Image: Alexander Kaiser
However, the large-scale pilot project is not the first such attempt: previous studies have come to similar conclusions, and tests are currently being carried out in many countries. However, the feasibility is disputed among experts.
A key finding from the UK project is that reducing working hours to an average of 32 hours on full pay does not necessarily mean a reduction in productivity. The analysis by the researchers from Boston and Cambridge even revealed the opposite: the performance of the approximately 2,900 participating employees tended to increase – in addition to other positive effects such as lower burnout rates or higher employee loyalty. 56 out of 61 employers wanted to keep the four-day week after the end of the test phase.
Productivity did not decrease
The results of the British study largely correspond to the findings of a study published in 2022 on behalf of the organization “4 Day Week Global” in Ireland and the USA. 33 companies from various sectors took part in the study, above all from the IT and telecommunications sector. In practice, a four-day week was implemented in the companies. According to this study, too, productivity did not decrease. The personal well-being and health of the workforce improved.
Two major tests in Iceland, which took place between 2015 and 2019, were quite successful. A total of around 2,500 people from the public sector took part in the trial. There, too, the reduction in working hours – which was reduced to 35 to 36 hours per week – did not have a negative impact on productivity. In addition, the participants reported a noticeable reduction in their stress levels, a better work-life balance and generally better health.
Similar projects across Europe
In addition to studies that have already been completed, similar projects are currently underway in many countries. The corresponding models of working time reduction vary – a “real” four-day week with 32 hours per week with the same salary is not always the goal in these attempts. France, for example, recently announced that it wants to try out the introduction of a shortened working week (35 hours) in public administration. In Spain, on the other hand, experiments were started in small and medium-sized companies, with the aim of reducing staff working hours by at least 10 percent. A more flexible working time model has already been implemented in Belgium. And trials are scheduled to start in Wales and Scotland this year.
concerns in Austria
Such concepts have not yet been rolled out or tested on a large scale in Austria. So far, there have been attempts primarily at the level of individual companies. Experts are also divided on the question of whether and to what extent a four-day week could be implemented across the country. The head of the labor market service, Johannes Kopf, was skeptical about this in “ZiB2” on Monday. Broader implementation is difficult, especially in light of the prevailing labor shortage. Due to demographic developments, there will tend to be fewer people on the labor market in the medium to long term. The four-day week can therefore be a solution on an individual level, but not an “overall answer”.
Video: Johannes Kopf (AMS) on working time models
The head of the liberal economic research institute Eco Austria, Monika Köppl-Turyna, also expressed concerns. She argued that the labor shortage would be exacerbated by a nationwide reduction in working hours. She therefore considers implementation across all sectors to be problematic, she said on Monday in the “Ö1-Morgenjournal”.
Various possibilities
The Wifo labor market expert Julia Bock-Schappelwein advocates thinking about the topic more holistically. In an interview with the APA, she referred to a best-practice study by the economic research institute, according to which flexible working hours are just one of several possible starting points for improving working conditions or making employees more attractive as an employer. Levers exist, among other things, in the corporate culture or in qualification measures. From the point of view of the companies, the question always arises as to why changes are sought. At the moment, companies are not only struggling with the labor shortage, the expert came to speak of current uncertainties such as ongoing supply chain problems and a volatile order situation.
In practice, the possibility of adapting working time models is always dependent on the respective operational framework. Bock-Schappelwein added that a four-day week would not be so easy to implement in some sectors and companies, for example in the manufacturing sector or in companies that offer apprenticeship training. “There’s not just black or white on this subject, there are many shades of grey.”
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