A recent statistical overview presented by Eurostat , the central statistics office of the European union, presented an overview about the differences in the working week between the various member states of the European Union.

According to these statistics, the Spanish working week is -- with an average of 38.2 hours -- amongst the highest of the European Union, only the eastern countries (like Poland and Lithuanian, etc) and Greece (39.4) have a higher working week. The average working week for the member states was calculated to be 36.3. (http://www.elpais.es/ articulo/elpporsoc/20060807 elpepisoc_1/Tes/espa%C3%B1oles/est%C3%A1n/ europeos/m%C3%A1s/horas/trabajan)

This means that there is yet a lot of productivity to gain in Spain. A higher productivity will be possible if the amount of input (human resources) remains the same while generating a higher level of production.

This is possible in a variety of ways:

• To concentrate on the business process. A wider use of information systems could help streamlining the business process, in which an efficiency gain is achieved.
• To use communication tools and software that increase the efficiency in the human communication. E-mail software is a good example of a new technology that increased the productivity. The mobile phone is another, or think about the PDA for which you can send the client request directly to the kitchen, leaving you more time to attend more visitors.
• Transport. Is normally a productivity snatcher. Saving on transport cuts on two sides: time and money, leaving you with additional opportunities. In Spain for example there is still a siesta (in some areas), which leads to four traffic congestions a day instead of two: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
• Better communication will also reduce transport. Think of the route planners that will increase productivity enormously.

There are many other ways in which the productivity could increase... All those initiatives will reduce the working week, but they will also reduce the social, face to face, contact between people. And that is a very important cultural asset in Spain.

Finally, a reduced working week will increase the amount of holidays where employees could benefit from. And when productivity rises you could very well do with an extra day off...

2006 Hans Bool

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