Is the work-life balance unbalancing economic and real estate prices?
In a recent article, the NZZ noted a strong trend in Europe towards a society of leisure and demands. In Germany, for example, the average annual working time per employed person is 1,301 hours, while in the United States people work more than a third longer, with 1,810 hours.
In Germany, therefore, fewer and fewer people are working fewer and fewer hours, while at the same time more and more benefit recipients have to be kept afloat: the fact that this calculation cannot work is not so much a matter of political opinion as of simple mathematics.
The Americans set an example
For once, hard-working Americans are a model: the economy is thriving and high real estate prices are not threatened even by mortgage rates of 7% or more. Instead of ‘Work-Life-Balance’, it is ‘Work hard, Play hard’. Or to put it another way: work-life balance must come first.
Reasonable Swiss workers
It seems that the Swiss have once again found a healthy average: with an average of 1,533 hours worked and 9 days of sick leave, the country is once again in the middle. Germany’s deterrent effect seems to have worked so far (we advise hardened contemporaries to take a trip to Frankfurt Central Station), and there is a good chance that Switzerland will continue to strike a balance between American capitalism and the German welfare state.
By the way: in 2025, Swiss employees will be able to use bridge days in a way that is absolutely compatible with workers and the economy:
Easter: 8 bridge days for 16 days of holiday.
May 1st: 4 bridge days for 9 days of holiday
Ascension Day: 4 bridge days for 9 days of holiday
Whitsun and New Year’s Day: 8 days’ bridge for 16 days’ holiday.
1 August 2025: 4 days’ bridging for 9 days’ holiday
Christmas/New Year’s Day 2025/2026: 6 bridge days for 16 holiday days.
