European Employees Dream Of A Life Without Work

Two Thirds Would Rather Be Doing Something Else
Never having to go back to work is an attractive proposition for almost two thirds of all European employees.

However, the desire to escape from everyday working life seems to be caused not so much by stress but by the wish for greater personal fulfilment. These results come from the latest survey by online recruitment specialist, StepStone, which covered more than 3,800 job seekers across seven European countries.

Italian and Dutch employees show the strongest wish for a life without work. Approximately two thirds would like to stop work, with only one third seeing a working life as essential to their well-being.

Germans and Swedes emerge as the most committed to work. In Germany, 43 percent cited a need for a meaningful challenge, and in Sweden, 41%.

Germans and Swedes were also the least likely to see work as necessary to occupy their time usefully, at 4% and 3% respectively. Across the sample as a whole, the percentage seeing work as an essential time filler was 8%, and was highest in Denmark, Norway, Netherlands and Italy at 9%, 10%, 10% and 11% respectively.

Altogether 3,822 visitors participated in the survey, which was conducted through the websites of StepStone in Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. Details of the survey results are available online at: