45 companies tested the 4-day week: The results are controversial

For months, 45 German companies and organizations tried out a four-day week in which employees reduced their working hours but were paid in full. The employers volunteered for the project of the global initiative 4 Day Week and the consultancy Intraprenör.

Service providers such as tax consultancies, architectural offices and kindergartens were the main participants in the experiment. Six companies come from crafts and industry. Two thirds of all companies and institutions have fewer than 50 employees. A total of 900 people took part.

The initiators drew a positive conclusion: “Companies in which employees only work four days a week are, on average, very satisfied with it – and no less successful,” said initiator Carsten Meier from Intraprenör. The employees are also satisfied “and experience less stress”. 82 percent of employees wanted to continue the 4-day week with full pay. Among companies, 39 percent want to make the 4-day week the rule, and another 34 percent want to extend the test.

The test began in February and lasted six months. He was accompanied by interviews from the University of Münster. Overall, productivity increased slightly, said study leader Julia Backmann. In addition, employee satisfaction has increased. Respondents also reported better mental and physical health.

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Four-day week as an opportunity for better processes

After introducing the new working time model, two thirds of companies are changing processes. Half have canceled or shortened meetings. In a third of companies, employees were given more time for concentrated work. A quarter relied on more digitalization and software.

The companies choose different working models, on average they reduce the weekly working time to just under four hours, i.e. half a working day. A third of the participating organizations opted for a real four-day week, i.e. 20 percent less working hours for the same salary.

The significance of the experiment is limited. The participating companies are not representative of the German economy. Critics such as the employer-related German Economic Institute (IW) have four main objections to the methodology.

The companies were not selected at random but volunteered. “So it stands to reason that many people have a positive attitude towards a four-day week,” says IW labor market expert Holger Schäfer. Second, there was no comparison group. The statements about productivity are questionable: “If working hours decrease, employees have to work faster to achieve the same thing – productivity must also increase,” says Schäfer. With better processes, productivity could be increased without reducing working hours. And fourthly, the period is too short: Even if it is possible to work more productively for a short time and compensate for the missing working day, it remains to be seen how sustainable this is.”

A similar study in Great Britain produced positive findings last year, and the concept has already been tested in the USA and South Africa. However, the research is limited and not representative of the economy.

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Proponents of the four-day week argue that employees would have less stress and would therefore be happier and more productive. Family and career could be better balanced. In the fight against the shortage of skilled workers, companies that offer a four-day week could have an advantage.

Critics fear that a four-day week will lead to wage increases because productivity would not permanently increase to the same extent as working hours decrease. Unless the work would be heavily compacted and the pressure increased. Due to demographic change, there is a foreseeable shortage of more and more workers in Germany. A four-day week would make this even worse.

Views of politics

SPD member of the Bundestag Sebastian Roloff says a four-day week could make sense for some professions and industries. They could also help to bring some part-time employees closer to full-time and thus make better use of the workforce potential. However, there could not be a uniform political solution across the board.

The issue causes liberals to shake their heads. Employers and employees can agree on what they want, says FDP member of the Bundestag Reinhard Houben. But: “Simply working less does not lead to overcoming a crisis.” The same level of prosperity while reducing working hours only works through an increase in productivity. “This has not been successful in Germany in recent years – so far no economic stagnation has been overcome through less work.”

Union warns of more pressure

The unions are also cautious. Anja Piel from the board of the German Federation of Trade Unions (DGB) warned that it could be a “sham package” if the same workload were spread over fewer days and the employees were therefore even more caught up in the hamster wheel of everyday work than before.

Employers are in favor of more flexible working hours

The employers’ association BDA pointed out that in an international comparison over the year, Germans already work the least. Instead of talking about working less, we should talk about making working hours more flexible and distributing the hours in a week more flexibly, said BDA managing director Steffen Kampeter. “Where it suits, working more Monday to Thursday and taking Friday off – employees and employers could agree on that.”

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