That said there are lots more ways to be good at your job than a narrow focus on hours worked and raw brain power.
This was in the US too--there was a "Gen-X slacker" ethos that persisted into mid-millenial "culture". Radically different for people born even 5 years later, I think it largely reflects the relative (perceived) security back then.
Under-explored topic perhaps.
Gen-X in a nutshell, isn't it? People rarely seem. To remember that that generation even exists.