Has the era of ambitious opposition arrived? – Wel.nl

Never before have so many people resigned in the United States, but the number of employees in the Netherlands also wants to work less and less, according to figures from the Netherlands. Do you end up working 40 hours a week?

In the United States, economists have already called the wave of layoffs of those who left themselves a major resignation. Patrick Freyne talks about the ‘anti-fiction era’ in the Financial Times. Many Americans want to work less and leave their job to find something more suitable for them.

According to Dun Wildgen, professor of labor markets at the University of Tilburg, the same is true in the Netherlands, but not to that extent. In particular we already work relatively less: precisely 400 hours less per year than Americans. “The uniqueness of the Netherlands is that work is already a less important part of our lives than many other countries.” Says in the metro. “We are already part-time champions in the world.” In 2020, only Germany and Denmark did less work in Europe.

Wildegan sees less work becoming more common, especially among the younger generation. “You hear a lot in the media about the younger generation who no longer want to work full time because they think leisure is important, and then they want to start a small company or make money in some other way. For example crypto,” he says: “I notice this when I talk to students.”

The problem is that the aging population strike and staff shortage is huge, especially in key sectors such as health, education and policing, but also in technology and ICT. How do you solve it if everyone wants to work less? Many office work can be done very efficiently and hours can be spent on important work.