Nearly four in 10 French business leaders admit to working long hours at a time, without regular breaks, a figure that is well above the global average of 25% and higher than rates in the United States, United Kingdom and China, according to the survey by the health and medical care insurer Bupa Global.
Of all the countries surveyed, French executives also showed the highest levels of anxiety about their individual job performance. Concerns about their organizations’ ability to weather the current economic instability, coupled with a reluctance to work remotely compared to their global peers, contributed to their workaholic tendencies, according to the survey authors.
“This combination of external economic pressures and the tendency to take responsibility for themselves could contribute to French executives being overworked,” said Anthony Cabrelli, managing director of Bupa Global, which serves expatriates, executives and other high net worth individuals.
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Workaholics. French business leaders work harder than their global counterparts. – Number of executives who admitted to working more.
The findings might surprise some, given the employment policies and lifestyle of France, where most blue-collar and service employees have a 35-hour workweek, and summer vacations typically take up most of August.
In 2017, the country became the first European nation to implement a “right to disconnect” law, which requires organizations to ban emails, calls or other workplace intrusions after certain hours. The shift to remote work during the pandemic prompted more countries to propose similar legislation. For years, the French labor code has banned anyone from eating lunch at their desks, though the law was suspended during the height of the pandemic.
Excessive working hours are more common among executives who come to the office full-time, compared with those who work remotely, according to the Bupa survey, which asked 2,439 high-net-worth individuals in eight regions in August and september.
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Source: Gestion
Ricardo is a renowned author and journalist, known for his exceptional writing on top-news stories. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he is known for his ability to deliver breaking news and insightful analysis on the most pressing issues of the day.
