Finns work shorter days
Finns enjoy shorter working days on average than many others in western industrial nations. According to the latest OECD statistics, Finnish employees work around 1,600 hours per annum—significantly less than workers in Greece, for example.
Mexico, Chile and Greece have the longest working days while the Dutch, German and Norwegians work the shortest hours.
In the view of Pekka Tiainen, economist at the Ministry for Employment and the Economy, working cultures differ between countries. For instance, in Greece or Spain, a large part of the population do no work at all, while a small minority spend long days on the job.
“In Finland, people between the ages of 30 and 50 work the hardest. Then the pace slows down when occupational health problems and fatigue arise,” comments Tiainen.
He adds that the peak period for being at work is too short. People tend to start work later in life and stay on longer.
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