Let me start by telling you that I am going on holiday. That means no OWS for 5+ days. It’s a long time for me. I feel like I’m European.
Those Europeans know how to vacay. Many of them essentially take off all of the month of July. Germany, and othe European countries often provide 6 weeks of vacation to employees. Must be nice. But does it make sense?
It might actually.
Case in point: Greece vs. Germany. Greeks toil for an average of 2,017 hours per year — more than any other European country — and take two weeks of vacation per year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Germans, by contrast, work only 1,408 hours per year — ranking them 24th out of 25 European countries. Yet Greece is an economic basket case with unemployment at over 20%, while Germany is the miracle powerhouse of Europe, humming along with only 6.8% unemployment — the lowest since reunification.
Now, using Greece in any example is extreme. So take it for what it’s worth.
There are other studies that tell us that overworking can lead to a serious decrease in productivity. How did we get to where we are today? We really owe a thank you for our lovely 40 hour work week to Ford, actually. Ford Motor Company did a study that concluded that a 40 hour work week was the most productive solution. That study showed that while adding another 20 hours provides a minor increase in productivity, that increase only lasts for 3 to 4 weeks. After that time, it then turns negative.
In other words, employees that often “stay late,” aren’t always getting “more done.” I’m sure we have all seen this at past or current jobs.
That jackass that stays until 9pm everyday isn’t necessarily doing more than 40 hours of work. He or she may be just doing the work that should have been done within the normal 40 hours work week.
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I will be gone until late next week. Don’t miss me too much.
