Germans worked more than ever in 2023. Mexicans are among the OECD countries where employees work the most. But these many hours of work do not equate to economic prosperity or well-being for employees.
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The Correspondents’ Club is interested in working hours and first stops in Germany where, according to a study, Germans worked 55 billion hours in 2023. A record since the reunification of the country in 1990. However, despite this increase in the volume of work, the economy continues to slow down. The solution could come from the work of women, who are still underemployed, according to economists.
Then head to Mexico, the OECD country where employees work the most, with an average of 2,148 hours per year, or 60% more than in Germany, and significantly more than its North American neighbors. In Mexico, the dynamic would rather be to try to reduce this time, while these long days are not without consequences on the personal health of workers.
Germany : 33 hours of work per week for women, 40 hours for men
According to data from the German Institute for Economic Research, Germans worked 55 billion hours in 2023. For comparison, this figure was only 52 billion in 1991 and 47 billion in 2005, at its level the lowest. This is therefore a record since the reunification of Germany in 1990. The explanation is simple: if the volume of work is increasing, it is because more and more women have a job. The share of working women has increased in Germany from 57% in 1991 to 73% today. Women work on average 33 hours per week compared to 40 hours for men.
Despite this increase in the volume of work, the economy continues to slow down in Germany. This is a sign that the number of working hours means little or nothing about the prosperity of a country. Otherwise Greece, which is the country where people work the most within the European Union with 41 hours per week, would be one of the richest nations in Europe. In reality, the number of working people in Germany has never been higher, but at the same time, working hours are decreasing. And compared to other European countries, it remains low. Women and men combined, Germans spend 34 hours and 42 minutes per week at work, while the European average is 37 hours. The reason is, in particular, the move to a four-day week in certain companies, but also because of the record rate of absenteeism linked to stress and depression. Last year there were 301 days of absence per 100 employees, which is 50% more than 10 years ago. Part-time work is also very widespread, with one in two women working part-time.
Increase working hours for women
Germany suffers from a serious shortage of qualified personnel, almost two million positions are vacant and according to the economic institute IFO in Munich, 43% of companies have difficulty recruiting. Mattis Beckmannshagen, the author of the report on working time, therefore recommends facilitating women’s access to the professional world. “According to our statistics, one in five mothers in Germany would like to increase their working hours. This indicates that family and work are not always compatible in Germany. Today, most often, both parents work. We must therefore improve both the capacity and the quality of care for children.”he explains. The female workforce is therefore a potential that is not sufficiently exploited, according to economists. In addition to better childcare capabilities, some are calling for a more equitable distribution of household tasks to allow more women to work.
Mexico: 75% of Mexicans suffer from stress at work
The average time Mexicans spend at work is 48.5 hours per week. This is the result of an 8-hour day, 6 days a week. This is the legal maximum duration. This duration has not changed since the creation of Mexican labor law in the 1930s, mainly because of the predominance of employers’ organizations and the belief that regularization would be detrimental to the country’s economy. With free trade agreements and the opening of markets, Mexico is asked to provide cheap labor, particularly in the manufacturing sectors and processing plants.
So wages are low, employees are looking to work overtime or take shifts during the weekend. It is therefore a question of working more to increase your income. A mechanism which has the effect of normalizing long, poorly paid days. But this is not without consequences on the personal health of workers: 75% of Mexicans suffer from stress at work, according to the Ministry of Health. More tired, they have less time to devote to themselves, whether to sleep or eat. They also have fewer moments of relaxation and availability in their social life.
Going from a weekly working time of 48 to 40 hours
At the moment there are in the country political will to reduce Mexicans’ working hours. The parliament should discuss in the coming days a reduction in weekly working hours from 48 hours to 40 hours. This would involve imposing a second day of rest per week. But for reasons of political agenda, the debate could be postponed for the umpteenth time and the bill put on hold until the next elections. However, there has already been progress, since in 2023 Mexico has doubled the number of annual leave days for employees. They went from six to twelve days. This is still low and below the recommendations of the International Labor Organization. It recommends a minimum of 18 days of leave per year in the interest of worker well-being and business productivity.