Working Hard or Hardly Working?
Europeans are getting worked up over working hours. Whereas Americans pride themselves on their high productivity and income, Europeans traditionally place a strong value on their leisure time. But growing global competition is forcing Europe to rethink this philosophy.
European companies are increasing efforts to raise production by expanding the weekly work hours of their employees, leading to frequent walkouts and strikes at companies such as Germany's Volkswagen. Governments are reluctant to make the unpopular move of changing generous labor laws to help their countries stay competitive, and it often is left up to industries and individual companies to work out the issues with their unions.
In many European countries, the full-time workweek falls below 40 hours, while the number of paid vacation days outnumbers those in the U.S. From 1970 to 2002, annual per capita hours fell for most industrialized countries, dropping more than 20% in France. But per capita hours increased by 20% in the U.S.
WORKWEEK AVERAGES
? See the workweek numbers in the table below and download the data.
? Read more information on how the figures in the charts and table were calculated.
European workers may find it easier than their American counterparts to get on-the-job training. See advice for advancing your career through training programs, in Go Figure.
An analysis of the average number of hours worked in the U.S., France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and their economic performances indicates that countries with shorter workweeks tend to have higher productivity levels per worker, but lower productivity for the country as a whole. Also, adjusting the use of labor by cutting down hours, extending paid time off and changing the retirement age hasn't helped reduce joblessness in Europe. What's gained in quality of life from generous free time often is offset by lower income and higher unemployment.
"The low labor utilization rates that we see in Europe are not mainly due so much to a preference for leisure but reflect policies that essentially condone paid leisure, policies which effectively made it cheaper and more attractive for people not to work than to work. This can no longer be afforded and needs to be reversed," said Michael Deppler, director of the International Monetary Fund's European department and mission chief to the euro area.
Here's a look at the numbers that illustrate the divide between the European and American workweeks
