Summer in France ... the shutdown !

25 August 2009

After 2 or 3 weeks of shutdown, France is back to work.
For french people, this summer shutdown is "normal".
Everybody take between 2 and 4 weeks of Holiday in summer, and everybody is back to work beginning of September.

When I say everybody, it's everybody, even our president.

After my 2 years spent in Asia, I see pro and cons to this summer break (this break is absolutely not done in Asia).

Of course, the big issue is that everything is delayed.
For example, to plan an IT project, if July/August is in the timeline, it's mandatory to add 1 month (it's sure that you'll go 2 time slower compare to other months).

But in term of global efficiency, maybe it's not so bad :

• in september, everybody come fresh and in good shape with a lot of energy * for the balance between family and work, it allows everybody to be sure to be able to spend at least 1 week in familySo finally, I'm not sure if France would be more efficient without this shutdown, but I'm convinced that for people it's more healthy to have it !

I do not know how it's in US.