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Comment by bryanlarsen | Hacker News Reader

And even if they do spend 75 hours at their workplace, they're probably spending far less than 40 actually working.

(says the guy posting on HN instead of actually working).

Also true of people who spend 40 hours at their workplace, which is totally fine (and often necessary!) for most knowledge work.

> And even if they do spend 75 hours at their workplace, they're probably spending far less than 40 actually working.

Interesting, in Europe the hours are less but you are expected to work every minute you are there. In America you are expected to physically stay longer but being on FB/Reddit is no big deal.

Sounds like a bad way of doing things.

> Interesting, in Europe the hours are less but you are expected to work every minute you are there.

No, you're not. Also, Europe is large and diverse. Source: European.

Seconded from another European. HN and Reddit are big chunks of the work day. Heck, people even watch YouTube.

Most people unfortunately refer to Europe when they mean north-west Europe or even the Nordic countries alone.

Yes sorry I was being sloppy with language, I was describing northern/Germanic Europe. Southern Europe has their own rules

I still find it hard to believe that it's universal across all or even most companies in (for example) Germany. Do software shops there not have Playstation/table tennis/table football or whatever that people use to take a break during working hours?

The GP is right about Germany, at least.

Probably not right about Ireland or the UK though.

Can't speak for any other European countries.

That varies by company. I have worked in Europe and those individuals goofed off just as much as my American compatriots AND had fewer hours.

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