this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2024
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[–] [email protected] 136 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Greece re-introduces the 6 day work week... It used to be the standard. Y'know, in the 18th fucking century

[–] [email protected] 36 points 6 months ago (1 children)

And the 19th, and a large part of the 20th too

[–] Frozengyro 15 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Also, part of the 21st....

[–] doingthestuff 5 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I'm 50 and I've worked 6-day weeks probably 90% of my working life which started at 14. Even before that, it's not like you actually got the whole weekend off. I was an honors student, there was always tons of homework.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 6 months ago

At least your wife stayed home, right?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

I’m never gonna have a lot of money but at least I had more time to myself.

[–] BertramDitore 121 points 6 months ago

Well that’s some backwards bullshit.

[–] duffman 117 points 6 months ago (1 children)

employers are permitted to require staff to work up to two unpaid hours per day for a limited period in return for more free time.

Wow.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I hope this is at least banking that time; you don't get overtime, but you can use that time later for paid time off.

[–] Abbrahan 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Still sucks that it could be mandatory. I work in a government job in Australia and we have "Flexible Hours" which means that any time worked under or over the standard 7:30hrs per day counts towards a flex balance. Then we can use the excess flex balance to then taking shorter days or even take a couple days off if we have the balance for it. It works wonders for staff morale and retention.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

Same boat mate - Aussie govt employee myself who has access to flex. Personally I felt it was better when I was working for an NGO and they always gave me the choice between being paid overtime or banking it to flex later. It was nice to get the extra cash when I needed it and extra leave when the time came too. That should be the standard the employee should have the choice between OT or extra leave.

[–] duffman 8 points 6 months ago

I hope so too, that has to be a very difficult situation for working parents to navigate.

[–] [email protected] 98 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Man, if I still lived in an EU country and the government pulled this shit I’d be making the most of that sweet freedom-of-movement. Way to drive all the skills out of your economy.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

That's exactly what tens if not hundreds of thousands of young Greeks have done in the last 15 years.

Greece has a brain drain problem. This ridiculous measure is actually sold by the government as an attempt to address the shortage of certain skilled worker categories. By ... incentivizing the few that are left to pack up and leave. In practice, it's just class warfare.

The Greek ruling class is a bunch of grifters, landlords, smugglers and gangsters (always have been, since 1830) and they are basically betting on a "recovery" based on cheap labour.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Legitimate question: aren't there barriers / hurdles to permanent residency still?

[–] [email protected] 25 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (5 children)

The barriers are your skills and language. Other than that, no.

Edit: some people move without permanent residency anyway. It has its' drawbacks.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Got it, that's all I meant. I thought there were requirements, it's not just "pack our bags, we're moving to Germany tomorrow"

[–] norimee 7 points 6 months ago

If you can afford it, yes you can do this. You are allowed to live and work anywhere in the EU.

But if you also need a job to feed you, its more difficult if you do not speak the local language and have not learned something useful.

But from the residency law you absolutely can pack your bag and move to Germany tomorrow as an EU citizen.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

That's almost how I migrated, except I had to give a month's notice at work and I'd already found an address to register at.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago

A good example of how this is not the case is the UK and Dentists. When Brexit hit and they left the EU (picture if the right in the US had their immigration way), a ton of immigrant Dentists had to leave. It was easy to stay before because of the EU. Now there is a huge shortage of dentists. Surprise surprise.

[–] nutsack 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)
[–] bitMasque 15 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Honestly, I always thought it was overrated. Some catchy music, sure, but I don't think it really holds up otherwise. Maybe the play was better?

[–] RizzRustbolt 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

The play was awful. Sam Simon performed a miracle.

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[–] Wooki 5 points 6 months ago

Greece has some port big problems financially that are not going away any time soon. It needs change, it needs exports

[–] [email protected] 86 points 6 months ago (10 children)

Greek employers cannot find the staff they need. Greek coastguard pushes migrants off boats into the sea.

[–] answersplease77 17 points 6 months ago (1 children)

in my shithole country we have %30 unemployment and 6-day work week. Also it's all slave wages regardless of your degree or experience. It's a corrupt shithole system that enables itself to keep on staying shit by exploiting poor people and getting the rich richer.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

Um, you're describing Greece plus or minus some unemployment percentage points.

[–] Etterra 13 points 6 months ago

Greek companies wonder why "nobody wants to work anymore."

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Those migrants aren't staying in Greece, they want to go somewhere with an actual economy

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (4 children)

If that were the case, why would the Greek coastguard give a shit?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

Maybe the cruelty is the point?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

But they'll take all of our incredibly desirable jobs!

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[–] [email protected] 83 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Noo that's the wrong direction

[–] [email protected] 28 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Capitalism 📈 (the line is both profit and human suffering)

[–] bitMasque 10 points 6 months ago

Plot twist: They are one and the same.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

The thing is in this case, it's only human suffering. People don't actually work nonstop all week. Giving them fewer hours over four days means they're more productive for those days because they're not dragging out their work to fill the arbitrary 40 hours they have to work for. So companies pay workers the same, but can save money in amenities and office space or whatever by using it less AND have more productive workers. Longer work weeks don't actually make companies more money (oversimplifying and speaking broadly).

[–] randon31415 42 points 6 months ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

That's even worse than China's 69 (six days, nine hours).

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago (1 children)

996 is the concept out of the Chinese tech industry I'm familiar with - from 9 to 9, 6 days a week, totalling 72 hours worked per week.

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[–] cornshark 15 points 6 months ago

No wonder they're not having children if they spend all their time 69ing

[–] Uncaged_Jay 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 27 points 6 months ago

neoliberalism in its essence

[–] Crashumbc 21 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I mean how does the government regulate this even?

If I was a skilled worker, I'd tell the company I work 5 days or I don't work for you ..

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[–] BigBenis 12 points 6 months ago

Thanks I hate it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

Greece had been effed since the austerity economics were placed on them due to the great big financial crisis where boys were declared to be too big to fail. Remember only regular working people are allowed to fail.

[–] MrWafflesNBacon 9 points 6 months ago

Can they don't

[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago

Greek Brain Drain incoming.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


After 15 years of recession and austerity and three rescue packages that came with tough conditions attached, labor in Greece is no longer strictly regulated.

Collective agreements have been frozen for years, and in many businesses, staff work on the basis of individual employment contracts.

Making sure that the authorities can do such monitoring tasks effectively is not a priority for the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Kazakos is in favor of collective wage agreements, which are, however, being increasingly limited by legislation passed by the ruling conservative New Democracy (ND) government.

The official reason for the introduction of the six-day work week is that there is a shortage of skilled workers on the Greek labor market.

The new Greek regulation on the six-day work week and the reduction in arbitration proceedings that comes with it are turning back the clock, Kazakos told DW.


The original article contains 812 words, the summary contains 145 words. Saved 82%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

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