Comment by Delk
5 years ago
Interesting. Is this because of officially shorter working hours per week, because of longer hours on the other weekdays, or just some kind of an unofficial practice? How common is this?
As another Nordic, I've seen people gladly leave the office around 15:00 or 16:00 (or earlier for some people if they like to start early) on a Friday, but it's hard to imagine people who are on the clock regularly leaving at 13:00 unless they are real early birds.
Seemed more an accepted and practical practice of trying to beat the traffic to their weekend mountain/coastal cabins. They are just shaving off an hour or two off their normal leaving time, and is somewhat seasonal and weather dependant as well.
I was just always amazed how quiet the office was on Friday afternoons during the years when I went back to working in Norway. Great for me as I got lots done during those hours. Or perhaps not great as I did not have a cabin to travel to...
Anecdotally having a Friday beer o'clock in the office does not work in Norway. Partly as they frown upon drinking at work... and also there is no-one left in the office.
I can't speak for the parent poster, but I've never worked anywhere in Norway where there are that short Fridays. Sure, you could leave at 15, but then you'd have started at 7.