SPECIAL REPORT

Posted Sunday, September 25, 2005; 14.16BST
Mariangela Benzi, for example, who lives in Rome, spent 10 years getting her degree in classical languages. Her thesis, a translation of a 9th century Byzantine Greek manuscript, was published, and won a prize. Now 34, she's attended a variety of training courses but has no full-time work. Ask her why she doesn't wait tables to earn some money, and she says, "Apart from the fact that the work is alienating, a person who has studied reaches a certain level of qualification. Working as a waitress in a bar would be to renounce the possibility of a career. Since I have a family behind me and a roof over my head, I try not to waste my degrees."

As the song goes, nice work if you can get it. And it's always possible — just possible — that Western Europe's attitude toward work has something to teach the rest of the world. After all, American employees speak increasingly of work-related stress and burnout. The U.S. epidemic of heart disease might be related to overwork. European labor unions have been vital in enacting legislation protecting health and safety, and securing decent livings for their members. And if West Europeans work fewer hours than their counterparts elsewhere — and they do — it's partly because they're more efficient.

But regardless of whether the European way of work is wonderful, one thing is plain: it's changing — and stoking fears as it does so. Unemployment used to be something that affected steelworkers and coal miners; now it's hurting bankers and people who mine data. It may not be Dickensian misery, but conditions at work are not as cushy as they once were. In Spain, architect Fabián Fernández de Alarcón, who runs a group called Professionals for Ethics, says that although it's illegal, some women who come back from maternity leave and ask to reduce their hours are dismissed within weeks. "I know of one woman working in a law firm whose boss asked her to sacrifice her honeymoon. She agreed, but then when she got pregnant some time later, she was fired," he says. "It is almost an act of heroism to ask for shorter hours." In the Italian city of Naples, Marco Santoro, 24, who is training for a job in tourism, worries about the effect this new precariousness will have on his life: "It's difficult to think of having a house, a family."

In the new climate — the growing realization that something must be done about unemployment — even the celebrated divide between Anglo-Saxon attitudes and those in Continental Europe is breaking down. Some economists argue that high minimum wages simply make it less attractive to hire unskilled workers, but governments in both places are trying to ensure that people who do work aren't exploited. This year, for example, Britain and France are increasing their statutory minimum wages to around $9 per hour, about 80% higher than in the U.S. And just as Continental Europe moves away from its shorter workweek, the calls are growing louder in Britain for a cut in the number of hours spent on the job. "Long hours are not a sign of economic success, but badly organized workplaces with tired, inefficient staff," contends Brendan Barber, general secretary of Britain's Trades Union Congress, which estimates that 3.6 million Britons work more than 48 hours per week. Even members of Blair's Labour Party think that proportion is too high, and voted in the European Parliament this spring to bring Britain into line with its E.U. partners.

WANTED: A NEW MAX WEBER
What happened to europe's work ethic? A good place to start is Heidelberg. The prosperous German town along the Neckar river is where Max Weber, the pioneer of modern sociology, wrote his famous 1905 treatise The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Today, a century later, Heidelberg continues to thrive. Home to Germany's oldest university, it's also one of the leading locations for biotechnology in Europe, boasting some 60 start-up firms and a slew of venture capitalists. A nationwide study by consultants Prognos last year put Heidelberg in sixth place on the list of German cities with the brightest future, and it's one of the very few places in birth-dearth Germany where the population — now 148,000 — is actually growing.

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Why Germany Can't Restart The Engine [Nov. 7, 2002] Unemployment is high, bankruptcies are rife, banks are teetering and taxes are going up. How did the German economy get this bad? Coping with Labor's Pains [Apr. 16, 2002] Union boss Sergio Cofferati may be the only Italian on the left who can challenge Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Across The New Frontier [Jun. 18, 2002] Governments across the E.U. are cracking down on immigration. Will their tough new measures create more problems than they solve? Blood, Sweat, Toil and Tears [Aug. 06, 2001] As the slowdown worsens, Europe's jobless look to the state to ease their pain. Get Us Out Of Here [Dec. 16, 2002] German businesses are starting to flee rising taxes, a failing economy and a Chancellor who can't seem to cope Growing, Growing ... Gone? [Feb. 14, 2005] China's under control, Europe's finally reforming, and the global economic outlook is rosy, right? Not quite No Entry [March 1, 2004] The E.U. wants to discourage migration from the new member states in the east. Saying No to Profits [Apr. 15, 2001] Since Marks & Spencer and Danone announced thousands of job losses, France has been fighting back with court action, boycotts and demos Search all issues of TIME Magazine Indicates premium content