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I like the ambiguity in your comment that leaves open the possibility that it was you that never turned up for work due to these various ways if taking time off.

I'm Swedish, and there are definitely people that are away for long periods of time (usually paternity leave), but was it really that many people that you never met? :-) How long did you work there?

Not trying to be snarky, I just want to point out that it's not like you can take vacation year round (even if you're in Sweden..), even though we certainly have quite a bit of vacation (25 days is the norm) and no problem taking half a year of per parent per child.

I live in Sweden too, and I don't get your point. Swedish productivity per worker is up at the top in global terms. Much of Swedish society is set up to benefit workers, and in particular families. So, yes maybe a colleague wasn't at work for 12 months due to paternity or maternity leave. But that's great. Companies need to be structured so that no one worker is indispensible. Once you get your head around that, everything else is logical.