Europe’s workforce could get 3.5 days back every month

Smarter working could save employees time and boost productivity

Ricoh Europe, London, 05 December 2017 – European employees believe better access to technology could save them 3.5 days’ worth of time every month, according to a study commissioned by Ricoh Europe.

Across Europe, half (47%) of the 3,600 workers surveyed aren’t convinced the workplace technology they use enables them to be their most productive. The survey reveals a clear desire for digitally empowered workplaces, with 59% believing more innovative technology would have a positive impact on their working day.

According to the European Central Bank, annual productivity growth across Europe declined from about 2% in 1995 to just 0.5% in 2016 ¹. In the UK, productivity growth has been especially weak since the economic downturn of 2008. Only in the last quarter did the UK see slight growth of 0.9% ². 

Javier Diez-Aguirre, VP Corporate Marketing, Ricoh Europe said: “Employers are missing an open goal in terms of boosting productivity, with poor access to technology wasting staff time. It’s clear from our research that workers across Europe want their employers to help them become more productive. Better technology access has benefits for the organisation and the employee, saving time and money by empowering smarter working.”

The amount of time employees believe they could save at work each month by using technology to work smarter varies across Europe. In France, workers believe it could save them 1.8 days a month compared with 5.6 days in Russia – over an entire working week. For each individual country the number of days are:

Country	Days	Country	Days
Russia	5.6	Poland	3.4
Slovakia	4.2	Switzerland	3.4
Czech Republic	3.8	UK & Ireland	3.2
Germany	3.8	Turkey	3.2
Hungary	3.8	Spain	3.1
Norway	3.8	Austria	2.9
Sweden	3.6	Finland	2.8
Italy	3.5	Denmark	2.1
Netherlands	3.5	Belgium & Lux.	1.8
Portugal	3.5	France	1.8
European average	3.5

Diez-Aguirre continued: “Workers understand the positive role new technology can have in helping their organisations grow. To deliver on this, business leaders must now consider how they use new digital technologies to unlock hidden productivity, increase flexibility and enhance the agility of their operations.”

Find out more at www.ricoh-europe.com/thoughtleadership.
Note to editors: Number of days saved per month = Total no. of minutes saved per year (‘Av. no. of minutes respondents said they could save’ x ‘number of working days per year for country’) / 12 / 60 / 7.5

Number of working days per year = ‘252 (total no. of working days in 2017) – minimum holiday allowance in each country’

¹ European Central Bank https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2016/html/sp161130_1.en.html
² Office for National Statistics https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/productivitymeasures/articles/gdpandthelabourmarket/julytoseptember2017