Ireland Lead The Way In Reduced Hours

14-04-2006

Long working hours and soaring house prices are constant Irish gripes, but only one of them stands up to scrutiny. According to a recent study, Irish people are spending less time at work now than at any time in the past 15 years.

Employees in Ireland now work an average of 14% fewer hours in 2004 than they did in 1990. Of the 28 countries analysed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Ireland saw the sharpest reduction in working hours over the 15-year period.

In 1990, only the Greeks, Japanese and Koreans clocked up more hours at work, but by 2004 the Irish were working fewer hours than 17 other nationalities, including the British.

The average Irish working week has shortened by five hours in the 15 years to 31.6 hours – or one hour less per day in a five-day week. This has been largely attributed to the influx of women into the workforce taking on part-time positions, and students becoming employed in casual work, driving the average down.

Although Ireland experienced the sharpest fall, most of the 28 OECD countries studied experienced a reduction in the number of hours worked, with the average per year per employed person falling from 1,790 hours in 1990 to 1,740 hours in 2004.

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