Finland has been voted the world’s happiest country by its citizens for the fourth successive year. Even though it’s bloomin’ cold and dark for a good part of the year, Fin’s feel financially and physically secure, healthy, looked after and governed by uncorrupt MPs. We’re 32nd and both the Land of the Free and Germany are outside the top 20. In fact, those living in Moldova, Kosovo and El Salvador feel happier than we Brits. You’d assume that in Finland and the other consistently-happy Scandewegian countries, they pay more tax. OK, the booze is more expensive to theoretically stop them drinking too much in those long winter months. But income tax in Finland is between 17 and 23.5%, with 0.5% for medical care and 7% for pensions – employers pay 20%. Sounds reasonable to me; although I’m not keen on saunas, which it’s thought are a big contributor to Finnish well-being. And the language is as challenging as the climate, but, I guess, you can’t have everything and a little onnellisuus counts for a lot, I’d say.
“The working-from-home illusion fades”
Are workers working from home more or less productive than those catching the 7.02am to London Bridge every day? ‘Probably sitting at home in their bleedin’ jim-jams’, said someone recently of a less-than-helpful call centre employee, the assumption being that, were they surrounded by colleagues and with a manager cracking the whip, he or she would have sorted his energy bill more efficiently.
