According to Philippe Defeyt, the average number of hours worked in 2022 is at its lowest since 1995, if we do not take into account the years 2020 and 2021 (marked in particular by the coronavirus epidemic, as seen in the second graph of this article, editor’s note), both for employees and for the self-employed.
For the economist, the average number of working hours of employees should return in 2023 to a level close to – even if probably slightly lower – than before the recent crises.
As for the future, he does not see how working time could evolve further: “It seems to me that we have reached a kind of ceiling, or rather a floor.”
It seems to me that we have reached a kind of ceiling, or rather a floor
On the side of the unions, we denounce the fact that, since 2001 and the transition to the 38-hour week, “more than 20 years ago, we no longer reduced working hours, “as productivity increased.”
“The wage blocking law of 1996 prevents us from negotiating the reduction of working hours, explains Clarisse Van Tichelen, permanent employee of the CNE’s research department. Raising wages or reducing working hours is the same for the employer. It increases the hourly wage cost.
