London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

'I Thought He Was Joking': Finnish Huawei Boss Slammed for 'Crazy' 7-Day Work Week Proposal

'I Thought He Was Joking': Finnish Huawei Boss Slammed for 'Crazy' 7-Day Work Week Proposal

According to Huawei Finland's cyber security chief Mika Lauhde, who personally admitted to having worked 80-hour weeks with no summer vacation for years, seven-day work weeks would bolster Finland's stance against competitors.

Huawei Finland's cyber security chief Mika Lauhde has raised eyebrows with his suggestion to introduce a seven-day work week to catch up with China and the US.

According to Lauhde, Huawei's employees in Silicon Valley and Shenzhen regularly work 80 hours a week with minimal vacations.

“I work 80-hour weeks all the time myself and I haven't had summer vacation in four years”, Lauhde said.

Lauhde's interview sparked strong reactions as he clearly went against the common European trend, as countries and major companies are discussing shorter working hours. Earlier Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin even toyed with the idea of a six-hour working day.

Annina Ropponen, a professor at the National Institute of Occupational Health, first thought that Lauhde's proposal was a joke and said that it wouldn't work in Finland.

“I think it's simply impossible, how would we handle our everyday life? In some Asian countries it may work, but it depends on the work culture. There are some workers who work a long way from home, travel to work once a year, work for several months, and then return home for a few weeks holiday”, she told national broadcaster Yle.

According to Ropponen, Europeans devote more attention to their leisure and rest than in other parts of the world. She also points out that in Finland and large parts of Europe there are no personnel willing to work on an assembly line, such as in China.

“If you are not willing to work 80 hours a week, then someone else will,” Ropponen said, referring to the rock-hard competition.

Juha Ojala, the head of consulting at the service union PAM, called Lauhde's proposal “completely crazy”. According to him, free time and holidays don't affect productivity in a negative way.

“It is not a coincidence that the labour legislation and the collective agreement both stipulate a 40-hour work week. I believe our labour legislation is completely right”, he said.

Instead, he also advocated shorter working weeks that would increase efficiency. According to Ojala, for a small country like Finland, it is almost impossible to compete with countries with larger populations when it comes to workload.

Ojala sees Finland's strength lies in other areas: not quantity, but knowledge.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), workloads of 55 hours and over lead, among other things, to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. According to Ropponen, this 55-hour limit should be applied to all jobs.

“We have a biophysiological clock in us. We need a certain amount of sleep and leisure so that we can recover and do something else. And that applies regardless of whether we perform physically, mentally or cognitively challenging work,” she emphasised.

According to her, productivity reaches its maximum during the first hours of the working day and then drops markedly.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×