Greeks work the longest in EU

One successful 5 Greeks works much than 45 hours a week, making Greece the state with the highest percent successful the European Union, according to information Eurostat published connected Tuesday, concerning the year’s 2nd quarter.

About 20.9% of Greek workers aged betwixt 20 and 64 are employed by 1 oregon much employers for much than 45 hours a week, astir treble the European mean (10.8%).

Economic uncertainty and the request to amended income, owed to importantly debased wages, precocious unemployment – which contempt the alteration successful caller months remains importantly higher than the European mean – the precariousness of the home labour marketplace and the often inadequate implementation of labour authorities are some of the astir important causes of the phenomenon. 

Other factors see the size of Greek businesses, with galore very small enterprises and often household businesses, arsenic well arsenic the value that specific sectors person successful the Greek system that trust connected the intensification of work during specific periods, such arsenic tourism and the nutrient industry.

Finally, the shallowness of the market, positive the perpetually expanding occupation vacancies, on with the mismatch betwixt supply and demand, springiness a multifactorial quality to the problem.

Behind Greece’s 20.9% complaint are Cyprus (16.6%) and Malta (14.6%), while the lowest levels are recovered successful Bulgaria (2.5%), Latvia (4.1%) and Romania (5.9%). The bulk (72.3%) of employees successful the EU work betwixt 20 and 44 hours per week, while successful Greece lone 6.1% work little than 19 hours, an denotation of constricted part-time employment.

Moreover, according to erstwhile Eurostat data, the mean weekly working clip successful Greece successful 2024 was 39.8 hours, successful the main occupation – besides the highest successful the EU. In fact, for men successful full-time employment, the mean reaches 42.4 hours.

It should not beryllium overlooked that, according to information from the Ergani database of the Labor and Social Insurance Ministry, successful 2025 there was a important summation successful declared overtime, arsenic it present approaches 4 cardinal hours, accrued by astir 1.8 cardinal compared to 2024.