Eurostat has recently published data on average hours worked per week in European countries for 2019. For Albania data are missing, but it is INSTAT which reports the latest information since 2016.
If we compare the data of Eurostat and INSTAT, it turns out that Albanians are among the countries that work the longest in Europe, with about 43 hours per week.
In fact, the whole Balkans work longer. The record is held by Montenegro, with 44.4 hours per week, North Macedonia (41.3), Serbia (42.3). The Turkish people work the most, with 46.4 hours. The Dutch work less in Europe, 29.3 hours per week.
In Albania, according to INSTAT, the longest working time is in the production sector, with 45.8 hours; trade, transport, hospitality, business and administrative services, with 44. 8 hours. In construction, the work lasts 42.7 hours during a week. State employees work less in the country, with 39.8 hours.
Efforts to curb the Covid-19 crisis have sparked worldwide discussions about cutting working hours per week, as well as a way to save jobs.
Germany’s largest trade union, IG Metall, has proposed a four-day working week as a way to limit job losses in the automotive industry. This is despite the fact that Germany is one of the countries where you work fewer hours per week, with 34.2, from 36.2 hours per week which is the European average./abcnews.al
