Dance space on the subway, no rush hour traffic and complete work peace. Today is tucked away Friday. But what does it cost society when “everyone” takes time off?
Published: 10/05/2024 15:43
In the office premises of the ICT department of the Norwegian Education Agency, things are quiet. The hallways are empty. So are most of the offices.
Olav Eide is one of the few in the department who is at his place in the Helsfyr offices this Friday. Only eight out of 34 employees are physically present at work, says Eide, who works as a special consultant in the ICT department.
– There are many people who prefer to work in a home office. We who are here today, we like to be in the office, we like to see people.
Eide has just come out of a meeting with four others, where one attended from the cabin and one from the in-laws’ house.
It doesn’t matter to him that there are few people at work.
– If this had been a hectic period for the department, more people would have been at work today. Today, I do things that do not require me to involve very many people.
Many schools have days off, but how many people take time off from work today, Aftenposten has not been able to clarify. Neither LO nor NHO have investigated the matter. Neither has SSB.
But a survey InFact did for VG in 2010 suggests that around half of the employees planned to take the Friday off after Christ’s Ascension.
No rush hour traffic
People who chose (or had to) work today and were traveling towards the center of Oslo had plenty of room to romp. There was no rush hour traffic and plenty of seats in public transport. Many probably took less time to get to work.
It is also felt by Christofa Key-Nilsen. She is an operator at Vegtrafikksentralen öst.
– There is much less traffic than usual. Almost no rush at all. There are probably many people who have taken an extra day off today, says Key-Nilsen.
Aftenposten has also been in contact with Fjellinjen to find out how much of a drop there was in traffic on Friday morning, but has been informed that the two who work with figures are not at work on Friday.
Empty with the directors
One might think that the bosses protested the lack of presence. But that is not the case in the Education Agency’s ICT department.
– The bosses aren’t here either, says Eide.
– The directors sit on the floor above here. It is quite empty there today. And that applies here as well.
He adds that both bosses and colleagues are easy to get hold of.
– When I sent a message to the boss in town, it took two seconds to get hold of him. And that’s kind of the message everyone gives, that we are available, since we have specialized tasks, says Eide.
Not necessarily a problem
But when half the country takes time off and travels to the cottage, works in the garden or relaxes in the sun on a Friday in the middle of May, surely it must cost society dearly?
Not necessarily, say the chief economists at both LO and NHO.
– But it’s a bit difficult to answer, says chief economist Øystein Dørum in NHO – who himself has taken time off on the cramped Friday – but still works a little.
– If people take the day off as a holiday or time off, as most do, the cost is no different to the general cost of us having a five-week holiday, he says.
– But is the cost to society of us taking time off now in May, while the wheels are well in motion, greater than if we take this day off as part of the summer holidays, for example?
– There may be a cost for a production company if employees suddenly miss work, but the employer has the right to control. You can’t take time off if there’s a lot to do. Shops must stay open, hospitals must be staffed, and manufacturing companies must roll and go, he says.
– The job that needs to be done will be done
Nor does Chief Economist Roger Bjørnstad in LO think it has any effect on productivity when we take a collective squeeze on Friday.
– We work to live. The goal is not to work as much as possible, it is to have the best possible time – so people adjust leisure and working hours as best as possible, says Bjørnstad.
He says Norwegian working life is very efficient compared to many other countries, while at the same time we have a high level of prosperity.
– Employees in Norway are very flexible, and it is not necessarily the case that productivity will decrease if we take time off and take time off. The job that needs to be done will be done, he says.
LO has not investigated the cost of Christ’s Ascension, but when they investigated what it cost to take time off at Easter, they found that the calculation was not entirely straight forward. They found that productivity was higher than usual in the time before and immediately after Easter.
– So it evens out, he says.
Have you taken time off today?
