GERMAN GOVERNMENT INTRODUCES A 4-DAY WORK WEEK TO TACKLE LABOR CRUNCH

Thu 14 March 2024:

45 companies in Germany began a six-month experiment of a four-day workweek, which will see workers work one fewer day per week for the same salary.

The non-profit group 4 Day Week Global (4DWG) is collaborating with Intraprenor, a human resource consultant located in Berlin, to lead the campaign.

The labor market is changing as a result of the German economic crisis, according to Jan Buhren of Intraprenor, which is why it was vital to test the four-day work week experiment.

“We are seeing a change in the labor market, change in the demands of labor, we are seeing a kind of economic crisis everywhere but also especially in Germany within Europe and that calls for new ways of thinking work,” said Buhren.

Over the last year, Germany has seen a spate of public sector labor strikes from around the country demanding higher wages and better working conditions.

Advocates of the shorter work week hope that working four days a week will make workers happier and more productive at a time when Germany is struggling with slower productivity growth and a labor shortage.

Buhren added: “We’ve seen that they (staff) get very creative and find ways to flexibilize the way of working and the time they spend working, so the four-day work is not just any four-day work, there are about 12 different modes we have seen so far.”

Working fewer hours per week also convinces those who are not willing to work a full week to enter the workforce, therefore helping to reduce the current labor shortage which is affecting Germany.

Last November, the DIHK Chamber of Commerce and Industry said that half of German companies were struggling to fill vacancies. Thousands of unfilled jobs caused a loss of over €90 billion ($98.4 billion) to the German economy over the last year.

While it is unclear whether the shorter workweek will fix this problem in any way, Germans appear excited to try it.

A Forsa survey found that 71% of people working in the country would like to have the option to only work four days a week. Just over three-quarters of those surveyed said they were supportive of the government exploring the potential introduction of a four-day week. Among employers, more than two out of three supported this.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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