Assessing the role of short-time work schemes during the 2008-09 recession (cont.) Countries that have modified their STW schemes as a response to the crisis are Belgium, Germany, Finland, France, Italy (all 2009 Ql), the Netherlands and Norway (2009 Q2). Data on participation in short-time work schemes are obtained partly from Eurostat and partly from national sources. Take-up of short-time work is measured as the ratio of the average number of participants to the number of employees during the crisis period or, in the case of schemes that were established in response to the crisis, during the period when the scheme was operational.