Key Points
The study aims to find out if labor unions are right that it could not only leave staff healthier and happier, but also more productive...
About 45 companies in Germany will trial a four-day work week to measure any productivity gains from working fewer hours...
Aside from that boost in productivity, companies are also expected to benefit from a drop in costly absences due to stress, illness and burnout. The average 21.3 days Germans were incapable to work in 2022 meant a loss of a staggering 207 billion in value added, according to the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health...
Without improvements in those areas, its unlikely German workers would see a significant productivity boost simply by cutting back hours, according to Enzo Weber, an economist at the Institute for Labor Market Research in Nuremberg.. Finance Minister Christian Lindner, a member of the business friendly Free Democrats Party, has offered more pointed criticism of the shorter week, saying such a move would threaten economic growth and German prosperity...
Jan Bhren, co-founder of Intraprenr, a Berlin consultancy working with 4 Day Week Global on the pilot program, said achieving the gains requires flexibility and creativity at the companies...
