Britons Work Longest Hours
NOW all those massive bonuses pocketed by company directors and chief executives make sense. They can afford them because the rest of us are working are ourselves into an early grave.
A report by the International Labour Organisation has revealed that over 600 million people around the world work excessively long hours with us poor Britons working longer than any other rich nation.
Overall, Peru top the rankings, with 50.9 of Peruvians working more than a 48 hour week. South Korea are next with 49.5 per cent while Thailand come in third with 46.7 per cent of their workers putting in overly long hours.
In relation to developed countries, where working hours are usually shorter, Brtions top the rankings with 25.7 per cent of us putting in more than 48 hours a week. Israelis come next (25.5 per cent), followed by Australians (20.4 per cent), the Swiss (19.2 per cent) and workers in the US (18.1 per cent).
Jon C. Messenger, co-auther of the study, has mixed feelings about the findings. Says he: “The good news is that progress has been made in regulating normal working hours in developing and transition countries. But overall the findings of this study are definitely worrying.”
Well, if he’s worried then I think we should all go home half an hour early today. We wouldn’t want to upset him even more.
Posted: 8th, June 2007 | In: Money Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
