per hour when someone in Mexico may not even earn that in 3 days!

Employee Performance

I feel that Latino people are excellent employees because we are passionate about things we believe are right. We are raised with this hard-working mentality and are the first to look for solutions when there aren’t any.

If we need to work 14 hours a day, we will without complaining about it as that is considered normal in Mexico. From my time in Australia, I have found that companies have set working hours and will close their business at that specified time. I recall this experience when I travelled to the Blue Mountains, when a waiter told my friends and I that he wasn’t able to attend to us because he had too much work going on. Back in Mexico, if you ever said that to a customer, you would be immediately fired!

Bonding Activities

One of the best things about working in Australia and particularly Quay Appointments, is the possibility to have alcohol in the office. By law in Mexico, there can’t be alcohol on the workplace. Here, every Friday afternoon I share some food and a couple of drinks with my fellow and lovely colleagues. I believe it is a very nice way to bond with your colleagues, wind down for the week and relieve some stress!

Working Environment

My absolute favourite aspect of an Australian working environment is the fact that everyone is treated with respect. All ideas are welcome, and each person in the office has their own personality to which they bring to the office each day. The opportunity to express yourself without being judged or put down is lovely to be a part of in Australia.

Overall, any form of bullying or discrimination is NOT accepted. People must treat you like a human being, and not a machine that is easily replaceable. The way managers view employees is very different in Australia than it is in Mexico. Employees in Mexico are sometimes seen as ‘disposable,’ and something that can be easily be replaced. This can be a big problem because, if someone doesn’t want to do the job or can’t do it correctly, there are 5 more people who can do it for less money even. In Australia, everyone matters and everyone deserves and is treated like a human being.

I think each country is amazing in their own way for very different reasons. Australia has the beauty of a first world country, while Mexico has a millenary history and culture. I am finishing up my internship here at Quay Appointments in February 2019, and I will take so many new ideas and insights back home with me. I am so glad I got to experience working in Australia!