German companies test 4-day workweek - details of 'surprising but perhaps inconclusive results' revealed

Several dozen German companies have allowed their staff to work four days a week without reducing their wages accordingly – the results are surprising, but perhaps not convincing.

Earlier this year, around 45 German firms launched a 4-day work week project to find out if such a fundamental change in the way we work can achieve positive results for employers and employees.

For six months, and closely watched by researchers from the University of Münster in Germany, voluntary companies allowed their employees to work fewer hours without reducing their wages, they write. foreign media, the Telegraph reports.

The pilot plan was initiated by the Berlin-based management consultancy Intraprenör in collaboration with the non-profit organization 4 Day Week Global (4DWG).

Achieving the same result with fewer hours and the same pay requires greater productivity. Initially, this may mean more stress and a greater workload – but does it have to be?

The key measurement is productivity

To objectively assess the effects of reduced work hours, researchers did more than just conduct surveys and interviews.

They also analyzed hair samples to measure stress levels and used fitness trackers to collect physiological data such as heart rate, activity level and sleep quality.

Julia Backmann, the scientific director of the pilot study, says that employees generally felt better with fewer hours and remained as productive as they were with a five-day week and, in some cases, were even more productive.

Participants reported significant improvements in mental and physical health, she told DW, and showed fewer symptoms of stress, as confirmed by data from smartwatches that track minutes of daily stress.

According to Backmann's findings, two out of three employees reported fewer distractions because processes were optimized.

Over half of companies redesigned their meetings to make them less frequent and shorter, while one in four companies adopted new digital tools to increase efficiency.

"The potential of shorter working hours seems to be stifled by complex processes, too many meetings and low digitization," says Carsten Meier of Intraprenör.

Surprise about the impact on health and the environment

The study also showed that participants were more physically active during the 4-day work week and slept an average of 38 minutes more per week than those in the "five-day control" group.

However, "monthly sick days" fell only slightly, a statistically insignificant change compared to the same period a year ago.

Marika Platz from the University of Münster, who analyzed the data, said she was surprised by the number of "sick days" because similar studies in other countries showed a significant decrease.

Another surprise, she told DW, was the lack of environmental benefits from reduced working hours during the German test, as other countries reported a positive impact from offices being able to close completely for a day, and there would be less travel. at work resulting in greater energy savings.

The reason for this was probably that some German workers took advantage of long weekends to travel, she said, which reduced any potential energy savings.

Flawed data?

However, a closer look at the study design may raise some doubts about how useful the findings are.

Two companies left voluntarily during the six months and two others "had to be excluded from the assessment".

Of the remaining 41 participating companies, only about a third reduced weekly work hours by a full day.

About 20% reduced hours by 11% to 19% per day, while about half cut working time by less than 10%, or roughly four hours per week.

So, in total only in 85% of cases the employees got a full day off.

The limited number of participating companies also makes the study hardly representative of Germany and its more than 3 million registered firms.

That's because the project has struggled to find enough interested employers since it was first mooted two years ago, Marika Platz said, because part-time work is already relatively common in Germany. .

Even labor market expert Enzo Weber is skeptical of the pilot project, saying that companies participating in such trials are generally already positive about the 4-day work week, making them an unrepresentative sample of the economy.

In addition, the researcher at the University of Regensburg and the Institute for Employment Research in Germany told DW that the project's productivity gains may not only be due to shorter hours, as organizational processes and structures were also modified.

Weber also believes that the positive results may not be sustainable due to increased work pressure that is likely to come at the expense of the social, communicative and creative aspects of employees.

"Effects are often not manifested immediately, but in the medium term," Weber estimates, noting that those studies generally only cover a relatively short period of six months.

While according to Steffen Kampeter, CEO of the German Employers' Association BDA, companies operating in international markets consciously chose not to participate in the test.

He also questions the productivity gains, arguing that "a four-day week with full pay is just a significant pay rise that most companies can't afford."

conclusion

Of the 41 companies that participated in the trial, more than 70% said they were planning to continue with the project.

Some said they would extend the trial phase, while others are considering implementing reduced hours outright.

Study director Backmann stressed, however, that the study was not about advocating a blanket extension of the 4-day work week across all sectors, but rather exploring "an innovative working time model and its effects".

And Carsten Meier from consultancy Intraprenör added that the positive results of the trial cannot "automatically translate" into similar benefits for every company in Germany. /Telegraph/