These companies are turning into four days a week

In Switzerland, companies tempted by the introduction of the four-day-a-week system multiply, Notes in Zurich Sunday newspaper. Such is the case of Mare Communication and Care in Lucerne, the agency Awin in Zurich, which specializes in Internet marketing, and even in the same city, the Lauschsicht company that produces films.

The principle is simple: work 32 hours a week at full pay while maintaining productivity. “Work days are intense, but we are better organized”, Explains Fabian Schneider, director of Serow, a Solothurn-based firm that specializes in auditing and IT consulting.

At A+O, a graphic design specialist, we haven’t worked Fridays for several years now. “It suits the staff and does not cause problems for the customers”, According to Andreas Ott, President. “Good ideas don’t come out in the office, but when you go for a walk or visit a museum.” Adds Aurelia Zelman, Technical Director.

Syndicom, the Swiss media and communications union, welcomes these initiatives. For Lena Allenspach, its spokeswoman, the popularization of this form is ‘An important step forward’ For a labor organization that takes better into account the needs of the workers. For its part, the Swiss Employers’ Confederation remains more skeptical.

In the UK, a pilot program

Extending the four-day week to all company employees isn’t really a new idea. The contract must be associated with a level of productivity. If I complete the contract in less time, why should I reduce your salary? “ request it New York times Andrew Barnes, founder of New Zealand firm Perpetual Guardian that switched to the four-day-weekly system in 2018.

Also in New Zealand, the British multinational company Unilever decided to test the four paid days for almost five days for a year. “Old labor organizations are no longer adapting to our times and no longer achieving their goals,” Honoring Nick Bang, Director of Unilever New Zealand.

Together with Charlotte Lockhart, another New Zealand entrepreneur, Andrew Barnes has just launched, this time in the UK, a pilot program that aims to test the hypothesis that reducing working time increases productivity and employee well-being, Reports times.

4 days of the week project United kingdom, in collaboration with the Autonomy Research Center and researchers from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge as well as Boston College, will involve about two dozen companies, including Canon Medical Research Europe (based in Edinburgh) from next June. Each company will work with researchers to measure the impact of the four days of the week. Productivity and well-being are not the only criteria because it will also be a matter of measuring the effects of reduced working time on the environment and on gender equality.

“As we come out of the pandemic and try to rebuild everything better, a lot of people want to find a better work-life balance. One hundred years after the weekend was created, we think the four-day week is way overdue and we believe that this The experience will turn out to be beneficial for companies and employees,” Joe Ryle, Program Director, explains.

4 days a week project promoters United kingdom Set a date in 2023 for the publication of the data collected.

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