Opinion
        

From overseas press

Mexicans work longest hours in the world

Updated: 2011-05-06 14:09

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Twitter Facebook Myspace Yahoo! Linkedin Mixx

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."

E-paper

War of the roses

European Chinese rose growers are beating their Chinese rivals at their own game

High-tech park gets big boost
At the source
Merchant of Venice

European Edition

Specials

2011 Sino-US Dialogue

China and the United States will hold the third round of the Strategic and Economic Dialogue from May 9-10 in Washington.

High-tech park gets big boost

Zhongguancun sets sights on being one of the top technology hubs in the world

Learning to close the gap

Thousands of students have benefited from Tibet middle school program set up outside the autonomous region

The Cixi story
Garbage problem
Bin Laden dead