In order to increase productivity and flexibility within their own company, employers are constantly coming up with new working time models. Whether flexitime, hybrid working or sabbaticals - each working time model has specific advantages and disadvantages.
The 4-day week is still a fairly new alternative to the classic model and has already been tested in various countries and companies. In our article, we take a closer look at the 4-day week and give a future outlook on whether it has the potential to increase productivity and integration in Germany.
What is actually the 4-day week?
As the name suggests, the classic working week is reduced from 5 days to 4 days. With regard to the number of hours , different approaches are preferred. We will go into this in more detail under the heading "Experiments and studies".
Basically, however, there are only 2 preferred solutions: Either the standard working hours of 38-40h a week are placed on the 4 days, so that employees have to work longer on the individual days, but have one day off longer. The other option is to reduce the number of hours from 38-40 hours according to the day that is eliminated. This means that instead of 40 hours, only 32 hours are worked per week. The earnings should remain the same.
As you can imagine, such a working time model brings with it many challenges as well as advantages and disadvantages. Before we get to that, we would like to briefly show you that there are companies that have already integrated this type of working time model into their daily routine.
Experiments and studies
In 2019, Microsoft Japan tested the 4-day work week with a total of 2,300 employees. The salary level was maintained, which meant that employees earned the same salary despite the elimination of the workday. According to the company's own information, the experiment would be carried out successfully. It was stated that productivity increased by 40% and electricity costs decreased by 23%.
Iceland conducted the largest experiment to date on the 4-day workweek between 2015 and 2019. 2500 workers, representing 1% of Iceland's population, worked only 4 days a week for 35 hours for 5 years and received the same salary. 2 years later, the experiment was called an incredible success with many new findings. The participants were happy about less stress in their everyday life and more time for themselves and other important people.
But why exactly did the productivity and well-being of the employees increase in the listed experiments? The advantages and disadvantages of the 4-day week will help you understand this connection.
The advantages of the 4-day week:
1. more time for family, friends and hobbies
Let's be honest: Even with a 5-day week, you have little to no time for hobbies or family during the week. For this reason, the participants in the experiments stated that they had more time for family, friends and hobbies due to the fact that they could use the day off for this.
2. stress prevention and longer recovery breaks.
Even if the 40 hours are cut to 4 days a week, the employees have the advantage that they can rest and recover for three days. Furthermore, they even have time to get away on the extended weekend and escape the daily grind. On the day off, important appointments can be completed that would otherwise have to be tackled under stress after work and on the Saturday off. The work-life balance can therefore be significantly improved by the 4-day week.
3. increasing employer attractiveness and employee motivation
For many applicants and employees, it is a great attraction bonus if the employer allows additional days off. In addition, the motivation of the employees is increased. Once Monday is done, it's only 3 days until the weekend instead of 4. For many employees, this can make all the difference.
The disadvantages of the 4-day week:
1. not feasible for certain industries
Especially in sales and B2B, a problem with the 4-day week is spreading. If a workday is eliminated in the week, this also means a day without sales of products and without concluded contracts. Losses in sales are pre-programmed here. Furthermore, important appointments that were scheduled for Fridays during the 5-day week have to be shifted to Mondays by a full 3 days.
2. the longer the day gets, the lower the motivation .
If the number of hours is pushed to 4 days, it is only logical that employees become increasingly unproductive and unmotivated during the day due to the long load time. So the danger is that less gets done and deadlines cannot be met. Employees can thus quickly feel overwhelmed. However, if working hours are also reduced (i.e. from 40 to 32, for example), this can boost employee productivity and motivation enormously.
3. less vacation entitlement
With fewer working days comes less vacation entitlement. Employees who get involved in the system should keep this in mind.
Future prospects of the 4-day week in Germany
The big question now is: Is the 4-day week suitable for establishment in German companies and is it even feasible? The best answer to the question is: Yes!
There are positive prospects, as the successful experiments in Iceland and at Microsoft showed, but there are also some hurdles that would probably be so great in Germany that the classic working time model would be preferred after all. Many organizational questions remain if the system is to be integrated: When is the day off? Will the same earnings be paid? Is the office closed on that day or is it staffed anyway? Does every employee have the same day off? Especially in larger organizations this can become a real problem and the effort might exceed the benefit. Nevertheless, practice has shown that employee productivity and well-being can be increased once the 4-day week is integrated into the company's daily routine.
Sources:
How does it actually work: The 4-day week (dearwork.de)
4-day weekvs. 5-day week: The pros and cons (gruender.de)
Four-day week - a successful model for Germany, too? (rtl.de)
Four-day week an Iceland: "An overwhelming success" (stern.de)
The4-day week: Great idea or air number? (meinebewerbung.net)
Images:
Canva.com
