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BBCNewsAreGreeksthehardestworkersinEurope?
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26February2012Lastupdatedat01:05

AreGreeksthehardestworkersin
Europe?
COMMENTS(441)

ByCharlotteMcDonald
BBCNews

AhighproportionofGreeksareselfemployed,asshopkeepersorfarmers

TheeurozonecrisishassowndivisionsintheEuropeanfamily,andGreeceinparticularhasoften
beensingledoutforcriticism.HasGreecebeenlivingbeyonditsmeans?AreGreekslazy?On
thissecondpoint,thestatisticstellasurprisingstory.
ThisweekGreeceisfacingmorespendingcutsafteragreeingtoadealof130bneuros(110bn,$175bn)
tohelpitavoidbankruptcy.
Butthestatisticssuggestthecountryhasnotlostitswayduetolaziness.Ifyoulookattheaverage
annualhoursworkedbyeachworker,theGreeksseemveryhardworking.
FiguresfromtheOrganisationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment(OECD)showthatthe
averageGreekworkertoilsawayfor2,017hoursperyearwhichismorethananyotherEuropean
country.
Outofthe34membersoftheOECD,thatisjusttwoplacesbehindtheboardleaders,SouthKorea.
Ontheotherhand,theaverageGermanworkernormallythoughtofastheveryepitomeof
industriousnessonlymanages1,408hoursayear.Germanyis33rdoutof34ontheOECDlist(or24th
outof25lookingattheEuropeancountriesalone).

Europe'stop10andbottom10
Most
Fewest
Most
hours
hours
worked productive worked

Least
productive

Greece

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Poland

Hungary

Norway

Germany

Hungary

Poland

Ireland

Norway

Turkey

Estonia

Belgium

France

Estonia

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BBCNewsAreGreeksthehardestworkersinEurope?

Turkey

Netherlands

Denmark

CzechRep

Czech
Rep

France

Ireland

Portugal

Italy

Germany

Belgium

Slovakia

Slovakia

Denmark

Austria

Greece

Portugal

Sweden

Luxembourg

Slovenia

10

Iceland

Austria

Sweden

Iceland

TheUKranks14thbothintermsofhoursworkedandinterms
ofproductivity
Source:OECD

OnlyoneotherOECDcountry'sworkersputinfewerhours,andthat'stheNetherlandswith1,377hours.
TheaverageGreekisworkingafull40%longerthantheaverageGerman.
Butthereismoretothesefiguresthanmeetstheeye.Therearetwobigreasonswhythesetwocountries
havesuchdifferentannualworkinghourtotals.
PascalMarianna,whoisalabourmarketsstatisticianattheOECDsays:"TheGreek
labourmarketiscomposedofalargenumberofpeoplewhoareselfemployed,
meaningfarmersandontheotherhandshopkeeperswhoareworkinglong
hours."
Selfemployedworkerstendtoworkmorethanthosewhohavespecifiedhoursinan
employmentcontract.
ThesecondreasonMrMariannapointstoisthedifferentnumberofparttime
workersineachcountry.
"InGermany,theshareofemployeesworkingparttimeisquitehigh.Thisrepresents
somethinglikeoneinfour,"hesays.

Greekstakelessholiday,sicknes
maternityleavethanGermans

Astheseannualhoursfiguresareforallworkers,thelargeproportionwhoworkparttimeinGermanyis
bringingdowntheoverallaverage.InGreece,farfewerpeopleworkparttime.
So,becausethetwolabourmarketsarestructureddifferently,itisactuallyhardto
comparelikewithlike.
Ifyouaccountforthesefactorsbystrippingawayparttimeandselfemployedpeople
andlookonlyatfulltimesalariedworkers,theGreeksarestillworkingalmost10%
morehoursthantheGermans.
ThisisbecausetheGermanstakemoreholiday,sicknessleaveandmaternityleave
onaveragefourweeksmorethantheGreeks.

MoreorLess:Behindthe

YoucanlistentoMoreorLesson
theBBCWorldServiceorbydown
BBCpodcast

DownloadtheMoreorLesspod

Sofar,wehavebeenfocusingonthoseinemployment,butonly60%ofGreece'sworkingagepopulation
havejobscomparedto72%inGermany.
Youmightthink,then,thatifwelookedattheaveragenumberofhoursworkedbyallthoseofworking
agedividingthetotalnumberofhoursworkedbytheworkingagepopulationGermanywouldcomeout
ontop.Butno,GreecestillbeatsGermany.
Whyisitthenthatit'sGreecethatneedstobebailedout,andnotGermany?
That'sacomplicatedquestion.Butyougetpartwaytoansweringitbydoinganothersimplesum.
Takegrossdomesticproduct(GDP)that'sthecountry'sentireproductionanddivideitbythenumberof
workers.
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BBCNewsAreGreeksthehardestworkersinEurope?

Onthisbasis,theaverageGermanworkerismoreproductivethantheaverageGreek.
GermanyranksastheeighthmostproductivecountrybyworkeroutoftheOECDcountriesor
theseventhoutoftheEuropeancountrieswhileGreececomesinat24th.
MrMariannasaysthisismainlybecauseGermanyhasaveryefficientmanufacturingsector.
AndwhileasmallerproportionofGermansworkinagriculture,heretootheyaremoreefficient
partlybecause"technologyismorewidespread",hesays.
Butwhenallissaidanddone,MrMariannaiskeentostressthatallthesenumberscomewith
ahealthwarning.
Theyarecollectedbyindividualnationalstatisticsauthoritieswhoeachhavetheirownmethods
ofcollectingandcollatinginformation.

Germany'smanufac
highlyefficient

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