Today we explore the working habits of countries and bring you the new list, the 11 Countries where people work the least. In today’s economy, working shifts globally go up for the working class. Demanding markets are ruthless; if the company doesn’t make a profit the workers will feel consequences the most. Nonetheless, there are countries where the situation is a bit different, and you can notice the difference between the economy strength of countries on today’s list and countries on our recent list of 10 hardest working countries in the world.
The countries we talk about today are more developed, and their national economy is supported by the big numbers of foreign workers, successful companies, positive conditions, and the government. In these countries, working hours drop slightly below average, and somewhere even more. Observing the situation on global level, these are the countries with least working hours annually. We ranked them for you. Let’s dive in.
11. Australia
Official law for working hours in Australia allows 38 hours of work a week. Aussie workers respect this law, since it protects them in many ways. 10 different sections of the law are looking after employees, providing great conditions for working. Wages are fair in Australia, and the economy is supported by foreign workers from less developed countries around the world who are working longer to compensate domestic workers. Average Aussie works 1,700 hours a year.
10. Austria
With two weeks off, average Austrian employee spends time working around 1,623 hours a year. Good financial situation and very low unemployment rate are features Austrian working class can rely on. Austrian people who have jobs are divided into sectors: part-time workers, few-hours-weekly employees, full-time workers, and overtime workers. Above-average wages are also the reason Austrian workers prefer to work less.
9. Sweden
Flexible work hours is the biggest benefit of the Swedish working community. Part-time working for women is widespread here, as there were cases of trade unions discussing about increasing the working hours for this group. Average working hours in Sweden dropped to 1,607 a year.
8. Switzerland
Considered to be among the most desirable places to live in the world, Switzerland provides quality in many different aspects of life. Working environment and working hours put Swiss workers among the most satisfied employees in the world. Average working shift in Switzerland, on a daily basis, is little above 6 hours, and that means Swiss have 1,585 hours of work a year; this place them on eight spot on our list of countries where people work the least.
7. Belgium
Considering worldwide working population, Belgian people get compensated the most among the developed countries. The average salary is around $49,000 annually, with almost 200 hours of work less than in America. Belgians work 31,5 hours a week, and this number didn’t change since 2005. Annual time spent working in Belgium is 1,570 hours.
6. Slovenia
In early 2010, Slovenia brought the working law that protects working class and shortens working shifts. That resulted in working hours decrease from 1,710 to 1,547 a year, and decrease in productivity and lowering of national GDP. Observed on a week basis, this means Slovenian workers have 31 hours a week of effective work.
5. France
First country on our list whose citizens put in less than 30 hours of work a week. Good standard and fair wages don’t stimulate the French, who seem to value private time much more than professional engagement. Few countries beat France in GDP output per hour worked, and French people work 1,489 hours a year, on average. .
4. Denmark
As the rest of Scandinavian countries, Denmark has flexible work schedules, and fine conditions for workers, like paid vacation, stress-free environment, and fine wages. From 2012 average working time decreased by at least 25 hours, making the workweek lasting only 28,2 hours. Annually, in Denmark people work 1,411 hours, putting the country to #4 on our list.
3. Norway
Norway has the most generous working laws in the world. Three weeks of paid vacation for every worker, and working hours reduction for parents are some of the features that Norwegian employees enjoy in their professional engagements. Part-time is common especially among women, and average workweek lasts for 28 hours.
2. Germany
A strong foreign community of workers and program from 2009 which allowed companies to cut work weeks for employees instead of firing them are the main reasons of low working hours in Germany. The result was 1,290 of working hours per year. Since then Germans started putting more effort to improve this result. Now, they have 1,388 hours of work a year, which means average work week lasts for 27,75 hours.
1. Netherlands
Low level of unemployment and high incomes are features of working community in Netherlands. The Dutch government supports well-balanced professional and personal development; part-time working is encouraged and protected by law. Average Dutch work week lasts for 27,5 hours – that’s the least on our list, without a doubt.They have 1,380 hours of work a year, which is why Netherlands takes the first place on our list of Countries Where People Work The Least.
