Indians work hardest, happy with 5-day workweek, finds new study

 India leads the way as the hardest working country with 69% of full-time employees saying they would work five days a week even if they had the option to work fewer days for the same pay, according to a survey.

Mexico was the second-highest at 43% of workers, followed by the US at 27%, according to the culture study survey by US-based multi-national workforce management firm Kronos Incorporated. The UK (16%), France (17%) and Australia (19%) are the least content with the standard five-day workweek, it added. If pay remained constant, one-third of global workers felt their ideal workweek would last four days (34%), while 20% said they would work three days a week, the survey said.

While one in four global employees (28%) are content with the standard five-day workweek, it added. For this survey research was conducted by Future Workplace on behalf of Kronos Incorporated between July 31 August 9, 2018, among 2,772 employees. It surveyed full and part-time employees living in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Mexico, the UK and the US. Meanwhile, the survey found that one-third of employees (35%) would take a 20% pay-cut to work one day less per week. However, those numbers vary greatly by country, as 50% of workers in Mexico, 43% in India and 42% in France would take that arrangement compared with only 29% in Canada and 24% in the US.

It also revealed that even though 75% of full-time employees globally said they have enough time in the workday to finish their major tasks, nearly two in five (37%) work more than 40 hours each week and 71% claim work interferes with their personal lives. However, full-time employees in Australia (37%) and the UK (34%) felt strongest that they do not have enough time in the day to get the job done, yet they do not work the most hours, it said. The US leads the way with overtime, as 49% clock more than 40 hours each week, followed by India (44%), Mexico (40%) and Germany (38%), it added.

"It's clear that employees want to work and do well by their employers, and many roles require people to be present or on call during specific hours to get the job done such as teachers, nurses, retail associates, plant workers, delivery drivers, and nearly all customer-facing roles," executive director of The Workforce Institute at Kronos, Joyce Maroney said. She said, organisations must help their people eliminate distractions, inefficiencies and administrative work to enable them to work at full capacity. "This will create more time to innovate, collaborate, develop skills and relationships and serve customers while opening the door to creative scheduling options, including the coveted four-day workweek," she added.