Image: Alexander Kaiser
After the end of the test phase, 56 of 61 employers said they wanted to keep the four-day week. 18 even confirmed that the concept had already been introduced permanently. This emerges from an analysis by researchers from Boston and Cambridge published on Tuesday. “The experiment was a complete success,” concludes the authors.
They accompanied the project scientifically and conducted in-depth interviews with those involved. “Before the project began, many questioned whether we would see an increase in productivity to offset the reduction in working hours – but that’s exactly what we found,” said Brendan Burchell of the University of Cambridge, according to a statement. According to the analysis, the sales of the companies involved increased by 1.4 percent on average during the test phase in the second half of last year.
Your opinion? Vote:
Sick leave fell significantly
Sick days fell by around two thirds (65 percent) during the test period and the number of employees who left the company during this time fell by more than half (57 percent). Around four out of ten employees stated that they felt less stressed than before the project began.
SPÖ social spokesman Josef Muchitsch used the British study today to ask Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) to support employees and companies in implementing a four-day week. The SPÖ social spokesman can also imagine a large-scale pilot project for the four-day week in Austria. “This is social policy for Austria,” says Muchitsch.
Various industries participated
Companies from the financial sector, IT and construction, as well as gastronomy and healthcare took part in the British project. The companies involved employ a total of around 2,900 people. Some companies introduced a three-day weekend across the board, while others distributed employees’ days off throughout the week or linked them to goals.
Other countries are also experimenting with the four-day week, including Ireland, Iceland, Belgium and Australia. The English study on the shortened working week with the same wages is not the first of its kind; similar results were already obtained in tests in Ireland and the USA.
Examples from Upper Austria
The work-life balance is becoming more important, especially for young people, and the four-day week is becoming a popular form of working life. Reduced hourly operation is also already being offered in Austria. Employees at the company Tractive in Pasching in Upper Austria, for example, work 35 hours on four working days. Employees at the Hotel Aviva in St. Stefan-Afiesl can also voluntarily opt for a four-day week. You can read more about this in the article “A hotel that is not looking for staff”. The four-day week has also existed in the Hotel Guglwald for some time.
Last year, among others, the Freistadt photo book specialist Happy Foto, the boutique hotel Hauser in Wels, the electrical and building services engineer GEG in Gmunden, the Hagenberger software specialist Bluesource, the food retailer Lidl, the Pasching-based electrical installation company Kagerer and the energy supplier KWG in Rüstorf had the model introduced.
The OÖN business editorial team has researched why more and more companies are introducing the four-day week and why others are deliberately doing without it.
more from economy
