From Overseas Press

Mexicans work longest hours in the world

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-05-06 14:09

Mexicans work the most hours in the world, with an average of 10 hours a day, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), said an article on the Washington Post website on May 3.

The report shows that Belgians work the least, with about seven hours. The Japanese work the most paid hours in a day. And Americans fall in the middle.

Luis Rubio, president of the Center of Research for Development, said that he was not surprised, as "Mexicans are always willing, capable and flexible."

But Rubio, as well as other economists, pointed out that such hard work by Mexicans is not really good news, but "a symptom of underdevelopment and inefficiencies."

"Mexicans need to work more than people in more developed economies. Mexican households have parents who are at least 30 percent less educated than households in developed countries," said Armando Chacon, a director at the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness. "The less skills and knowledge people have on average, the less productive their time is."