Cyprus-Forum.com

[Svetlana]

From observation, I cannot go along with Sophia's opinion that 'Cypriots work harder than the British'.

It's mainly a subjective view and it is hard to compare like for like but:

i) In the UK, shopworkers have longer working hours; there is rarely lunchtime closing, no 'half days' on Wednesdays and Saturdays and many stores/supermarkets are open Sundays - and some 24/7.

ii)There are fewer bank Holidays in the UK.

iii) Schoolteachers there have shorter holidays but longer working days.

iv) Government employees/Bank staff in the UK have to work every afternoon, not one a week...plus many Banks also open on Saturdays.

v) The pace of work in Cyprus, like most Mediterranean countries, always strikes me as fairly gentle - I have yet to see a Policeman actually walk here, do they have legs

vi) Much of the physical 'hard work' (Builders/farm employees/road menders) in Cyprus is done by immigrants.

This is no critisism of Cypriots; having worked here for some years, I found it hard going, even in a nice air conditioned office. My work rate just slowed down - going with the flow!

Lana

[kafenes]

Lana, I agree with you on all except the first one.

i) In the UK, shopworkers have longer working hours; there is rarely lunchtime closing, no 'half days' on Wednesdays and Saturdays and many stores/supermarkets are open Sundays - and some 24/7.

It only means there are more workers and more shifts. It doesn't mean the one worker is filling in all the hours. The total hours worked in the week is still the same as per law.

[Svetlana]

Hi Kafenes

Yes, of course, there are shifts of workers in the UK shops that are open for long hours. I can offer no evidence, I just get the feeling things are more relaxed and working hours shorter here. If it were not for the latter, many people would not be able to hold down two jobs, as they do.

As I said, I found it hard to concentrate in the long hot afternoons, here, and am amazed how people carry out manual labour during the summers.

As a generalisation, I would guess that that the work rate in cool, Nordic countries is greater than in hot countries; I have never seen any great hurrying in the UAE/India/Sri Lanka, for example - although (warm) Singapore is a most industrious place!

I am very happy with the pace of life here A very nice weekend; still swimming - and fun watching those noisy cars from the Troodos Rally!

lana

[purdey]

From my experience hours are not put in in Cyprus on a serving the customer basis but there is plenty of input and business going on behind the scenes.
Meals, drinks and weekends off business chat and deals go on behind the scenes to make up for shop front sales.
As for India, it's a hive for 24 hour working (behind closed doors) with thousands of sweatshops and back street workshops working 365 per year. UEA the same sort of working but not by locals but by hired cheap labour, the building industry survives on 24 hour shift with workers eating, sleeping at there place of work.

[Tim Drayton]

I lived in a village close to Limassol for the first six months that I was in Cyprus. I noticed that a lot of people there hold down government jobs in the city in the morning and then work on their smallholdings in the afternoon/early evening. In the cities, I think a lot of government workers have second casual jobs; for example, most schoolteachers supplement their income by giving private tuition. Working patterns here are more complex than they appear to be at first glance.