Catherwood LibraryILR School

OECD data has revealed that Southern European countries like Greece, Spain, Italy, and Portugal work more hours in general than Northern European countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway. A new study by the Institute of Economic Studies in Madrid postulates that how each country approaches managing its labor market has an impact on employment levels, hours worked, maintaining worker productivity through a crisis, and recovery after a crisis. A similar paper produced at the Institute for the Study of Labor in Germany notes that the implementation of Short-Time Work during the recession coupled with supplemental government unemployment insurance ensured that, although hours were downsized, job losses were minimized, demand stayed strong, and when the global economy stabilized, German firms were able to ramp up production as quickly as needed because there was no lag time to find, hire, and train new workers. In addition to the benefits of Short-Time Work post-recession, Germany has steadily seen the employment rate of women increasing over the past decade.