We have been working almost the longest in the EU. But not for millions, just because our job market is anachronistic

This fall in Poland, we devoted a lot of time and space in Poland to discussing how much and how hard Poles should work. Does hard work guarantee success in life? Or maybe just wasted health and wasted time? Do we all have equal chances for a spectacular career and the prosperity behind it thanks to hard work, or is it perhaps other factors that decide about it? Among other things, we try to answer these questions in the series “Fucked”, which we devoted to both the work of Poles and how we perceive this work and how we talk about it.

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On the occasion of the October twitter skirmish between prof. Marcin Matczak and MP Adrian Zandberg for a job sixteen hours a day, we showed data that Poles are one of the busiest nations in the European Union on a weekly basis.

In 2020, according to a Eurostat survey, the average Pole worked 40.1 hours a week. Only Greece (41.8) and Bulgaria (40.4) had higher numbers. The average for the entire EU was 37 hours, although in many Western European countries working hours are even shorter.

It brings similar conclusions. Her research shows that in 2020, Poles were the longest-working nation in the EU with 1,848 hours worked per year. The EU average is 1703 hours.

Of course, the data for the last year may be a bit “contaminated” with the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns on the labor market in various countries. However, the data for the previous years confirm that Poles are at the forefront in terms of the length of working time in Europe. The West works much shorter than we do. Why?

There are several reasons for this. Andrzej Kubisiak from the Polish Economic Institute points out, inter alia, on mundane financial issues.

Many people in Poland work for a very long time, because with one job or one source of income, it would be difficult for them to support themselves and their loved ones. This is the element that distinguishes us from the rich West

– says the PIE expert.

If we look at the data on the median hourly wage in the EU countries (the latest data is for 2018), you can see that we are in the lower half of the community. There is little change in the conversion of salaries by the so-called purchasing power standard (PPS), which eliminates differences related to the price level in different countries.

On the other hand, not everything can be attributed solely to wage conditions. Kubisiak also points to the cult of hard work, i.e. the belief that we can achieve success only with hard work, often exceeding our strength.

This is not entirely true. Without hard work, it is difficult to achieve success, but it is not a guarantee of success. There are a lot of people who are disappointed with this, because they have obtained, for example, higher education, have worked very hard, and still have a problem to close their monthly budget

– comments Kubisiak.

It is also worth paying attention to the chart showing in which industries you have been working the longest in Poland. At the top of the list are agriculture, construction, transport, accommodation and gastronomy. All these industries share a few facts. First, they are physical works. Secondly, in all these sectors, employers complain about the shortage rather than the excess of workers, and they often fill the shortages by employing foreigners (including Ukrainians). Finally, thirdly – in all these industries, despite technical progress, innovation or automation, it is largely difficult (at least in Polish conditions) to replace human labor.

• You can read more about the Polish labor market at

One person = one etat

However, there is at least one more important reason why Poles – compared to other EU countries, especially from Western Europe – work relatively hard. The point is that in Poland we have a very low share of temporary work, i.e. for half or three-quarters of a full-time job.

This is confirmed by Eurostat data. In 2020, 5.9 percent were employed part-time. employees in Poland (3.4% of working men and 8.9% of women). Only the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia and Bulgaria had a lower percentage in the EU. The EU average was more than three times higher than in Poland – it amounted to 18.2 percent. In some countries, this indicator even exceeds 20%. (Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands – in the latter it is nearly 51 percent).

The consequences of the low share of part-time employment for the Polish labor market are visible.

In Poland, this is one of the reasons why we could talk about the fact that some people are excluded from the labor market, because it is not possible to combine current paid work with, for example, caring for children or disabled family members. This problem also affects people who cannot work full-time due to their illness. There are a lot of such stories in Poland

– comments the PIE expert. He adds that if “part-time jobs” were more popular, we would have higher professional activity in Poland and a lower number of hours worked.

It cannot be written in law, we have provisions for it. It is a question of the employers’ approach and that there is a greater propensity for part-time employment. We are culturally deeply rooted in that one job is one person, not two or three. You have to work 40 hours, often 40 plus hours

– says Kubisiak.

It is also worth adding that there are many studies showing that if the flexibility of working time in Poland was higher, the presence of women in the labor market would be higher by several percentage points. This is indicated, for example, by GUS data, in the second quarter of this year. The economic activity rate of people aged 15-89 in Poland amounted to 57.6%, but while it was 65.8% among men, only 50.1% among women.

It also turns out that according to Polish regulations, labor offices cannot activate an unemployed person part-time. They have to look for him a full-time job. And if someone is unable to work eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, he remains unemployed or loses his unemployment status and becomes inactive (i.e. not officially looking for a job).

Flexibility? Not full-time

This small (when it comes to working hours) flexibility of the Polish market leads to a conclusion that is commonplace for many people – you either have to “screw up”, with difficulty combining full-time work with other duties, or not work at all. Due to economic conditions, the first option must often be chosen.

The example comes from the top, from the owners of the companies, from the top management. They do work a lot, they cannot be denied that. And they expect it from others working lower levels

– says Andrzej Kubisiak. He notes that low flexibility when it comes to the use of temporary contracts often forces employees to work for at least a third of a day, even for employees who do not want to.

Not everyone is under such financial pressure. At some point, however, it’s hard to get out of this reel. It’s hard for a great specialist in your plot to come to the employer and say: “Everything is great, but I would like to work less, for example, for two thirds of a full-time job. However, I need more time for other things than work”. It is possible, of course, but it is not common and sometimes it is not well received

– comments the PIE expert. And adds:

We have fallen into the trap of the fact that this flexibility is guaranteed by other forms of employment than full-time employment. In real terms, this flexibility occurs – we have people who work for different clients or have their own activities, working on several projects. But probably the same model could sometimes be implemented, for example, on a part-time basis in different places and taking into account the task mode.

A full-time job in Poland is 40 hours. This is not the case everywhere

It is also worth noting that employment does not mean the same everywhere in Europe. As shown in the aforementioned Eurofound report, in most EU countries the working week is typically shorter than the Polish 40 hours.

It was indicated that collective bargaining between employers and trade unions (or other groups of employee representatives) has a large impact on labor standards (including its time). As it was written in the report, in Poland and Hungary (where in 2020 the most worked, on average, 1848 hours was worked), such negotiations “do not play a significant role in determining the standards of working time”.

“Untapped potential to work shorter hours”

We have untapped potential for us to work shorter hours. Average working hours are often artificially high. Let’s make an agreement – some people who work 40 hours a week could work shorter and have very similar effects

– says the expert of the Polish Economic Institute. Of course, the situation is different in every industry and in every position. In many it is quite the opposite – there is a shortage of hands to work. But it cannot be denied that there are workplaces where you could work, for example, in six hours and go home.

– Probably nothing would have happened to the economy, if after six hours such people had a “fajrant”, and they did not have to sit at the computer for two more hours and, for example, play solitaire? – I ask Andrzej Kubisiak.

You are right in some way. The best proof is that we used to work six days, now five days with higher productivity and the economies did not collapse.

– answers the expert. All this should also be covered by the macro trend, which we have been dealing with for at least half a century. The point is that, in general, people in the world work less and less. It is very possible that our children will be extremely surprised that we were able to work 40 hours a week.

The four-day working week has already been tested in Europe. In the years 2015-2019, the experiment carried out in Reykjavik, Iceland, ended – as he reported – “overwhelmingly successful”. The productivity of employees did not decrease (sometimes it even increased), they also declared better well-being. As reported by the portal, already 86 percent. all professionally active Icelanders have decided to work less. The data of the “Four Day Week” initiative shows that 78 percent. employees on a four-day working week are happier and less stressed.

The introduction of the four-day working week (or at least a looser Friday) is reported by other companies, including from the IT or financial sectors. Soon, the pilots of the four-day working day will also start, among others in Ireland or the United States. Spain also announced it at the end of 2020. Although in the latter case the motivation is completely different – shortening the working time (with a simultaneous reduction in remuneration) is aimed at increasing the demand for labor. Among young Spaniards, unemployment hovers around 40 percent.