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The only thing lazy here are your cliches. When I woked in the UK I had a 37-hour working week. Every single hour over that was paid as overtime. In Spain I have a 42-hour working week which more often that not becomes 50 or more, plus I frequently have to work on weekends and holidays. All of this unpaid, of course. Besides the UK has millions of people living on benefits most of whom have never worked in their lives. No such things exists in Spain.
It's not a 'cliche', it's a fact that southern Europeans retire later and have far larger pensions then the rest of Europe.
No beneift system exists in Spain? I find that hard to believe, especially when 20% of the country is unemployed and over 40% of the youth - what are they doing, starving to death?
It's not a 'cliche', it's a fact that southern Europeans retire later and have far larger pensions then the rest of Europe.
No beneift system exists in Spain? I find that hard to believe, especially when 20% of the country is unemployed and over 40% of the youth - what are they doing, starving to death?
I think a lot of it is grey/black economy.
So called 'Unemployment' in South Africa is monumentally high (and probably not much of a welfare state there either) yet look on streetview and there are informal markets on almost every street corner, informal minicabs etc, not to mention drug dealing and so on. Most of the unemployed almost certainly do some kind of cash in hand informal work to survive.
Not sure what this would be in Spain though, so benefits are probably at least enough to survive on...
In Germany, it seems people work less hours than most other nations but when you're at work, you're worked like a dog.
On the other hand, in China, facetime means a lot and are "expected" to put in longer hours than what they've agreed to even if all the work has been caught up.
Thanks for the comments with regards to the refinement of the definition of 'hard working'. Yes, productivity, 'real' vacation time, amount of stress level, level of danger, worker rights and maybe even relative salary should be taken into account.
That said, countries with a high degree of sweatshops are the hardest working countries in the world. Probably add China in this list.
Might probably want to add , for the definition of hardest working country, to countries that have a majority of it's citizens that just enjoy working regardless of 'other' factors and constraints (weather, force labor, necessity, type of work etc..). Basically a country that have the DNA and culture that craves working . I know. This is hard to measure and might just disregard objectivity.
Japan comes to mind but I could be wrong. For a country that have little natural resources and come as close as the 2nd largest economy in the world (now they're #3 after China) , I don't see why they can't be the hardest working country in the world. Japan just experienced a real estate bubble and economic stagnation, they still retain #2/#3 rank economically.
Read an article not long ago, apparently Americans work longer hours on average than the Japanese.
The Latin countries, French, Italians, Spanish, really know how to have a work/life balance.
I'm mostly reffering to the retirement. Many Japanese elderlies refuse to retire. There'll be still alot of 80 or 90 year olds working in their farm or their business. I've even saw some 60 or 70 year olds still working in retails. I know Japan has an aging population.
In the Western world, I'd think Americans are the hardest working..Otherwise, definitely China, Japan, S Korea, India are probably harder working
There are countries in Asia like Malaysia where the ppl seemed noticeably less-hard-working...The South American and Mediterranean countries definitely are "laid-back" when it comes to working to imo, with the siesta-elements
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ragnarkar
It depends..
In Germany, it seems people work less hours than most other nations but when you're at work, you're worked like a dog.
On the other hand, in China, facetime means a lot and are "expected" to put in longer hours than what they've agreed to even if all the work has been caught up.
I strongly prefer the former.
Yeah the thing with the whole regular working hours thing is that even if you've done all your work you're expected to fill all that time with work.
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by choroneko
I'm mostly reffering to the retirement. Many Japanese elderlies refuse to retire. There'll be still alot of 80 or 90 year olds working in their farm or their business. I've even saw some 60 or 70 year olds still working in retails. I know Japan has an aging population.
I think a lot of old folks work simply because that's what they've been doing all their lives, it's a routine. Also, unless they take up hobbies they get bored. It's better to stay active working in your garden then just wasting away doing nothing.
Thinking again, id like to change my view on Least hardworking from the UK or Greece to UAE and Saudi. Those oil rich countries can afford to be lazy. My uncle worked in the airline industry in Saudi and said it was mostly staffed by non-nationals. The Saudis would come in once a while and just watch TV instead of work. Apparently they couldnt be fired because 'theyre Saudis'
Same with UAE/Dubai. All that construction is done by south asian immigrants in near slave labour conditions while the arabs spend the days horseracing/at the brothel/with a shisha/hookah pipe/shopping/street racing their SLR mercedes.
In the Western world, I'd think Americans are the hardest working..Otherwise, definitely China, Japan, S Korea, India are probably harder working
There are countries in Asia like Malaysia where the ppl seemed noticeably less-hard-working...The South American and Mediterranean countries definitely are "laid-back" when it comes to working to imo, with the siesta-elements
I'm gonna have to agree with you with the U.S. being one of the top hard working countries. I'd put the U.S. within the top 5 hardest working countries in the world. Work is just ingrained in the American psyche. When you meet someone new ,lets say in a party, one of the first questions you would ask is "What do you do for a living" or just say "In my younger days, I worked digging ditches (saying proudly)..".
Never been in any of the Mediterranean countries (I wished,maybe someday) or South America, it does make sense to work the least hard especially if you live close to an ocean/sea. I'd probably turn into a 'beach bum' myself if I live close to those beaches! I mean who doesn't ?
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