“Productivity has definitely increased”: with four-day week to combat skilled worker shortage

class = “sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

What makes a job more attractive to potential employees? Many companies are asking themselves this question right now. Because they are looking for skilled workers.

“The shortage of skilled workers causes companies to be creative to attract new employees and avoid losing employees to other companies,” explains ETH professor Gudela Grote (63), who specializes in business psychology. Alternative working time patterns, such as the four-day week, are becoming increasingly popular, she observes.

The work is spread over four days instead of five. Idea: Four intense days of work are followed by three days of rest at 100 percent pay. This should increase efficiency in the company.

A study by the University of Cambridge and Boston University of 61 British companies from a wide range of sectors shows that productivity has actually increased thanks to the four-day week. On average, sales increased 1.4 percent. Additionally, employees are more rested and motivated and are absent 65 percent less. There were also fewer takeoffs. At the end of the six-month study, 56 of the 61 companies examined remained committed to the new working time model. Pilot testing is currently being carried out with 50 companies in Germany.

Make business processes more effective

Grote sees other advantages besides the obvious, such as more free time: business processes can be made more efficient and collaboration can be improved. But be careful: It can also have negative consequences for your health, especially if you have to work 40 hours or more in four days.

Therefore, how the days are distributed is important. “It’s easiest if business processes can be designed so that the entire company only runs for four days,” says Grote.

For example, at the creative agency Büro A+O in Aarau, this is how it works: All employees work full time – 34 hours from Monday to Thursday. “An increase in productivity has definitely been noticed,” managing director Andreas Ott (38) told Blick.

Planning is more complicated if the company operates five or more days. So, for example, at Seerow, a web designer from Solothurn whose offices are open five days a week, the team of eleven employees is divided into two groups.

Research conducted in the UK shows that the four-day week is easier to implement in office work. But the four-day week is also becoming increasingly established in the catering industry: for example, cooks at the Hotel Schwägalp in Säntis may opt for a working time model of four or five days a week.

The other side of the coin

Last April, garage owner Daniel Marti, 50, also switched to a four-day week. His garage in Lucerne is open five days a week, with employees putting in 40 hours over four days. Marti wanted to attract new employees, among other things, with his new working time model. Because they currently have two vacant positions.

There is also the other side of the coin: “A lot of uneducated people apply who think the four-day week is great,” Marti told Blick. However, current employees will be happy with this change.

All companies that participated in Blick’s survey have one thing in common: They recommend the four-day week to others. “It would certainly be good for companies to experiment more with a four-day working week – also in terms of productivity gains from automation,” the expert says.

Source :Blick