Epidemic of laziness: the French no longer want to work

After the COVID epidemic, the French believe they have gained “the right to leisure”. A “wave of laziness and burnout” has hit the country and everyone wants to work from home or have others do the work for them. The truth is that they prefer to earn less but don’t work as hard as before.

An INFOS report found that the republic has plunged into a “laziness epidemic” since the confinement from COVID and when the country has one of the most generous social schemes in the world.

only the 21% of people said work is ‘very important’ for them, compared to 60% in 1990. 41% said that “free time is important”, preferring “to earn less to have more free time”.

France paid 70% of salaries of workers made redundant during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has not, in modern history, had the reputation of being the most industrious nation. From the 35-hour working week to 8 weeks holiday per year.

The sloth epidemic

The study by the French Institute of Public Opinion (Ifop) states that France is gripped by an “epidemic of laziness” after Covid-19, with 37% of people saying they are less motivated work than before.

manpower shortage

The level of apathy of the French has skyrocketed due to working from homeas the policies of the COVID era have caused a labor shortages in hospitality, teaching and nursing.

At least 150,000 doctors, nurses, orderlies, ambulance operators, nursing assistants, hospital cleaners They quit their jobs.

The energy crisis has also sent 9 million people back to “teleworking” to save electricity and heating in the country’s offices.

The French holiday plan, one of the most generous in Europe, saw far more people go on holiday than the UK.

The policies have unleashed an “epidemic of burnout and laziness,” the study said.

But it was Macron’s benefit plan, one of the most generous in Europe, that the studio pointed the finger at.

France has paid between 70 and 100% of the wages of workers made redundant during the Covid-19 pandemic. The UK paid 80% across the board.

According to the European Trade Union Institute, the job retention scheme in France has seen the greatest uptake in Europe with 11.3 million people in short-term jobs applying for or keeping jobs.

By comparison, the UK saw 6.3 million people in work schemes as the high point.

earn less and work less

Two-thirds of people recently polled said they would be happy to do so “Earning less in exchange for working fewer hours”.

If you compare the height of the 2008 financial crisis, the statistics have completely flipped. Two thirds of people said they would rather earn more and spend more time at work.

“Work harder to earn more” was the campaign slogan of Nicolas Sarkozy, who won the presidency in May 2007. But like Sarkozy’s policies, his mantra doesn’t seem to have stuck.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s leftist supporters are more than twice as likely to say they don’t want to work as more conservative voters, such as those politically inclined to Emmanuel Macron.

the French they deserve a “right to leisure”. This was one of the statements made by Sandrine Rousseau, MEP of the Greens, this September, when she spoke at the Fête de l’Huma, a party of the left in Paris.

She said that working hard was “essentially a right-wing value”, and that taking breaks was far healthier than the alternative, in a series of talks.

France introduced the 35 hour work week in 2000, qualifying the additional hours as overtime.

The country also has a generous welfare state systemspending 59 percent of its budget on the benefits system.

Paris, correspondent

ap