That number is (more than) a bit misleading. I don't know where OECD pulls those numbers but it certainly doesn't feel as if Greeks work more than the average european. Shops dont work on sundays, public services are open for only a few hours a day, banks close at 2 etc. Underproductivity is a major issue, most of the work of public services is unnecessary red tape that could be easily automated if the government was willing.
Work hours is not our major problem, it's work ethics that are lacking. Hard work is not compensated, it is in fact frowned upon in the public sector, and this situation has even infiltrated much of the private sector. Absurd regulation and governmental dependencies has stifled competition in all but a few sectors (where it works it works reasonably well, such as telecommunications or banking). Couple that with a hostile investing environment and you have the perfect recipe for disaster.
That said, Greeks in general are industrious and entrepreneurial, but we tend to channel our inventiveness on finding ways to avoid paying taxes. Personally i believed from the start that Greece should have exited the euro in order to revitalize its dormant economy.
The article paints a different picture anyway. Greeks apparently have the most worked hours, while Germans have the second-fewest worked hours. Greece is 7th _least_ productive and Germany is 7th _most_ productive.
When Germans come in to work, there is surprisingly little socialising. When they work, they work hard. Also, the difference in hours worked is probably solely due to the difference in the number of part timers between the countries. 2000 hours per year (avg. Greek hours per year) is only 38 hours per week.
Admittedly my exposure to opening hours in Greece is limited to the tourist areas, but I've found they have longer opening hours than most places in Western Europe. --Definitely longer hours than the UK, Germany, or anywhere in Scandinavia!
most administrative services close at 13:00 for the public. Still, the greater issue is not the hours worked, it's the fact that it's unacceptably slow. For example, most accounting offices employ people whose job is to wait in queues outside government offices all day (such as tax and social security offices).
>Work hours is not our major problem, it's work ethics that are lacking.
The problem here is that you can't quantify "ethics." Up until today everyone believed your average Greek worked 3-4 hours a day and drank coffee the rest of the day. So your side has been debunked and you come back with "ethics?" Really?
At the end of the day these issues are fairly complex. There are a lot of Greeks who work hard, are far from lazy (as per German characterization), and have more or less been betrayed by their government. I also think its incredibly naive to think they could have a German-like efficiency becuse efficiency in manufacturing can only happen with deep pocketed corporations as well as a technical sector that can produce robotics and a worldwide market for its electronics of cars. We can build a Greek auto manufacturer with big loans today, make it incredibly efficient, etc but there's no market for Greek cars.
The lazy Greek stereotype needs to die. Yes, they have a very young retiree age and their tax system is a mess, but they're probably a handful of reforms away from fixing all this. Oh well, back to your typical stereotype based bashing.
I agree it's a stereotype, and i agree that it only takes a few reforms to fix it, but attacking the stereotype won't fix anything. My experience from working in both the private and public sector (and now luckily as an entrepreneur) is this, and i m not bashing anyone, but there is such a thing called "work ethic" and i 've lived long enough to watch it being bent with unsustainable consequences.
I disagree that it takes a mountain of money to do anything successful, especially in technology, even in Greece (and it is happening, but successful businesses tend to be quiet). However you do need entrepreneurs who can do more than just lobby the government for public sector works.
Work hours is not our major problem, it's work ethics that are lacking. Hard work is not compensated, it is in fact frowned upon in the public sector, and this situation has even infiltrated much of the private sector. Absurd regulation and governmental dependencies has stifled competition in all but a few sectors (where it works it works reasonably well, such as telecommunications or banking). Couple that with a hostile investing environment and you have the perfect recipe for disaster.
That said, Greeks in general are industrious and entrepreneurial, but we tend to channel our inventiveness on finding ways to avoid paying taxes. Personally i believed from the start that Greece should have exited the euro in order to revitalize its dormant economy.