Guess Which EU Country Puts In The Longest Hours At Work?

United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics released yesterday a report “Hours worked in the labour market,” a survey that aims to track trends and changes in the working patterns of British workers, compared with their EU counterparts.

In what may come as a surprise, neither the Germans nor British put in the longest hours at work.

United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics released yesterday a report “Hours worked in the labour market,” a survey that aims to track trends and changes in the working patterns of British workers, compared with their EU counterparts.

In what may come as a surprise, neither the Germans nor British put in the longest hours at work.

Instead, Germans in full-time employment put in just 35.6 hours a week, lower than the EU average of 41.6 hours. The British, on the other hand, work an average of 8.54 hours per day for each 5-day workweek, or 42.7 hours weekly.

The Greeks, however, are tied for first place with Austria as the most hardworking workers in within EU. With youth unemployment in Greece at a 43.5 percent high, and unemployment at 18.4 percent, the average Greek full-time employed worker spends 43.7 hours at work each week, or almost 9 hours per 5-day workweek.

 

But the Guardian points out that a better indicator of work complete may be productivity.

Using this measure, the results are almost reversed. 

 Read the full ONS report here.