By the time an employee in the Netherlands closes their laptop on Friday afternoon, their counterpart in Türkiye has worked an additional 10.5 hours that week. Over the course of a year, that adds up to roughly three extra months of work. The same position, the same job, the same week.
Data published by Eurostat in May 2026 points to a quiet but steady shift across Europe. In 2025, the average number of hours actually worked per week in the main job by employees aged 20 to 64 in the EU fell to 35.9. Ten years ago, it was 36.9 hours. A difference of one hour may not seem significant, but in an economy with more than 200 million workers, it signals a structural change.
The two ends of the list tell us more than the average itself. Greece has the longest workweek at 39.6 hours, while the Netherlands has the shortest at 31.9 hours. Germany and Denmark follow closely at 33.9 hours. It is no coincidence that some of Europe’s highest value-generating economies are near the bottom of the list.
Where Does Türkiye Stand?
According to TurkStat’s May 2026 labor force statistics, the average actual workweek in Türkiye is 42.4 hours. That is 6.5 hours above the EU average and 10.5 hours above the Netherlands. Türkiye also exceeds Greece, the EU country with the longest working hours, by 2.8 hours. While Europe is discussing how to shorten the workweek, Türkiye is leading the list from outside the debate.
Value Created per Hour
According to TurkStat, the hours worked index fell by 1.7% year over year, while hourly labor costs rose by 41.4%. Fewer hours are being worked overall, yet each hour costs significantly more. Even so, the number of hours worked per employee remains well above the European average.
Eurostat’s breakdown by occupation is also particularly striking for white-collar professionals. Managers in the EU work an average of 40.6 hours per week, while clerical support workers average 34 hours. Moving up the corporate ladder does not mean a shorter workweek. On the contrary, working hours tend to increase along with responsibility.
For white collar workers, the reality behind these numbers is all too familiar. Meetings that run beyond the end of the workday, notifications that continue long after working hours, and the deeply rooted assumption that being busy means being productive. Yet the European data points in the opposite direction. Countries that have reduced working hours have not seen productivity decline, and the economies that generate the most value per hour are now among those with the shortest workweeks. In this context, working long hours is not a sign of performance. It is the cost of poorly designed work processes. Ultimately,it’s almost always an organization’s most valuable resource, the people, who bear the consequences.
