Cyprus-Forum.com

[Hermes]

According to figures compiled by Eurostat, the EU’s statistics office, the minimum retirement age in Greece last year was 61.4. In Germany it was 62. Of course there have been some exceptions to the rule in Greece but they have been exactly that: exceptions. The discrepancy in retirement ages between Greece and Germany is marginal. In fact, the pension reform bill voted through the German parliament in 2007 aims to raise the minimum retirement age to 63 by 2029. The pension law passed in Greece last year will raise the retirement age to 63.5 by 2015.

It's also a myth that Greeks take too much time off work. A study by Mercer Human Resource Consulting found that while there are big variations between holiday entitlements in the EU, the differences between Greece and Germany are not that great. The report indicated that an employee in Greece with 10 years’ service will have a total of 37 days’ leave each year (12 of them public holidays) while his or her colleague in Germany will receive 33 days off (13 of them public holidays). Four days a year difference hardly seems like the greatest injustice within the eurozone, nor is it the cause of the downfall of the Greek economy.

The image of the undisciplined Greek loafer who fritters away the day doing nothing is proving useful for a number of European politicians, not just Merkel, but it is difficult to criticize them when the government in Athens is doing nothing to combat this image. If anything, it is allowing it to be cultivated - perhaps because Greece’s politicians feel that this way they have an alibi when they are unable to meet the targets set by the EU and the IMF. It is easier to blame economic and political shortcomings on social inadequacies or cultural traits rather than accept your own failure.

If the last year has taught us anything, it is that millions of Greeks, who want to be part of a modern, efficient country and a progressive EU, are trapped. They are caught between austerity measures that are choking the economy, politicians at a national and European level that lack courage and a state apparatus that is not fit for the 21st century. These people are crying out for sensible policies. Not smug, patronising comments.

[boomerang]

the lad, little H, is right greece and greeks could never do wrong they are just innocent pawns caught up in a world wide conspiracy to evaporate greece from the planet coz greece/greeks have the highest moral, work and conniving standards and are so set so high they causing resentmet world wide...

its the imperialists i tell yeah...

[Hermes]

According to findings published in the Wall Street Journal, the workers with the longest hours in the European Union are Greek citizens, as they work on average 42 hours per week, while the Germans are working on average 36 hours a week. In contrast, Dutch workers work on average 31 hours per week. After the Greeks the next most hard working are those in Spain and Portugal who work an average 39 hours a week.

The writer, Matthew Dalton, argues that the debt crisis in the eurozone has highlighted one of the most "resistant stereotypes" of Europe, the distinction between "hard-working northern areas, compared with the lazy South". These stereotypes, says the author, have been used at some point in the political dialogue between the European Union to address the debt crisis.

Explaining the differences between Germany and Greece, the WSJ notes that part-time employment is more prevalent in northern countries, particularly in Holland and Germany, while in Greece and other southern countries, workers are mainly full time. It also stipulates that a high proportion of Greek workers tend to work in agriculture, where working hours are usually longer. The North-South gap in productivity, stresses the newspaper, is due to better technology.

"What these numbers show is that the southern euro zone’s problems aren’t a result of workers there not working hard enough. The problem instead is lower productivity in the southern rim."

http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2011/02/1 ... ereotypes/

[Paphitis]

They didn't really work 42 hours. There is only so much watering of the cement pavements a gardener can do!

[boomerang]

Greece ‘Cheated’ to Join Euro

Sanctions Since Were Too Soft, Issing Says
Former European Central Bank Chief Economist Otmar Issing. Photographer: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images
.
Greece was only able to join the euro through deception and the currency bloc’s leaders have been “too polite” ever since to deploy adequate sanctions that could have averted the region’s debt crisis, former European Central Bank Chief Economist Otmar Issing said.

“When I worked for the ECB, I suffered every time countries didn’t meet the criteria,” Issing, 75, said in an interview in Copenhagen yesterday. “Greece cheated to get in, and it’s difficult to know how we should deal with cheaters.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-26/greece-cheated-to-join-euro-sanctions-since-were-too-soft-issing-says.html

i am not sure what to make with all these greek haters...they envy the conniving greeks with jealousy...

[Hermes]

More data on Greeks being the hardest workers in the EU. This time from the OECD:

Employment data shows Greeks are by far one of the hardest working nationalities in Europe. Based on data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Greeks on average spent 2120 hours at work in 2008. That was 48% longer than Germans, who worked 1429 hours. Surprisingly, even Italians, with 1802 hours spent at work, outworked the Germans.

What one has to understand, however, is that working hours are not the reasons why the Greek economy is uncompetitive:

“While many will be initially surprised by the data, on reflection it makes intuitive sense. In crude terms, wealthier countries typically work smarter — more capital intensively — than poor countries, not longer. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the lack of Greek competitiveness, for example, does not seem to lie in hours working but with the combination of productivity and wages/benefits (unit labor costs).”

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/ ... europeans/

[boomerang]

this might sound naive but what's the pay like and what are future prospects for all day frape drinking, women perving, skinning tourists and tax dodging like in greece like?...i was thinking in giving it a go...

do you need to be a greek citizen?...what about a greek wannaby?...does it count?...

thanks in advance...

[GreekIslandGirl]

According to findings published in the Wall Street Journal, the workers with the longest hours in the European Union are Greek citizens, as they work on average 42 hours per week, while the Germans are working on average 36 hours a week. In contrast, Dutch workers work on average 31 hours per week. After the Greeks the next most hard working are those in Spain and Portugal who work an average 39 hours a week.

The writer, Matthew Dalton, argues that the debt crisis in the eurozone has highlighted one of the most "resistant stereotypes" of Europe, the distinction between "hard-working northern areas, compared with the lazy South". These stereotypes, says the author, have been used at some point in the political dialogue between the European Union to address the debt crisis.

Explaining the differences between Germany and Greece, the WSJ notes that part-time employment is more prevalent in northern countries, particularly in Holland and Germany, while in Greece and other southern countries, workers are mainly full time. It also stipulates that a high proportion of Greek workers tend to work in agriculture, where working hours are usually longer. The North-South gap in productivity, stresses the newspaper, is due to better technology.

"What these numbers show is that the southern euro zone’s problems aren’t a result of workers there not working hard enough. The problem instead is lower productivity in the southern rim."

http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2011/02/1 ... ereotypes/

A string of (as usual) excellent posts. Thanks, Hermes.

[Hermes]

Just to add to my previous post. There are other studies that also indicate the same pattern, i.e. that on average the Greeks work harder than their European counterparts. None of these studies were made by Greeks so any allegations of twisting the facts, is simply wrong. It is not how hard one works but rather what one does that results in productivity. Most Greeks work 2 to 3 jobs. Salaries are low, taxes are high, and most of the problem is due to poor productivity and an inefficient public sector.

[Get Real!]

on average the Greeks work harder than their European counterparts.

If a country’s workforce is the “hardest working” yet it is on the brink of bankruptcy then the only explanation for this country’s demise must be that of historic incompetence!

For example, Nikos (a fictional Greek laborer) may work for 23 hours p/day trying to rotate a screw but if he’s using his penis to rotate it then he’ll need a lot longer than 23 hours to complete a simple task that others can complete in two minutes using a wrench.