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> They are hard workers Where does this cliché come from? Germans work less than any other country on the planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countri

> They are hard workers Where does this cliché come from? Germans work less than any other country on the planet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_a...

euroderf 3y ago
To paraphrase Stalin, "Quality has a quantity all its own."
eqvinox 3y ago
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_a... > "Another important factor is the extent to which part-time work is widespread, […]" I would argue being a "hard worker" means efficiency, not total amount. Sadly I don't have any data on that, or even any idea how to measure this.
- pgeorgi 3y ago
  GDP / (average annual labor hours * number of people working in some way)? GDP is a pretty rough metric for efficiency, but it's among the better ones that are collected somewhat uniformly. "average hours worked * number of people working" is an approximation of total of person-hours worked (approx. because both numbers are probably cleaned up a bit in incompatible ways) The result would be the value a person in the country contributes to the GDP every hour (on average), which should serve as a reasonably proxy for efficiency.
  - Aloisius 3y ago
    No need to approximate anything ourselves, GDP per hour worked is a standard indicator of productivity. Germany is slightly behind the US. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/gdp-per-hour-worked/indicator/english_1439e590-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/gdp-per-hour-worked/... Of course, efficiency can mean things beyond productivity.
    - eqvinox 3y ago
      The fact that Ireland leads this one is a strong hint at this also being not very useful: it's distorted by shell corporations and the likes. Ireland is the tax haven of choice for the entire EU in terms of digital services. Is there a "GDP of only the industrial sector"?
mendigou 3y ago
I also don't get it. I worked there for 8 years. I'm southern european and there was always a "half joke" about our lazyness. But we worked the hardest. My local colleagues were incredibly entitled and produced very little value. In my opinion, Germany was at some point at the top of the world in most aspects, and the people became complacent over time. Which leads us to where we are today. Enshittification is palpable in every single aspect of society. No one cares about doing a good job anymore. Getting something done takes months where it should take days. And then that thing you got done breaks in a few weeks. I'm sorry for the rant. I got pretty burned out of living there.
- rightbyte 3y ago
  > I'm southern european and there was always a "half joke" about our lazyness. I think the trope is due to hotter weather. Like tourists visiting in the summer seeing outside workers hardly working due to hot weather.

euroderf 3y ago

To paraphrase Stalin, "Quality has a quantity all its own."

eqvinox 3y ago

> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_annual_labor_hours https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_average_a... > "Another important factor is the extent to which part-time work is widespread, […]" I would argue being a "hard worker" means efficiency, not total amount. Sadly I don't have any data on that, or even any idea how to measure this.

pgeorgi 3y ago
GDP / (average annual labor hours * number of people working in some way)? GDP is a pretty rough metric for efficiency, but it's among the better ones that are collected somewhat uniformly. "average hours worked * number of people working" is an approximation of total of person-hours worked (approx. because both numbers are probably cleaned up a bit in incompatible ways) The result would be the value a person in the country contributes to the GDP every hour (on average), which should serve as a reasonably proxy for efficiency.
- Aloisius 3y ago
  No need to approximate anything ourselves, GDP per hour worked is a standard indicator of productivity. Germany is slightly behind the US. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/gdp-per-hour-worked/indicator/english_1439e590-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/economics/gdp-per-hour-worked/... Of course, efficiency can mean things beyond productivity.
  - eqvinox 3y ago
    The fact that Ireland leads this one is a strong hint at this also being not very useful: it's distorted by shell corporations and the likes. Ireland is the tax haven of choice for the entire EU in terms of digital services. Is there a "GDP of only the industrial sector"?

mendigou 3y ago

I also don't get it. I worked there for 8 years. I'm southern european and there was always a "half joke" about our lazyness. But we worked the hardest. My local colleagues were incredibly entitled and produced very little value. In my opinion, Germany was at some point at the top of the world in most aspects, and the people became complacent over time. Which leads us to where we are today. Enshittification is palpable in every single aspect of society. No one cares about doing a good job anymore. Getting something done takes months where it should take days. And then that thing you got done breaks in a few weeks. I'm sorry for the rant. I got pretty burned out of living there.

rightbyte 3y ago
> I'm southern european and there was always a "half joke" about our lazyness. I think the trope is due to hotter weather. Like tourists visiting in the summer seeing outside workers hardly working due to hot weather.