We Swiss are not lazy at work!

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Part-time work is popular in Switzerland. “The Swiss work only 31 hours a week,” the Sonntagszeitung recently reported. The discussion about this is heated. Some swear by the right work-life balance. Others complain that the state loses a lot of money as a result. They even see the work ethic at risk.

The economist Christoph Schhaltegger (51) said in the “NZZ”: “We have become fat and slow because of immigration. Because the existing wealth, in combination with the expansion of the state, leads many Swiss to retreat to part-time work.”

The annual working time has increased

Now the titles “CH Media” with data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics (BFS) refute the view that less work is being done due to more part-time work. The figures show: The annual working time per person of working age (15 to 64 years) has actually increased!

It rose from 1275 hours in 2010 to 1287 hours in 2019. That is an increase of 12 hours or about 1.5 working days. And that despite more holidays and less overtime.

However, there are differences between the sexes in this regard, reports CH Media: working hours for men decreased by three percent in 2019. In women, on the other hand, it increased by seven percent in the same period.

The average workload increased

In addition, the average workload of 15 to 64-year-olds has increased by almost 2 percentage points since 1996 to 71.8 percent. Daniel Kopp of the economic research center KOF at ETH Zurich confirms: “Despite the part-time trend, I have not noticed that people are generally working less.”

In the long run, working hours have decreased. Between 1950 and 1990, Switzerland reduced usual weekly working hours from nearly 50 to just under 42 hours. She has stayed there ever since. In some places, however, that could soon change.

38-hour working week is becoming increasingly popular

Politicians are now active in the fight against the shortage of skilled workers. For example, in the canton of Basel-Stadt, parliament is demanding that the government examine the 38-hour workweek for cantonal workers. And politicians in Bern are also demanding four hours less work for the same wages, Blick recently reported.

Companies such as the Japanese electronics giant Panasonic and the food multinational Unilever have also discovered the four-day week for themselves. Several Swiss companies also reduced their working hours. (Okay)

Source:Blick