The anti-work ethic

last updated 8 January 2015

Paris

A book that advocates slacking off at work has become the hit of the summer in France. In Bonjour Paresse, which translates to “Hello Laziness,” author Corinne Maier, a disgruntled bookkeeper, argues that French corporations are not meritocracies but seething nests of nepotism. Connections, not hard work, are how people get promotions, she says, so why bother to work hard? “Why not spread gangrene through the system from inside?” she asks. Maier’s employer, the state electric utility, has threatened her with disciplinary action for her desultory work habits, but her hearing keeps getting postponed because of staff vacations. The average French worker works about 300 hours less each year than the average American.