Are Indians working too much? Data tells a grim story

Representative image (Generated via Lexica.Art)

Are Indians overworked? There have been persistent debates about long working hours at top companies in the country. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), India ranks among the most overworked countries globally, with employees averaging 46.7 hours of work per week.

ILO data reveals that India is the most overworked country among the top ten economies in the world.

Comparatively, the average weekly working hours per person in US is 38. Even in China, the figure is lower than India at 46.1 hours per week.

At 32.1, Canada has the lowest average working hours per week among the 10 economies.

The ILO data shows that 51 per cent of workers in India are clocking 49 hours or more every week. This is the second highest among all the countries in the world.

While Bhutan leads the world with an astonishing 61 per cent of its workforce putting in over 49 hours per week, the inclusion of Bangladesh (47 per cent) and Pakistan (40 per cent) in the top 10 highlights that these South Asian countries also have a significant portion of their workforce engaged in extended hours.

None of the European or American countries are among the 20 countries with the highest working hours per employee.

Bhutan (54.4), UAE (50.9), Lesotho (50.4), Congo (48.6) and Qatar (48) are among the most overworked countries in the ILO list.

At just 24.7 hours per week, Vanuatu is the country with the shortest average working hours per employed person.

A study by ILO said that there is an inverse relationship between prosperity and weekly working hours.

Countries with shorter working hours usually have higher per capita GDP. India has the highest weekly working hours among the top 10 economies and yet one of the lowest per capita GDP figures.